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books_with_tutusandsons 's review for:
A Thousand Ships
by Natalie Haynes
3.5 stars
Had it not been people from my BC, I would have never reached out for this book. But, as it often happens with BC's, they make you go way beyond your usual paths. Sometimes it ends up leaving you in love, and sometimes, well..not. To be honest, I'm still not 100% sure what has this book left me with. But it sure was something. ⠀
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Let me explain a bit. I am not a huge fan of greek mythology, the sum of a million gods and half gods has always confused me. I know the most important ones, ofc, but I do get lost in all of it. On the other hand, I have always had a great respect for stories about women. And this is one of those you just have to admire. ⠀
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A Thousand Ships tells a story about the Trojan war through the eyes of women involved in it. And tough it seems like a bunch of non related novels, in the end they make a wonderful story as a whole. I started reading it but soon transferred to the audio, narrated by the author herself. And it was so much better. You can hear the frustration in Penelope's letters to her wandering husband Odysseus, the annoyance of Calliope, the muse, trying to make the poet understand the importance of women stories and the sadness in Hecabe's story losing all of her children. Though most of the people resent the way the author has portrayed gods, esp Aphrodite, I actually found it quite entertaining and smart, them acting like a bunch of children playing games with peoples lives. ⠀
So yeah, it's a collection of sad stories, full of unnecesary deaths and tough destinies. And way too many characters. But also, its a wonderful hommage to the lives of the women behind the myth. Mothers, sisters, daughters, wives...brave, heroic, proud, angry, broken and grieving. Cause there is the other side of every war. Not pretty, but real, and this book tells a story about it.
Had it not been people from my BC, I would have never reached out for this book. But, as it often happens with BC's, they make you go way beyond your usual paths. Sometimes it ends up leaving you in love, and sometimes, well..not. To be honest, I'm still not 100% sure what has this book left me with. But it sure was something. ⠀
⠀
Let me explain a bit. I am not a huge fan of greek mythology, the sum of a million gods and half gods has always confused me. I know the most important ones, ofc, but I do get lost in all of it. On the other hand, I have always had a great respect for stories about women. And this is one of those you just have to admire. ⠀
⠀
A Thousand Ships tells a story about the Trojan war through the eyes of women involved in it. And tough it seems like a bunch of non related novels, in the end they make a wonderful story as a whole. I started reading it but soon transferred to the audio, narrated by the author herself. And it was so much better. You can hear the frustration in Penelope's letters to her wandering husband Odysseus, the annoyance of Calliope, the muse, trying to make the poet understand the importance of women stories and the sadness in Hecabe's story losing all of her children. Though most of the people resent the way the author has portrayed gods, esp Aphrodite, I actually found it quite entertaining and smart, them acting like a bunch of children playing games with peoples lives. ⠀
So yeah, it's a collection of sad stories, full of unnecesary deaths and tough destinies. And way too many characters. But also, its a wonderful hommage to the lives of the women behind the myth. Mothers, sisters, daughters, wives...brave, heroic, proud, angry, broken and grieving. Cause there is the other side of every war. Not pretty, but real, and this book tells a story about it.