My August Book Wrap-Up
What I’ve read this month, and what I rated for each of them.
1: The Iliad by Homer [ Robert Fagles’ Translation ]
The Iliad is an epic poem of the Trojan War, composed of 15,963 lines and written in dactylic hexameter and revolves around the last year of the Trojan war. Long story short: Trojan prince, Hector, kills Greek man, Greek man’s best friend goes ballistic – or how I like to say it, suicidal – and kills said Trojan. By killing Hector, the avenging Achaean, the infamous Achilles, sets off the timer of his own death sentence by the Fates. If you wanted to read about the “Achilles’ Heel’, it’s not actually in the Iliad – sorry to disappoint.
This particular translation is pretty good; the standard one with a lengthy, but informative introduction by Bernard Knox. Reading this edition still felt authentic, and that I didn’t miss out on anything special that would have been left out often by translated literature.
Also, although it’s not literally by Homer, but by oral bards. I still added Homer just for namesake. If you want to know more, read Milman Parry’s works on this.
2: The Priory of the Orange Tree
“No woman should be made to fear that she was not enough.”
I’m pretty sure if you’re on any book-related form of social media – Instagram, GoodReads, Facebook – you would have heard of this book. It is dubbed as an “epic feminist fantasy Game of Thrones”.
A well-written fantasy novel; a combination of made-up religion and the mythical English folklore of Saint George. Focusing on the female protagonists, Samantha builds empowering, independent figures. Through differences in religion, social caste, and race, they join forces and try to fight the same evil: The Nameless One. The author highlighted diversity, including LGBTQ+ characters without making them satire – one of the many things I love about The Priory of the Orange Tree.
This book is filled with witty dialogue – where I get my most recent insult, “witless cabbage”, courtesy of Ead Duryan. Samantha’s prose is articulate; she conveyed the thoughts and significance of her many characters’ actions incredibly well. She also writes vivid food descriptions so well that I appreciated it more than the wyrms and dragons; at one point I had to get myself a snack.
3 & 4: Mythos and Heroes by Stephen Fry
Do you love Greek Mythology? Are you new to it and don’t know where to start? Are you feeling left out in group discussions because you can’t name more than five Greek Gods and Goddesses? Or can you name all the chthonic beings but you’re just a nerd? If you answer at least one “Yes” to any of the questions above, you’re in luck!
Stephen Fry has a way of simplifying the labyrinth of Greek Mythology; all the chronological discrepancies and the gruelling, boring parts. He writes it all down with humour and makes the dialogue of the gods drip with sarcasm to while synchronising all the facts and stories – although Greek myths are never boring to me. By reading these two books and his way of viewing these complicated tales, he breaks down each myth with relevant backstories and helpful reminders at the footnote of each relevant page.
‘Myths are not crossword puzzles or allegories with single meanings and answers. Fate, necessity, cause and blame are all endlessly mixed in these stories as they are in our lives. They were no more soluble to the Greeks than they are to us.’
The myths can be complicated; they could be filled with allegories and deeper meanings if you squint hard enough. Other authors I’ve read shove down their ideals and their interpretations down their readers’ throats. You think the story of Apollo and Hyacinthus is cute? Hush! Let me tell you why that flower boy is another euphemism for some complicated Greek term that you probably don’t know of because you didn’t study the classics in university. Not Stephen Fry though, he gives us space to think and analyse if we want to. We can think the story of Zeus turning into a bull is some sacred action, some divine symbol that relates to the cosmos – or we can think that it’s just the Cloud-Bearer turning into a bull because of his sex-drive.
I am familiar with Greek myths; the aforementioned nerd in the beginning may or may not have been referring to me. As seasoned as I am, I still this pair of books to be a nice read. These two are part of the trilogy – Mythos, Heroes, and Troy – in that order. Looking forward to more of Stephen Fry’s works.
5. The Perks of Being a Wallflower
This book is so viscerally touching. The story is told by a socially-awkward, introverted teenager named Charlie. Charlie addresses the events by a series of letters to an unknown friend; he starts off to this pen-pal about how afraid he is of starting his first year of high school, and as the story progresses, it felt like I was reading a diary.
This story is a coming-of-age book; it raises many issues such as rape, mental illnesses, and drug usage. I enjoyed this book not only because it discussed so many things that are necessary and so relevant to teens now, but I also enjoyed it because the author, Stephen Chbosky, conveyed the emotions perfectly. The adolescent angst felt real, it kept me. They were relatable and I felt like I wasn’t being a wallflower, I wasn’t on the sidelines, but I was just a friend watching the story play out.
“-can’t just sit there and put everybody’s lives ahead of yours and think that counts as love,”.
This book made me think of what life was about because Charlie was such a relatable character that I thought back about my own high school experience – minus the traumatising past, I, fortunately, was just an introvert. At the end of the book, Charlie’s character unravels and develops. He tells his mysterious friend:
“Tomorrow, I start my sophomore year of high school. And believe it or not, I’m really not that afraid of going.”
I love a good book with character development that’s well done and well-paced; this one is especially note-worthy because it’s less than three hundred pages.
I’ve written a review with an analysis on my page, so if you are interested in a lengthier version, please tap on the link.
If you want to feel uncomfortable, this book is for you. Narrated by Jas, a ten-year-old girl raised on a farm with a pious Protestant family, it starts with Jas’s older brother drowning while ice skating. It quickly escalates to a rabbit hole of untouched taboos and with the way the author writes, it felt like I was going down that tunnel too.
This book deals with way too much scatology, incest, and violence of all sorts – I personally did enjoy this book but some parts were unnecessary. If this was a soup, then I would say the recipe was: four large bowls of excrement, two diced incest plants, roughly chopped animal cruelty, a pinch of sexual assault, and the most important ingredient: a nice tablespoon of death.
7. A Man called Ove
I saved the best for last. I love this book; Ove has my whole heart and I will never stop rooting for him. This book is just amazing; it’s so visceral and so real. It contains dark humour – which is always a plus for me. Fredrik Backman writes beautifully; his message and emotions, his descriptions and similes. I can’t summarise this book; perhaps other people can, but they probably don’t love it as much as I do. To summarise it is to conclude my personal ending with it, and I don’t want to.
I think we all have an Ove in our life; whether it’s you or someone you know. Ove is in all of us, we just have different levels of “Ove-ness”. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a happy cry – or a sad one, I did both. I recommend this book with all my heart and trust me, this is the book you wouldn’t want to miss.
I read a lot of books, so if you want more book-related content make sure to follow! Remember to read my book review of The Discomfort of Evening if you’re interested. I also have an Instgram if you want to be buddies there; just pop me a message! Subcribe for more!