TheCrystallineEntity
Istar
I just reread Good Omens for the third time. It never fails to cheer me up; rather ironic for a book about the apocalypse.
Well, I've been reading Arthur Machen's work lately (a "weird fiction" writer before and after the turn of the 20th century). Finished off with what some critics call his masterpiece, "The Hill of Dreams". Wow, what a horror fever dream of a story. Very, very effective. Like the MC, I felt as if I was going mad toward the end.
Definitely needing a break after that so rereading a nice, comfortable favorite for now. The Blue Castle by L. M. Montgomery.
Well...I enjoyed it.
Some things that stood out to me.
Most prominently was that the Greek heroes did not seem to do anything unless a God was somehow involved. To my brain, I was like, if the outcome of this war solely depends on what Zeus decides, then why not wait till Zeus makes up his mind and do that? And on a daily basis...Athena tells Hector to go fight today but stay away from the ships, so he does and has a great day, but the next day, she says stay in bed till noon, and then make offerings so that Apollo will be pleased...then he does cause they cannot win that day. And so I ask, if they just do what they are told, are they really Heroes? I mean, anyone can do what they did if Athena and Apollo were really making it happen.
The great level of detail of the blows in the battle and who was in it. Ajax does not just kill nameless people, but he kills Dudeicles, son of other-dudeicles, a farmer from Minoa who raised 25 sheep, and son of last-dudeicles, who was once favored by Poseidon. And he was not just struck down, but hit above his left nipple, where the armor had left and gap, and fell near a juniper bush. Why include all that detail? To me, that reads as someone trying to recount an actual event (which, others seem to have followed and believe that Troy has been discovered). It reminded of genealogy passages in the bible. So and So begot So and So, and they begot and so on....
Some other things that popped out were attitudes towards men, women, slaves, warriors, gods, war, armor, weapons, bronze and rituals. They all played big roles in the stories.
Then there was all of this.
The story about Paris and the contest of the three Goddesses, where he chooses Aphrodite, and thereby wins Helen....Not in there
The Story of Achilles being dipped in the river Styx and becoming impervious...Not in there.
The Idea that Achilles had to be shot in the heel...Not in there.
The story that it was Paris who killed Achilles...Not in there.
The story of the Trojan horse...Not in there.
At the end, I was feeling everything I had been told was a lie.
And the Odyssey was similar. We start with a long portion following Telemachus, and all the stories about the Cyclops, the sirens, Circe, and all that...it was stuff that had already happened, and Telemachus just finds out about it. Telemachus was a pretty big character, and I did begin to wonder if Odysseus was ever really going to be in the story. He was by the end, enough to kill all the suitors.
Funny about that, after Odysseus kills all the suitors, he becomes very concerned that there may be reprisals by their families. That also seemed like maybe a recounting of a real event, and not just a myth about a hero. Why show the hero in that way? Might be because something had happened and he was a real dude concerned about others coming after him. Don't know.
It was very cool. I've read a lot of classics and have found I've enjoyed all of them much more than I thought (other than the one mentioned above...)
My biggest take away...the Greeks really loved their gods.
What did you think if you had read it?
I've only read the first Anne book and the Emily trilogy. Is The Blue Castle one of her best, in your opinion?
I've only read the first Anne book and the Emily trilogy. Is The Blue Castle one of her best, in your opinion?
I'm reading "The World of Odysseus" for a project and I hope to be able to get back into fiction as soon as possible.
Is that M.I. Finley's book? Still a classic.I'm reading "The World of Odysseus" for a project and I hope to be able to get back into fiction as soon as possible.
Thanks for mentioning this. It's perfect for my needs.
Is that M.I. Finley's book? Still a classic.
I found this interesting book at the library, 'Faerie Fruit' by Charlotte E. English. The blurb intrigued me, as did her prose once I read the first couple of pages. It's beautifully written and somewhat haunting. So far I really like it. Quite different than what I normally read.