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FIC BAR
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Publication
Doubleday (2018), Edition: 1st Edition, 304 pages
Description
"From the Booker Prize-winning author of the Regeneration trilogy comes a monumental new masterpiece, set in the midst of literature's most famous war. Pat Barker turns her attention to the timeless legend of The Iliad, as experienced by the captured women living in the Greek camp in the final weeks of the Trojan War. The ancient city of Troy has withstood a decade under siege of the powerful Greek army, who continue to wage bloody war over a stolen woman--Helen. In the Greek camp, another woman watches and waits for the war's outcome: Briseis. She was queen of one of Troy's neighboring kingdoms, until Achilles, Greece's greatest warrior, sacked her city and murdered her husband and brothers. Briseis becomes Achilles's concubine, a prize of battle, and must adjust quickly in order to survive a radically different life, as one of the many conquered women who serve the Greek army. When Agamemnon, the brutal political leader of the Greek forces, demands Briseis for himself, she finds herself caught between the two most powerful of the Greeks. Achilles refuses to fight in protest, and the Greeks begin to lose ground to their Trojan opponents. Keenly observant and cooly unflinching about the daily horrors of war, Briseis finds herself in an unprecedented position to observe the two men driving the Greek forces in what will become their final confrontation, deciding the fate, not only of Briseis's people, but also of the ancient world at large. Briseis is just one among thousands of women living behind the scenes in this war--the slaves and prostitutes, the nurses, the women who lay out the dead--all of them erased by history. With breathtaking historical detail and luminous prose, Pat Barker brings the teeming world of the Greek camp to vivid life. She offers nuanced, complex portraits of characters and stories familiar from mythology, which, seen from Briseis's perspective, are rife with newfound revelations. Barker's latest builds on her decades-long study of war and its impact on individual lives--and it is nothing short of magnificent"-- "The Iliad, as experienced by the captured women living in the Greek camp in the final weeks of the Trojan War"--… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member Cariola
Huddled with the other women in the parapet within Lyrnessus's walls, Briseis stands in the shadow of a window and watches the action below. Achilles has already killed her husband and two brothers, and now her youngest brother, barely old enough to fight, is brought down by a spear through the
Many novels have been written about the Trojan War, but Barker finds a new way in through the point of view of Briseis, once a queen and a childhood friend of the infamous Helen, now a concubine struggling to make the best of things. The heroics of war take on a new dimension within the confines of the Greek camp where the captive women are assigned to the victors--until they tire of them and are loosed to the general troops. Those too old or unattractive for bed-play are resigned to work in the laundry, charnal house, or hospital, and all of the women take their turns working the looms. Only 19, Briseis tries her best to submit to Achilles's will and is sustained by the unexpected friendship of his companion, Patroclus--at least until Appollo's wrath hits the camp in the form of a plague, and Briseis herself becomes a pawn in both the attempt to pacify the angry god and in the infamous quarrel between Achilles and Agamemnon,.
No one examines the effects of war quite like Pat Barker. Regeneration, the first in her World War I trilogy, focuses on the poet Siegfried Sassoon, who was found "mentally unsound" in a court martial after publishing a letter denouncing the war and was sent to Craiglockhart War Hospital where, under the care of psychiatist Dr. William Rivers, he was supposed to regain his senses and return to the trenches. (The next two books, eye in the Door and The Ghost Road follow the war through the experiences of Rivers and another patient, Billy Prior.) A second trilogy, Life Class, follows students whose studies at the Slade School of Art are interrupted by World War I; some enlist, others take on sacrifices and supportive tasks at home, including Elinor Brooke, who assists a renowned plastic surgeon in reconstructing the faces of wounded men. (Toby's Room recounts the effect of the death on battlefield of Elinor's brother, and in Noonday, she and her family endure the London Blitz and its aftermath.) Now, in The Silence of the Girls, Barker takes her perceptive imagination to ancient Troy and into the hearts and mind of the least culpable and weakest of the defeated, the captive women. Again, she examines in depth the effects of war, not only on the women but also on the warriors, who become increasingly dehumanized. Like Briseis, she can empathize with them while nonetheless condemning their actions. This is a powerful, brutal book, haunting and beautifully written, a true modern counterpart to The Illiad that resonates in today's world.
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throat. As she watches him die, Achilles raises his head and, she thinks, looks directly at her. By the end of the day, her city will have fallen, and she will be Achilles's slave.Many novels have been written about the Trojan War, but Barker finds a new way in through the point of view of Briseis, once a queen and a childhood friend of the infamous Helen, now a concubine struggling to make the best of things. The heroics of war take on a new dimension within the confines of the Greek camp where the captive women are assigned to the victors--until they tire of them and are loosed to the general troops. Those too old or unattractive for bed-play are resigned to work in the laundry, charnal house, or hospital, and all of the women take their turns working the looms. Only 19, Briseis tries her best to submit to Achilles's will and is sustained by the unexpected friendship of his companion, Patroclus--at least until Appollo's wrath hits the camp in the form of a plague, and Briseis herself becomes a pawn in both the attempt to pacify the angry god and in the infamous quarrel between Achilles and Agamemnon,.
