Pat Barker has taken the story of the Iliad and given a voice to some of the women who are mentioned but not noticed in the stories. History is written by the victors and that doesn't include women. This retelling of the Trojan Wars, in particular Achilles and Agamemnon, from the view point of Briseis, a teenage Queen, of ransacked Lyrnessus, given to Achilles as part of his 'spoils of war'. Seen from the view point of a woman with no standing except that she is the 'trophy' of a powerful warrior, this book is a interesting discourse on the plight of women. Referred to as 'it', displayed, defiled and ignored the women's lives are precarious, and dependent on keeping their man 'happy'. Somethings appears not to have changed much in thousands of years - to be given, traded, fucked and abused, women have to find their place where they can. Brutal and uncomfortable reading, mixing the known stories from the Iliad with imagined scenarios, this brilliant book gives voice to the unheard bringing to life the dirt, blood and harshness of a battle camp. It also explores the psychology of the 'hero' Achilles inured to death, bored of battle and fixated on his goddess mother.
The discussion was broad, a number of us didn't know well the stories of the Iliad, and therefore had difficulty in understanding the relationships between the men and why they were fighting etc. Having said that Achilles, was more man and less godlike in this story, a warrior who knows his business, but is plagued by PTSD. We generally thought the end was weak, but most of us loved the book.
Words used to describe it: sympathy for the girls, survival, co-modified, chattels, absorbing
Marks out of 10: we all gave it 8
If you want to listen there is an interesting podcast interview: Pat Barker with Eleanor Wachtel
Next Book
The Salt Path by Raynar Winn
Next Meeting
Friday 4th September
at Carolyn's
No comments:
Post a Comment