Sunday, November 5, 2023

A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes

 First of all, kudos to anyone who can keep the characters in Greek mythology straight! All those names made the reading of this book a little clumsy until I got comfortable with the fact that I didn't really need to keep them all correct genealogically to understand their anger, jealousy, revenge, etc.  This is Homer's Illiad and Odyssey from the women's perspective. I particularly enjoyed the snarky voice of Penelope (abandoned wife of Odysseus).  The absurdity of war, men's senseless need for "victory", the god/mortal (read fate/freewill) struggle, the profound mother/child connection - all here in more readable prose than Homer for sure. The Afterward is an entire curse in Greek Literature and history. Kudos to you if you read that as well.