No one examines the effects of war quite like Pat Barker. Regeneration, the first in her World War I trilogy, focuses on the poet Siegfried Sassoon, who was found "mentally unsound" in a court martial after publishing a letter denouncing the war and was sent to Craiglockhart War Hospital where, under the care of psychiatist Dr. William Rivers, he was supposed to regain his senses and return to the trenches. (The next two books, eye in the Door and The Ghost Road follow the war through the experiences of Rivers and another patient, Billy Prior.) A second trilogy, Life Class, follows students whose studies at the Slade School of Art are interrupted by World War I; some enlist, others take on sacrifices and supportive tasks at home, including Elinor Brooke, who assists a renowned plastic surgeon in reconstructing the faces of wounded men. (Toby's Room recounts the effect of the death on battlefield of Elinor's brother, and in Noonday, she and her family endure the London Blitz and its aftermath.) Now, in The Silence of the Girls, Barker takes her perceptive imagination to ancient Troy and into the hearts and mind of the least culpable and weakest of the defeated, the captive women. Again, she examines in depth the effects of war, not only on the women but also on the warriors, who become increasingly dehumanized. Like Briseis, she can empathize with them while nonetheless condemning their actions. This is a powerful, brutal book, haunting and beautifully written, a true modern counterpart to The Illiad that resonates in today's world.
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LibraryThing member Helenliz
I'm a sucker for retelling a story from a different persepective. Done well it can bring something new to the original story, and open your eyes to a new view. And this is done well, in fact it is almost done very well, but a few jarring notes crept in.
This is the siege of Troy as told from the
Telling the story from Bresis' view gives the narrative a whole different spin. through he you hear from the women in the camps, those taken as slaves, the pretty and the not so pretty and how they fare with their captors. It can be pretty blunt at times about the fact that she is having sex (let's be honest - and the book is very honest in this regard - being raped) by the man who killed her husband and brothers. And yet she can see the human side of him, at times in a way that few others can. For the most part, the story is told by Bresis herself, in the first person. And that worked really well, it made it very immediate and took you into her world. You could see the story you knew, but it was as if in a distorted mirror, and that just made it more interesting, the distortion of a close first person narrator telling what is important to them not what was important to the original story. The bits that I felt were jarring were the chapters that were not told in the first person, they were in the 3rd person and told Achilles story, which you needed to understand what Bresis was seeing and experiencing, but it felt like a return to the traditional, male orriented, story, rather than seeing the world solely through the eyes of the one person. I felt that these were at odds with the remainder of the story. And for that reason this doesn't get the 5 stars that it almost deserves. It is a very good read, it is a really good effort to do something different, but I feel that the execution lets it down just on that one point.
This is the siege of Troy as told from the
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perspective of Bresis, who is queen of Lyrnessus, and is awarded to Achilles as a slave for him to do with what he will. And she ends up being his bed girl. She is then taken by Agamemnon to replace his favourite slave, who is sent back to her father and causes the falling out between Achilles & Agamemnon. Only it's not actually about Bresis at all, it's about male power and posturing and they both back themselves into a corner they can't get out of without loosing face. Telling the story from Bresis' view gives the narrative a whole different spin. through he you hear from the women in the camps, those taken as slaves, the pretty and the not so pretty and how they fare with their captors. It can be pretty blunt at times about the fact that she is having sex (let's be honest - and the book is very honest in this regard - being raped) by the man who killed her husband and brothers. And yet she can see the human side of him, at times in a way that few others can. For the most part, the story is told by Bresis herself, in the first person. And that worked really well, it made it very immediate and took you into her world. You could see the story you knew, but it was as if in a distorted mirror, and that just made it more interesting, the distortion of a close first person narrator telling what is important to them not what was important to the original story. The bits that I felt were jarring were the chapters that were not told in the first person, they were in the 3rd person and told Achilles story, which you needed to understand what Bresis was seeing and experiencing, but it felt like a return to the traditional, male orriented, story, rather than seeing the world solely through the eyes of the one person. I felt that these were at odds with the remainder of the story. And for that reason this doesn't get the 5 stars that it almost deserves. It is a very good read, it is a really good effort to do something different, but I feel that the execution lets it down just on that one point.
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LibraryThing member Eyejaybee
As a boy I loved old legends, especially those of the Ancient Greeks, in which humans so often seemed like chess pieces moved around at the whim of the gods. One Christmas, now probably not far short of fifty years ago, my sister gave me a boxed set of Puffin paperbacks by Roger Lancelyn Green, in
Of course, I knew of The Iliad and The Odyssey, composed (according to legend) by the blind minstrel Homer, and standing at the fountainhead of Western literature. It came as quite a surprise, however, when I finally came to read The Iliad to discover that it didn’t relate the whole ten years of the Trojan War, and all the ins and outs of that dreadful conflict. It is, instead, restricted to a period of about eight weeks, towards the end of the war (although, of course, the protagonists did not know that), and focuses primarily on the bitter dispute between Achilles, unrivalled hero of the Greeks, and Agamemnon, overall leader of the Greek forces and brother of Menelaus, from whom Paris had abducted Helen.
That dispute hinged round two young noble women (Briseis and Chryseis) whom the Greeks seized from one of the cities near Troy that they had sacked. Briseis, was given to Achilles, while Chryseis was delivered to Agamemnon. Chryseis was the daughter of a senior priest of Apollo, and her father came to plead with Agamemnon for her release, offering a large ransom in return. Agamemnon, notable for his pride, anger and utter lack of wisdom or humanity, scorned Chryseis’s father, sending him away empty handed. The priest scurries away, praying to Apollo, whom he addresses by various titles, including the apparently innocuous title ‘Lord of Mice’. Seeing his priest treated with such disdain, Apollo vents his rage. We quickly learn that the epithet, ‘Lord of Mice’ refers to his ability to send plague, which was spread throughout the ancient world by rodents. The Greek camp is soon overrun with a virulent plague, which renders far worse casualties than the Trojans had achieved. After consulting various oracles, the wiser Greek leaders persuade Agamemnon to send Chryseis back to her father, and offer huge sacrifices to appease Apollo. He grudgingly does so, but then insists upon seizing Briseis from Achilles to replace her. This so angers Achilles that (‘sulking in his tent’) he withdraws his men from the campaign. Without the ferocious Achilles and his loyal Myrmidons, the Greeks falter on the battlefield, and lose much of the ground they had so painstakingly won over the previous nine years.
