Litsy

Glorious Exploits: A Novel | Ferdia Lennon

pick

This book had the most bonkers moments. Not used to seeing "gobshite" or "how things goin'" when reading a book of ancient Athens. I'm telling you, it works. It turned out to be an emotional read. How one person survived a war and imprisonment by knowing Euripedes work.

36 likes

SanjanaGhosh

Glorious Exploits: A Novel | Ferdia Lennon

so-so

A bit far fetched but thoroughly entertaining!

21 likes

Mattsbookaday

Medea | Euripides

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Medea, by Euripides (431 BCE)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Premise: Spurned princess Medea plots revenge upon her faithless lover Jason

Review: Euripides‘ plays have stood the test of time for a reason. They demonstrate a keen and nuanced understanding of the human psyche. Is Medea portrayed as a monster or as a sympathetic victim? ⬇️

Mattsbookaday The answer is yes and it‘s amazing how well that still comes across almost 2500 years later. Do yourself a favour and find a good translation and sink into it.

Bookish Pair: For a humorous take on an unlikely production of Euripides, Ferdia Lennon‘s Glorious Exploits (2024) 2mo

Graywacke Fascinating play 1mo

9 likes2 comments

BkClubCare

Glorious Exploits: A Novel | Ferdia Lennon

pick

So good. Took me way too long to get into but that was all me and too many freakin‘ mundane things to attend to (like cleaning and j-o-b). Gotta love a book that upon finishing the very last sentence, tears threaten and so I must laugh instead. Pick! Stack it!

#June2025 Book55 📸 Stormy sky in Kansas

BkClubCare @AvidReader25 - have you stacked this to your tbr? I think you would like it. 💖 🤗 3mo

AvidReader25 I‘ve never heard of this one! Stacking now. 2mo

38 likes1 stack add2 comments

BkClubCare

Glorious Exploits: A Novel | Ferdia Lennon

Grand so.

“It‘s hope that makes us afraid, and I remind myself that a man should be grateful for his fears, ‘cause it means he has something to lose and to win.”

“Directors without a producer are like a ship without a sail, the medium of wind to endeavors nautical being equivalent to coin in all theatrical,…”

Some really great sentences in this! 🌟 #debut #drama #ToF

BkClubCare “I feel that creeping sense of the looseness of time in an endless song.” 3mo

BkClubCare “The hearts of men are alike wherever you go. The rest is scenery.” 3mo

28 likes2 comments

BkClubCare

Glorious Exploits: A Novel | Ferdia Lennon

Next up! #ToF

38 likes1 stack add

Pedrocamacho

Glorious Exploits: A Novel | Ferdia Lennon

pick

What a wonderful book. It does this book a disservice to call it a comedy or a tragedy or any one thing. It is a layered story with interesting and lovable characters. It has a perspective and, yes, it made me laugh. I cannot recommend this book enough.

14 likes1 stack add

Vansa

Glorious Exploits: A Novel | Ferdia Lennon

pick

Using litsy after a while!Also writing reviews after a while, bear with me while I do a reviews dump of books I've loved!Cannot recommend this delightful historical fiction enough.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6758491576

17 likes

Robotswithpersonality

Medea | Euripides

pick

Felt the need for a reread after reading Glorious Exploits, was not disappointed. Euripides' version is shorter than I remember, but I did enjoy the modern feel to the language in Michael Townsend's translation (the version I read came from Classical Tragedy Greek And Roman: 8 plays edited by Robert W. Corrigan). 1/?

Robotswithpersonality 2/? I appreciate the nuance and conflict Euripides introduced around Medea's seemingly unfathomable choices, while still emphasizing the morality of his time. Medea seems pre-condemned as a family destroyer, emphasizing her involvement in her father's and brother's deaths, yet those same actions can form part of the sins heaped at Jason's feet, adding to the list of reasons he deserves punishment. 7mo

Robotswithpersonality 3/? Similarly convoluted messaging around the children: to be exiled or abandoned, shamed by their father's actions and displaced by his ambition, like Medea, they no longer have a home, and so Medea can find moments of justification beyond her own thirst for vengeance in determingintheir fate. Jason is an odd figure, at first the self-aggrandizing villain identity is obvious, whatever he says, his actions are to further his own interests, 7mo

Robotswithpersonality 4/? no thought for his wife and children, unless you believe the like that his new marriage will better their station, even as he moves to have a family with the princess. Yet his remorse at this childrens' murder seems genuine - is it's only purpose to allow Medea to have her full sense of revenge, or, even as she promises to bury them where he cannot reach them, is she protecting them from him still? (edited) 7mo

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Robotswithpersonality 5/? Medea's othering is also briefly touched on, the idea that she has power, due to her lineage and her collaboration in violent acts previously, and her vicious cursing of the royal family her husband has now switched his allegiance to, her being a 'foreigner', both in Jason's homeland and her sought asylum in Athens. The chorus admonishes her for her blood-thirsty plans, 7mo

Robotswithpersonality 6/? and while that falls in line with some tenets of ancient Greek morality on display: Aigeus swears an oath as a future host having answered Medea's supplication, Medea's broken family bonds by murder and is cursed by it, it also leaves one wondering if anyone is on her side. The othering continues when she and Jason both emphasize women's 'failings' when it suits them, the difficulties inherent in motherhood and how that may clash with other 7mo

Robotswithpersonality 7/7 goals, other sides of a child-bearer's identity.
A bit of a nostalgic read because it got me thinking about analysis from college course, and also a masterful snippet exploring the dark side of 'what would you do' feminine rage and pride versus more traditional feminine roles, the bonds of love and loyalty to family. It's no wonder the tale has lasted this long.
⚠️ misogyny, child death 7mo

11 likes6 comments

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