"Pat Barker on The Silence of the Girls" Topic
12 Posts
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Editor in Chief Bill | 13 Aug 2021 9:40 p.m. PST |
In The Human Stain Philip Roth describes the Iliad as the source of European literature. All European literature starts, he says, with a fight. It's a fight between two great and powerful men: Agamemnon, commander in chief of the Greek army which is laying siege to Troy, and Achilles, the greatest of the Greek fighters. What are they quarrelling about, these "violent, mighty souls?" It's as basic as a barroom brawl. They're fighting over a woman. A girl, really. A girl stolen from her father. A girl abducted in a war… The Guardian: link |
Martin Rapier | 14 Aug 2021 1:50 a.m. PST |
It is a good book, I enjoyed it. |
Flashman14 | 14 Aug 2021 5:11 a.m. PST |
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Parzival | 14 Aug 2021 8:32 a.m. PST |
First of all, the article isn't about either The Human Stain or Philip Roth, or even Roth's assertion. It's about the book The Silence of the Girls, which I haven't read (nor heard of), and is the author discussing her reasons for writing the novel and its sequel. So I'm wondering "What's the point?" of this thread. What are we discussing? If Roth's assertion that "All European literature starts with a fight?" Well, no it doesn't. "All" and "European" and "literature" are really broad categories. Caedmon's Hymn is literature. It's European. And it involves no fight. So much for that. A lot? Yes. But why single out "European"? But most other literary traditions involve human conflict ("a fight"), at least among cultures that have literature (kinda hard to find "literature" in cultures with no written language). But even oral literature often involves human conflict. Heck, most songs do. We're human beings. Our literature comes down to a few things— love, hate, desire, need, faith, justice, mercy, and conflict. That is universal, and independent of culture. And that's actually what the author is saying— she's saying that even in a work as ancient and male-focused as the Iliad she found real human women engaging in realistic behavior to whom she could relate— 4,000 years doesn't change who humans are, or how we express ourselves all that much. And that is absolutely true. |
Martin Rapier | 14 Aug 2021 9:03 a.m. PST |
My comment was about 'Silence of the Girls' not Roth. I'm not that bothered about what The Guardian has to say about it. |
robert piepenbrink | 14 Aug 2021 2:18 p.m. PST |
Seems unlikely to contain costume information or scenarios. As for insightful comments on the human condition, as far as I'm concerned endorsement by either the Man Booker Prize Committee or the editorial staff of the Guardian would preclude that too. |
Gazzola | 15 Aug 2021 5:42 a.m. PST |
'They're fighting over a woman. A girl, really. A girl stolen from her father. A girl abducted in war.' Well, that's like saying that World War One started due to just one man killing another man. Myths, poems or reality-mankind never seems to learn. |
Parzival | 15 Aug 2021 8:28 a.m. PST |
My comment was about 'Silence of the Girls' not Roth.I'm not that bothered about what The Guardian has to say about it. Well, the article is by the author of that book, so The Guardian really isn't saying anything. She's just telling how she was inspired to write it. |
robert piepenbrink | 15 Aug 2021 10:32 a.m. PST |
Parzival, when a major newspaper gives you a hunk of space--especially without comments--they're saying a lot. |
Parzival | 15 Aug 2021 3:46 p.m. PST |
Yeah, they're saying "We think people will read what you write and see our customer's advertising, thus allowing us to charge them big bucks. Oh, and here's a small check, too." And the author says, "Tout my own books AND get paid for it? How many words do you need?" |
Cerdic | 16 Aug 2021 6:58 a.m. PST |
I've not read The Silence Of The Girls, but Pat Barker is a good writer. I read her Regeneration Trilogy books when they were first published. |
Erzherzog Johann | 11 Sep 2021 2:34 p.m. PST |
She's one of the great writers of our time. My wife introduced me to her writing because she'd read the Regeneration series. She often talks about 'The Ghost Road' and the impact it had on her. So when I saw 'Women of Troy', the sequel to 'The Silence of the Girls' in a bookshop yesterday I thought it sounded like a must-read. I obviously have some pre-reading to do . . . Incidentally, there's also a book on the shelves currently called Daughters of Troy, that is another attempt to retell the Troy story through the eyes of the women. May be more lightweight than Barker's, but that's purely groundless and ill informed speculation on my part :<) Cheers, John |
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