Pat Barker’s book revisits this ancient story from the women’s perspective. It is told mainly by Briseis, a young woman who had been a princess in her own realm (a city state that fell within the overall domain of Troy). She is captured when her city was sacked by the Greeks, and dragged back to their camp. Terrified, and unsure whether she will even survive the first night, she finds herself given to Achilles. In the Roger Lancelyn Green version that I read as a boy, it was merely stated that she was passed to him as a maidservant. Barker shuns any such euphemism, and makes it abundantly clear that Briseis’s future will be as a sexual plaything of Achilles, on call whenever required.
Briseis is a great character. Caught in a dreadful predicament, she remains strong and resourceful, emerging with far more dignity than her cruel and petulant captors. Achilles is more sympathetically drawn than Agamemnon, who is boundlessly cruel, petty and essentially weak, but still shows no ability to see Briseis as a person rather than just an object to gratify his demands. The only Greek male who displays any sort of humanity is Patroclus, Achilles’s lifelong companion and friend.
Where Barker excels is in taking a story with which her readers are already familiar, and successfully reversing the perspective while retaining all the immediacy and draw of the plot. Anyone familiar with the story of Troy knows what is about to happen, and how the different fates of Achilles, Patroclus, Agamemnon, and Troy itself will play out. Despite that, the reader is hooked immediately, and drawn in to Briseis’s story. The book races along, driven by Barker’s clear prose.
It is easy to see why this book, offering a wholly new interpretation on what is literally the oldest tale in western literature was nominated for so many awards. It is a dazzling success.
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which he retold a wide selection of old myths. One volume included tales from ancient Egypt, and the antics of their strange gods with those human bodies topped by animals’ or birds’ heads; another recounted the Norse legends, and the grim adventures that befell the people and gods of Middle Earth. The ones I liked best, however, were those about the Greek legends, and in particular, Green’s retelling of the Trojan War, in which wily Odysseus and his friend Diomedes contributed just as much to the success as the physical might of Ajax, or the harsh valour of Achilles. I read them over and over again, and thought I knew everything about the Greeks’ ten-year campaign to avenge Paris’s abduction of the beautiful Helen.Of course, I knew of The Iliad and The Odyssey, composed (according to legend) by the blind minstrel Homer, and standing at the fountainhead of Western literature. It came as quite a surprise, however, when I finally came to read The Iliad to discover that it didn’t relate the whole ten years of the Trojan War, and all the ins and outs of that dreadful conflict. It is, instead, restricted to a period of about eight weeks, towards the end of the war (although, of course, the protagonists did not know that), and focuses primarily on the bitter dispute between Achilles, unrivalled hero of the Greeks, and Agamemnon, overall leader of the Greek forces and brother of Menelaus, from whom Paris had abducted Helen.
That dispute hinged round two young noble women (Briseis and Chryseis) whom the Greeks seized from one of the cities near Troy that they had sacked. Briseis, was given to Achilles, while Chryseis was delivered to Agamemnon. Chryseis was the daughter of a senior priest of Apollo, and her father came to plead with Agamemnon for her release, offering a large ransom in return. Agamemnon, notable for his pride, anger and utter lack of wisdom or humanity, scorned Chryseis’s father, sending him away empty handed. The priest scurries away, praying to Apollo, whom he addresses by various titles, including the apparently innocuous title ‘Lord of Mice’. Seeing his priest treated with such disdain, Apollo vents his rage. We quickly learn that the epithet, ‘Lord of Mice’ refers to his ability to send plague, which was spread throughout the ancient world by rodents. The Greek camp is soon overrun with a virulent plague, which renders far worse casualties than the Trojans had achieved. After consulting various oracles, the wiser Greek leaders persuade Agamemnon to send Chryseis back to her father, and offer huge sacrifices to appease Apollo. He grudgingly does so, but then insists upon seizing Briseis from Achilles to replace her. This so angers Achilles that (‘sulking in his tent’) he withdraws his men from the campaign. Without the ferocious Achilles and his loyal Myrmidons, the Greeks falter on the battlefield, and lose much of the ground they had so painstakingly won over the previous nine years.
Pat Barker’s book revisits this ancient story from the women’s perspective. It is told mainly by Briseis, a young woman who had been a princess in her own realm (a city state that fell within the overall domain of Troy). She is captured when her city was sacked by the Greeks, and dragged back to their camp. Terrified, and unsure whether she will even survive the first night, she finds herself given to Achilles. In the Roger Lancelyn Green version that I read as a boy, it was merely stated that she was passed to him as a maidservant. Barker shuns any such euphemism, and makes it abundantly clear that Briseis’s future will be as a sexual plaything of Achilles, on call whenever required.
Briseis is a great character. Caught in a dreadful predicament, she remains strong and resourceful, emerging with far more dignity than her cruel and petulant captors. Achilles is more sympathetically drawn than Agamemnon, who is boundlessly cruel, petty and essentially weak, but still shows no ability to see Briseis as a person rather than just an object to gratify his demands. The only Greek male who displays any sort of humanity is Patroclus, Achilles’s lifelong companion and friend.
Where Barker excels is in taking a story with which her readers are already familiar, and successfully reversing the perspective while retaining all the immediacy and draw of the plot. Anyone familiar with the story of Troy knows what is about to happen, and how the different fates of Achilles, Patroclus, Agamemnon, and Troy itself will play out. Despite that, the reader is hooked immediately, and drawn in to Briseis’s story. The book races along, driven by Barker’s clear prose.
It is easy to see why this book, offering a wholly new interpretation on what is literally the oldest tale in western literature was nominated for so many awards. It is a dazzling success.
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LibraryThing member Perednia
A must-read novel ostensibly about the Trojan War but hits hard in today's world.
LibraryThing member ecataldi
Damn, what a read. I've been on a Greek mythology kick recently and this really helped fuel that. Told from the perspective of not a warrior or a god, but a "lowly" women (although she had been a queen), this viewpoint is much needed and most always overlooked. The female perspective of the Trojan
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War was a refreshing (albeit terrifying) read. Briseis is taken a prize of war and given to the might Achilles as a slave. From royalty to slave is a far fall, but he knows she still has it better than most of the women in the camp, she could be passed around from man to man, raped at will, having to sleep outside with the dogs. She is grateful that she is "higher up" but how grateful can you be, when you have to open your legs for the man who killed your husbands and brothers? A wonderful read and a refreshing new take on the Trojan War. Show Less
LibraryThing member MarthaJeanne
Very peculiar that the women keep weaving, but nobody spins. Where did the thread come from?
This is a powerful book, but you don't get any feeling that the author has really thought about what life would have been like in the time of the Trojan war. It's not set in modern times either. Maybe
This is a powerful book, but you don't get any feeling that the author has really thought about what life would have been like in the time of the Trojan war. It's not set in modern times either. Maybe
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outside of time as if the classic could be in any period. Show Less
LibraryThing member SChant
Supposedly The Illiad from the women's perspective, but it really wasn't. It lived up to it's title - one "girl" got to talk for a bit in a bland, desultory manner but the rest were more-or-less "silent" and the book turned out to be a dull re-telling of the men's story of the Illiad. I couldn't be
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bothered to finish it. Show Less
LibraryThing member Opinionated
Briseis is one of the most important characters in The Iliad. The captive of Achilles, she is stolen by Agamemnon, an act that causes Achilles to refuse to fight, but ultimately leads to the conclusion of the the 10 year war.
But of course, in the Iliad, she's not a character. She's a narrative
Its a great idea; and given that she is telling Briseis' story, rather than retelling the Illiad, Barker is under no obligation to stick to the Iliad's timeline, and so she doesn't. She starts her story with the capture of
But of course, in the Iliad, she's not a character. She's a narrative
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device, much like the legendary Helen. She's important - but she doesn't get anything to say. In general, in The Iliad, women don't. Unless they are goddesses of course, and even then, not so much. The Iliad is a ballard of male pride, male stubbornness and male violence. Pat Barker sets out to give Briseis, Helen, Chryseis and the captured women of Troy a voice and a point of viewIts a great idea; and given that she is telling Briseis' story, rather than retelling the Illiad, Barker is under no obligation to stick to the Iliad's timeline, and so she doesn't. She starts her story with the capture of
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LibraryThing member Ken-Me-Old-Mate
Not having been spoiled by ever having been taught any history of this (or any other period) I came to this story with no preconceptions about how it should be told. One of my thoughts was, "if I had been taught history, I doubt it would have been as good or as interesting as this".
This thought
I loved the real down to earth murder, rape, abuse, suffering that is presented here, which is far from the American propaganda machine that is Hollywood when it comes to History. I've always thought that war must be hell for the squeemish and certainly there was no glorification going on here. I loved the supernatural being of Achilles mother just popping in as if she just came from a cruise ship.
And no porn sex here, just the plain old in and out that is far more representative of reality than the shaved pubes and the mechanised tits that keep appearing on my screen whenever I search for "Thomas Tank Engine Authentic Accent" (how does that work?)
Never having read the original (hah!) I have nothing to compare it except the myriad other excellent books I have read and I found nothing lacking. Bloody Brilliant. Would make a great gangster movie!
This thought
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has been reinforced in reading a few (low star) reviews that bemoan the fact that it wasn't told in the Greek tradition (whatever that was). I think these are the same people that also bemoan that Thomas The Tank Engine is not told with "real" Welsh accent. Well, fuck 'em.I loved the real down to earth murder, rape, abuse, suffering that is presented here, which is far from the American propaganda machine that is Hollywood when it comes to History. I've always thought that war must be hell for the squeemish and certainly there was no glorification going on here. I loved the supernatural being of Achilles mother just popping in as if she just came from a cruise ship.
And no porn sex here, just the plain old in and out that is far more representative of reality than the shaved pubes and the mechanised tits that keep appearing on my screen whenever I search for "Thomas Tank Engine Authentic Accent" (how does that work?)
Never having read the original (hah!) I have nothing to compare it except the myriad other excellent books I have read and I found nothing lacking. Bloody Brilliant. Would make a great gangster movie!
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LibraryThing member smik
Briseis knows what will happen to her if she is still alive when Achilles and the Greek army reach her palace. She can hear him coming. Her husband, father and her brothers are already dead, and she has the option to throw herself from the ramparts, but she chooses to wait and become a captive. She
Her life radically changes as she becomes concubine and house servant.
The story explores what happens to women as they become trophies of war, at the same as combining Briseis' story with the legends of Achilles as we know them from Homer's Iliad.
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is assigned to Achilles as part of his prize for what he has achieved in battle.Her life radically changes as she becomes concubine and house servant.
The story explores what happens to women as they become trophies of war, at the same as combining Briseis' story with the legends of Achilles as we know them from Homer's Iliad.
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LibraryThing member japaul22
Pat Barker has done a retelling of Achilles' story, this time from the point of view of Briseis, the captured and enslaved princess of a city in Troy. Briseis is given to Achilles as part of his spoils of war. When Agamemnon and Achilles have a falling out, Briseis is in the middle, taken from
Briseis's complicated feelings towards her captors, even those who are relatively nice to her are explored throughout the book. This is especially true of her feelings towards Patroclus, Achilles's best friend, but also in the end true for her feelings towards Achilles. Also, as the title suggests, the way that women are silenced in the story is explored.
Overall, I loved this book. However, I kept thinking the reason I loved it is because the story itself is still so good, even after 1000s of years. The complicated Achilles with his love of Patroclus, his hero status, but his petulant behavior just can't be beat. And his story does overshadow Briseis, even while the book is meant to be about her story. So this is compulsively readable and a great story, but I'm not positive Barker achieved what she set out to.
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Achilles by Agamemnon as a show of power. Briseis's complicated feelings towards her captors, even those who are relatively nice to her are explored throughout the book. This is especially true of her feelings towards Patroclus, Achilles's best friend, but also in the end true for her feelings towards Achilles. Also, as the title suggests, the way that women are silenced in the story is explored.
Overall, I loved this book. However, I kept thinking the reason I loved it is because the story itself is still so good, even after 1000s of years. The complicated Achilles with his love of Patroclus, his hero status, but his petulant behavior just can't be beat. And his story does overshadow Briseis, even while the book is meant to be about her story. So this is compulsively readable and a great story, but I'm not positive Barker achieved what she set out to.
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LibraryThing member charl08
I wasn't sure I wanted to read this, but when I did pick it up I was very quickly swept up in the story of Briseis, a young captured slave who is awarded to Achilles during the Trojan wars. I know very little about the Trojan wars, but Barker is busy with the lives of the captured women, from their
I read the Regeneration trilogy a long time ago, but I think Barker manages the same thing here, the pity of war.
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precarious associations to jobs in the camp, from medicine to weaving. The long term interweaving of lives comes through strongly too, from women asked to adapt or die. I felt for Briseis in her dilemmas, and was carried through a blood soaked story willing her to survive. I read the Regeneration trilogy a long time ago, but I think Barker manages the same thing here, the pity of war.
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LibraryThing member RBeffa
My mixed and less than enthusiastic reaction to The Song of Achilles (which is more the song of Patroclus, truly) encouraged me to look for another book and take on the Trojan War, and there are many. I saw there was a new release that deals with Briseis, who caught my eye in Madeline Miller's book
A review was just posted on May 31 that praises this novel and says it much better than I could.
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and was probably my favorite character. I liked this novel better than "The Song of Achilles". This book has a much narrower scope and I thought it was an excellent companion book and I also think if one were to read one or the other I would recommend this over Song of Achilles. This is a retelling of The Illiad without all the men's glory and with all of the ugly grit, and mostly from the perspective of women, Briseis in particular.A review was just posted on May 31 that praises this novel and says it much better than I could.
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LibraryThing member nmele
Pat Barker tells the story of the Iliad through the eyes of a major character who has no speaking part in Homer's epic: the captive young woman name Briseis. Through Briseis, Barker speaks frankly about what happens to captive women taken in war at this time but also acknowledges the toll on the
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men. A captive woman like Briseis is used but also witnesses much of the deliberations and rivalries which drive the plot of The Iliad. Barker turns this tale of heroes battling into something quite a bit deeper and ultimately perhaps more accessible to our era while recognizing the importance of the Homeric tradition. Show Less
LibraryThing member RandyMetcalfe
Briseis is a prize of battle, the battle which killed her brothers and husband and father, the battle in which Achilles led his Greek Myrmidons to victory over Lyrnessus, a liege-city of Troy. She is Achilles’ prize, his slave. She is also the catalyst for the great final tragic sequence of
Against the heavy tide of story and character, Pat Barker marshals her considerable gifts as a lyric teller of historical fiction. Her Briseis is full of vim and keen observation, but not so much as to be anachronistic. She remains a woman of her time and there is no avoiding the custom of spoils in war. And compared to some, or many, Briseis’ lot is desirable. Late on we hear a young, rebellious captive declare that it is better to be dead than a slave, a foreshadow surely of the shade of Achilles’ opposite desire when encountered by Odysseus in the underworld. Briseis also chooses life. And despite Barker’s sometime claim that Achilles is a great criminal, we don’t actually see him committing dishonourable acts here. He does seem admirable, often kind, thoughtful, devoted to his friend, Patroclus, and capable of accepting his fate. Briseis comes to like him in spite of herself. Hate him too, of course, for killing her brothers (in battle). But respect him, certainly. Hence the difficulty. It is very hard to turn the narrative away from Achilles being the best of men.
Nevertheless, Barker’s Briseis story is compelling and thoughtful. It holds one’s attention and offers a wider view on the sometimes narrow story of the Iliad. But what lessons are we meant to take? The more real Briseis becomes, situated in her time and place, the less, I think, she has in common with women today. But I could easily be wrong about that.
Recommended.
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events in the Trojan war. It begins when Agamemnon takes her for his own on having to give up his own prize, Chryseis. Achilles is affronted by the slight to his honour and refuses to fight further for the Greeks until Agamemnon apologizes. It appears the war will now be lost, until Patroclus dons Achilles’ armour and leads the Myrmidons onto the field of battle to break the Trojan lines. Eventually Hector kills Patroclus. Achilles sets aside his dispute with Agamemnon to return to the fight and avenge Patroclus, killing Hector, knowing full-well that Hector’s death removes Troy’s last, best defence. And since Achilles’ own death has been foretold to occur before the fall of Troy, Hector’s death means Achilles’ death can’t be far off. Even if you tell such a tale from the point of view of Briseis, there is virtually no way for this not to be Achilles’ story. Silence, it is said, becomes a woman.Against the heavy tide of story and character, Pat Barker marshals her considerable gifts as a lyric teller of historical fiction. Her Briseis is full of vim and keen observation, but not so much as to be anachronistic. She remains a woman of her time and there is no avoiding the custom of spoils in war. And compared to some, or many, Briseis’ lot is desirable. Late on we hear a young, rebellious captive declare that it is better to be dead than a slave, a foreshadow surely of the shade of Achilles’ opposite desire when encountered by Odysseus in the underworld. Briseis also chooses life. And despite Barker’s sometime claim that Achilles is a great criminal, we don’t actually see him committing dishonourable acts here. He does seem admirable, often kind, thoughtful, devoted to his friend, Patroclus, and capable of accepting his fate. Briseis comes to like him in spite of herself. Hate him too, of course, for killing her brothers (in battle). But respect him, certainly. Hence the difficulty. It is very hard to turn the narrative away from Achilles being the best of men.
Nevertheless, Barker’s Briseis story is compelling and thoughtful. It holds one’s attention and offers a wider view on the sometimes narrow story of the Iliad. But what lessons are we meant to take? The more real Briseis becomes, situated in her time and place, the less, I think, she has in common with women today. But I could easily be wrong about that.
Recommended.
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LibraryThing member alanteder
Review of the Penguin Audiobook edition released Aug. 30, 2018
I don't know if it was a marketing mistake or not, but for some reason the audiobook download edition of The Silence of the Girls was released in North America almost a full two months before its scheduled print release of October 23,
I really don't like this title, but the most appropriate title, "The Trojan Women", was already taken by Euripedes, so I can see that Pat Barker would have to compromise with a best alternative. Choosing something that evokes Thomas Harris's Hannibal Lector book & film series doesn't ring very well though.
The book is told primarily in the voice of Brisēís, queen of a Trojan-ally city that is conquered by the Greeks in their (then) 9-year ongoing campaign against Troy. She becomes the enslaved servant of the primary Greek warrior Achilles and is then directly or indirectly the cause of much of the plot elements of Homer's "The Iliad". She is here then witness to the events that unfold according to most of Homer's plot but with extensive background and expanded elements added. The narration by Kristin Atherton in this role is excellent.
There are several interludes where the thoughts and activities of Achilles and his childhood companion/fellow warrior Patroclus are not directly witnessed by Brisēís and are thus narrated in a male voice by Michael Fox (Note: this is not the TV actor Michael J. Fox). The change was jarring at first but the performance itself was totally well-done.
The one anachronistic element that struck me as odd was the appropriation of the (Australian?) bawdy song "Why was She Born so Beautiful?" as an Ancient Greek soldier song. It is repeated in variations several times so you can eventually accept it as a timeless expression of repressed male urges and frustrations. But it is certainly jarring at first.
Counter to its title, The Silence of the Girls gives eloquent voice to Brisēís and many of the other Trojan women whose roles in the Iliad were silent. The concluding chapters from Priam's expedition to Achilles camp onwards were as great as anything Homer-related that I have ever* read. I very much look forward to the print edition in the near future.
*I am a confessed Iliad nut, in that I have read Robert Fagles' "The Iliad", Stephen Mitchell's "The Iliad", Madeline Miller's "The Song of Achilles", Rosemary Sutcliff's "Black Ships Before Troy" and Alberto Manguel's "Homer's the Iliad and the Odyssey: A Biography" in recent years. So all of the above is not exactly unbiased.
I don't know if it was a marketing mistake or not, but for some reason the audiobook download edition of The Silence of the Girls was released in North America almost a full two months before its scheduled print release of October 23,
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2018. I intend to read the print edition as well but here are some early thoughts based on the audiobook.I really don't like this title, but the most appropriate title, "The Trojan Women", was already taken by Euripedes, so I can see that Pat Barker would have to compromise with a best alternative. Choosing something that evokes Thomas Harris's Hannibal Lector book & film series doesn't ring very well though.
The book is told primarily in the voice of Brisēís, queen of a Trojan-ally city that is conquered by the Greeks in their (then) 9-year ongoing campaign against Troy. She becomes the enslaved servant of the primary Greek warrior Achilles and is then directly or indirectly the cause of much of the plot elements of Homer's "The Iliad". She is here then witness to the events that unfold according to most of Homer's plot but with extensive background and expanded elements added. The narration by Kristin Atherton in this role is excellent.
There are several interludes where the thoughts and activities of Achilles and his childhood companion/fellow warrior Patroclus are not directly witnessed by Brisēís and are thus narrated in a male voice by Michael Fox (Note: this is not the TV actor Michael J. Fox). The change was jarring at first but the performance itself was totally well-done.
The one anachronistic element that struck me as odd was the appropriation of the (Australian?) bawdy song "Why was She Born so Beautiful?" as an Ancient Greek soldier song. It is repeated in variations several times so you can eventually accept it as a timeless expression of repressed male urges and frustrations. But it is certainly jarring at first.
Counter to its title, The Silence of the Girls gives eloquent voice to Brisēís and many of the other Trojan women whose roles in the Iliad were silent. The concluding chapters from Priam's expedition to Achilles camp onwards were as great as anything Homer-related that I have ever* read. I very much look forward to the print edition in the near future.
*I am a confessed Iliad nut, in that I have read Robert Fagles' "The Iliad", Stephen Mitchell's "The Iliad", Madeline Miller's "The Song of Achilles", Rosemary Sutcliff's "Black Ships Before Troy" and Alberto Manguel's "Homer's the Iliad and the Odyssey: A Biography" in recent years. So all of the above is not exactly unbiased.
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LibraryThing member HendrikSteyaert
Makes you wonder about all the other "heroes" that so many people worship.
LibraryThing member RidgewayGirl
This is a retelling of The Iliad, this time from the point of view of Briseis, a young woman married to the son of a king until Achilles sacked her city and she was taken captive as a slave and given to Achilles. While she has an important role to play in the events, it is as a pawn and not as an
Pat Barker knows how to tell a story well and this novel is no exception. She takes a familiar tale and makes the least important people, the women taken as slaves, the central focus. I really enjoy that these old and familiar myths are not being kept static, but are being reimagined and reinvigorated. It's also interesting to compare this retelling with Madeline Miller's Song of Achilles, a substantially different and yet equally compelling version of the same story.
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active participant. In The Silence of the Girls, Briseis is given her voice and tells her own story. Pat Barker knows how to tell a story well and this novel is no exception. She takes a familiar tale and makes the least important people, the women taken as slaves, the central focus. I really enjoy that these old and familiar myths are not being kept static, but are being reimagined and reinvigorated. It's also interesting to compare this retelling with Madeline Miller's Song of Achilles, a substantially different and yet equally compelling version of the same story.
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LibraryThing member emanate28
I liked how it drove home the point that these enslaved women were objects, things to be given and used as if they were not people. And as Briseis herself says, it is Achilles's tale.
As a story that was recommended to me as showing the usually overlooked point of view of the women of these heroic
As a story that was recommended to me as showing the usually overlooked point of view of the women of these heroic
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tales...well, it was good. But I think having read Circe a few months ago spoiled its impact for me. Show Less
LibraryThing member runner56
So to start a quick recap of Ancient History... Agamemnon and Achilles come from different backgrounds, but the war in Troy brings them together. ... Without Achilles, Agamemnon is losing. It isn't until Achilles' companion and best friend Patroclus is killed that Achilles rejoins the Trojan War.
So a beautiful telling of an ancient story woven expertly into The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker. However if we delve deeper this is more a novel about the women of those ancient times and how they were (mis) treated sold to the highest bidder to be abused, raped, discarded when their bodies and not their minds were of no further use. The narrator is Briseis who herself becomes involved in a love triangle/struggle between Agamemmon and Achilles. Through her eyes Barker strips away the hero qualities that have often been laid at the feet of Achilles and shows him for what she believes he is an intolerant butchering brute...."I'd been afraid ever since the cities of the Trojan plain started falling to Achilles; every burning, every sacking brought the war closer. But my fear that night was of an altogether different order, more sharply focused than it had ever been before. I knew my presence in the compound no longer reflected well on Amamemmon. Rather the opposite, in fact I was a constant reminder of the quarrel that had brought the Greek army to the brink of defeat. My only potential use, my only value to him- since he certainly didn't want me in his bed- had been as a possible bargaining chip in future negotiations with Achilles...."...."Achilles kept his word, everyone he promised Patroclus he did. He cut the throats of twelve Trojan youths, dragging their heads back by the hair and pulling his knife across their throats as quickly and cleanly as if they'd been goats".......
A lively colourful short novel with a profound message makes The Silence of the Girls a very enjoyable read that could possibly take the author in a different direction leaving the way open for many sequels. Recommended.
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And Agamemnon, realizing that Achilles is needed, returns Briseis to him. What was all the fighting about? here is a synopsis According to classical sources, the war began after the abduction (or elopement) of Queen Helen of Sparta by the Trojan prince Paris. Helen’s jilted husband Menelaus convinced his brother Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, to lead an expedition to retrieve her. Agamemnon was joined by the Greek heroes Achilles, Odysseus, Nestor and Ajax, and accompanied by a fleet of more than a thousand ships from throughout the Hellenic world. They crossed the Aegean Sea to Asia Minor to lay siege to Troy and demand Helen’s return by Priam, the Trojan king.So a beautiful telling of an ancient story woven expertly into The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker. However if we delve deeper this is more a novel about the women of those ancient times and how they were (mis) treated sold to the highest bidder to be abused, raped, discarded when their bodies and not their minds were of no further use. The narrator is Briseis who herself becomes involved in a love triangle/struggle between Agamemmon and Achilles. Through her eyes Barker strips away the hero qualities that have often been laid at the feet of Achilles and shows him for what she believes he is an intolerant butchering brute...."I'd been afraid ever since the cities of the Trojan plain started falling to Achilles; every burning, every sacking brought the war closer. But my fear that night was of an altogether different order, more sharply focused than it had ever been before. I knew my presence in the compound no longer reflected well on Amamemmon. Rather the opposite, in fact I was a constant reminder of the quarrel that had brought the Greek army to the brink of defeat. My only potential use, my only value to him- since he certainly didn't want me in his bed- had been as a possible bargaining chip in future negotiations with Achilles...."...."Achilles kept his word, everyone he promised Patroclus he did. He cut the throats of twelve Trojan youths, dragging their heads back by the hair and pulling his knife across their throats as quickly and cleanly as if they'd been goats".......
A lively colourful short novel with a profound message makes The Silence of the Girls a very enjoyable read that could possibly take the author in a different direction leaving the way open for many sequels. Recommended.
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LibraryThing member annbury
A wonderful novel, beautifully written and hard to put down. Pat Barker's novel tells the story of the Iliad through a woman's eyes -- Briseis, the enslaved girl whom Achilles was forced to turn over to Agamemnon, triggering Achilles' rage. The story may be ancient, but in this telling it pulls the
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reader compulsively forward. The language is simple and almost contemporary, but vivid and hard-hitting, achieving the power of poetry without being overtly poetic. This is the first novel by Barker that I have read: it certainly won't be the last. Show Less
LibraryThing member JanaRose1
Briseis, a princess, is given to Achilles as a war prize when her city is overrun and destroyed. Treated as an object, Briseis must quickly adjust to her new life among the Greek army. When Achilles and Agamemnon argue, Agamemnon demands Briseis as his own. Achilles relents, but decides no longer
This book was hard to put down. Briseis was such a realistic and interesting character. Secondary characters were also well created, and lacked the stereotypical feel that most historical fiction uses. I look forward to reading more from this author. Overall, highly recommended.
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to fight against the Trojans. This book was hard to put down. Briseis was such a realistic and interesting character. Secondary characters were also well created, and lacked the stereotypical feel that most historical fiction uses. I look forward to reading more from this author. Overall, highly recommended.
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LibraryThing member sensitivemuse
This is a retelling of The Iliad - no need to read it however a bit of the basics of it would help you understand this book more, just for background information.
It can be a rather difficult read. Not to say it’s hard to understand, but more of the detailed subject matter. It’s shocking to
The relationship between Briseis and Achilles was interesting. Despite the conqueror and war trophy titles, it develops and evolves as Achilles goes though life changing events through the novel. You do however, have a heart for Patroclus. He seemed more human and his friendship with Briseis is what might have kept her going through all this time in the book. In a sense too, she also benefited from being with Achilles (albeit, not her choice)
This is definitely word a read through if you’re interested in Greek Mythology and retellings this is worth the read, despite the slow but steady pace. The retelling of the Iliad from Briseis’ point of view is a good one.
It can be a rather difficult read. Not to say it’s hard to understand, but more of the detailed subject matter. It’s shocking to
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read when these women are going through an era where war is prevalent, and the best outcome for them is to be a trophy, instead of a slave. (Although, those two terms are pretty much the same thing if you think about it) It’s scary, and eye opening at the same time. These women go through a lot of trauma and Briseis has it slightly better than the other women out there (which says a lot). They’re pretty much treated like cattle and nothing could be done with it. Unfortunately this is the norm during war.The relationship between Briseis and Achilles was interesting. Despite the conqueror and war trophy titles, it develops and evolves as Achilles goes though life changing events through the novel. You do however, have a heart for Patroclus. He seemed more human and his friendship with Briseis is what might have kept her going through all this time in the book. In a sense too, she also benefited from being with Achilles (albeit, not her choice)
This is definitely word a read through if you’re interested in Greek Mythology and retellings this is worth the read, despite the slow but steady pace. The retelling of the Iliad from Briseis’ point of view is a good one.
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LibraryThing member CarltonC
The Silence of the Girls is mainly the story of Briseis, Achilles’ captured slave prize, although also parts of the story of Achilles and Patroclus in the ninth year of the siege of Troy.
I read Circe recently, and I am afraid I found The Silence of the Girls less vividly reimagined. Pat
I read Circe recently, and I am afraid I found The Silence of the Girls less vividly reimagined. Pat
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Barker’s decision to tell part of the story from Achilles and Patroclus’ perspectives diminishes Briseis’ story. Even though I can understand why this was done to broaden the scope of the story, Achilles has the more interesting tale, and so diminishes the focus on Briseis. Show Less
LibraryThing member cbl_tn
Novelist Barker takes on a retelling of The Iliad from a woman’s point of view. Briseis was a queen when her city fell to the Greeks. She was awarded to Achilles as his war prize, becoming his concubine. From her position as a slave, Briseis describes life within the Greek war camp and the Briseis finally realizes that she and the other Trojan women have not been silenced forever when she overhears a Trojan woman singing to her son by her Greek captor. “We’re going to survive—our songs, our stories. They’ll never be able to forget us. Decades after the last man who fought at Troy is dead, their sons will remember the songs their Trojan mothers sang to them. We’ll be in their dreams—and in their worst nightmares, too.
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conversations she overhears as she serves at Achilles’ table and later listens to his conversations with Patroclus. While the men in both camps are focused on winning the war, Briseis wants to recover her identity as a person that was taken from her when she became a slave. The outcome of the war is never in doubt since Barker is faithful to the legend of the fall of Troy. Show Less
Awards
Women's Prize for Fiction (Longlist — 2019)
Dublin Literary Award (Shortlist — 2020)
Costa Book Awards (Shortlist — Novel — 2018)
Independent Booksellers' Book Prize (Winner — Fiction — 2019)
Gordon Burn Prize (Shortlist — 2019)
BookTube Prize (Finalist — Fiction — 2019)
NPR: Books We Love (2018)
RUSA CODES Listen List (Selection — 2019)
Pages
304
ISBN
0385544219 / 9780385544214