Glorious Exploits
A bold and funny Sunday Times bestselling debut novel set in Ancient Sicily
-
-
4.2 • 10 Ratings
-
-
- $15.99
Publisher Description
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
WINNER OF THE WATERSTONES DEBUT FICTION PRIZE 2024
WINNER OF THE BOLLINGER EVERYMAN WODEHOUSE PRIZE FOR COMIC FICTION 2024
WINNER OF THE AUTHORS' CLUB BEST FIRST NOVEL AWARD
WINNER OF THE PREMIO GREGOR VON REZZORI
SHORTLISTED FOR THE NERO AWARD FOR DEBUT FICTION 2024
SHORTLISTED FOR THE WALTER SCOTT PRIZE
SHORTLISTED FOR THE DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE
SHORTLISTED FOR THE JOHN MCGAHERN PRIZE
SHORTLISTED FOR THE BRITISH BOOK AWARDS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2025 (DEBUT FICTION)
A BBC RADIO 4 BOOK AT BEDTIME
A BBC2 BETWEEN THE COVERS PICK
PICKED AS A BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE GUARDIAN, THE INDEPENDENT, THE IRISH TIMES, THE FINANCIAL TIMES AND THE TLS
‘One of the most original and brilliant debuts in years’ Irish Times
‘Bold and totally unexpected ... I was hooked from the first page’ Douglas Stuart, author of Shuggie Bain
‘Brilliant ... Hilarious, moving, and profound’ R. F. Kuang, author of Yellowface
***
Ancient Sicily. Enter GELON: visionary, dreamer, theatre lover. Enter LAMPO: feckless, jobless, in need of a distraction.
Imprisoned in the quarries of Syracuse, thousands of defeated Athenians hang on by the thinnest of threads.
They’re fading in the baking heat, but not everything is lost: they can still recite lines from Greek tragedy when tempted by Lampo and Gelon with goatskins of wine and scraps of food.
And so an idea is born. Because, after all, you can hate the invaders but still love their poetry.
It’s audacious. It might even be dangerous. But like all the best things in life – love, friendship, art itself – it will reveal the very worst, and the very best, of what humans are capable of.
What could possibly go wrong?
***
‘Fierce, funny, fast-paced … Brings the ancient world roaring to life’ Joanna Quinn, author of The Whalebone Theatre
‘Love, war, poetry, reckless ambition, terrible failure, and glorious triumph … A delicious treat of a read. I loved it’ Jon McGregor, author of Lean Fall Stand
Sunday Times bestseller, August 2024
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Lennon brings ancient Sicily to life with humor and pathos in his stunning debut. Thousands of Athenian soldiers are being held prisoner in Syracuse after a failed assault during the Peloponnesian War. Two unemployed potters, Lampo and Gelon, decide to recruit some of the prisoners, who have been left to die in quarries near the city, to perform a selection of Euripides' plays in exchange for food. Gelon, fearing the defeat of Athens could mean the end of its rich history of tragic drama, wants to stage Medea and The Trojan Women, the latter of which depicts the grim aftermath of Troy's defeat in the Trojan War. Lampo becomes increasingly invested in the project and discomfited by the brutal treatment of Sicily's vanquished rivals. By giving his leads a sense of purpose during dark and bloody times, Lennon makes the success of their offbeat venture feel important to the reader, and he thoroughly explores the novel's melancholy central theme—the world is "a wounded thing that can only be healed by story"—all the way up to the gut-punch denouement. It's not all dreary, though. Lampo's crackling modern vernacular adds just the right amount of levity, as when he comments on the hot weather: "Even the lizards are hiding, poking their heads out from under rocks and trees as if to say, Apollo, are you fucking joking?" Lennon's vital tale captivates.
Customer Reviews
All Greek to me
Author
Irish. BA in history from UC Dublin. MA in prose fiction from University of East Anglia. This is his first novel.
Setting
Syracuse, Sicily, 412 BC
Background
The Peloponnesian war (more correctly the Second Peloponnesian war) was fought between Athens and Sparta between 431BC and 404BC. (They took a lot of R&R.) In case you were wondering, the Peloponnesian peninsula is the southern most part of Greece, the bit than hangs down into the Mediterranean. Sicily was part of Greece back then too and Syracuse was the biggest town (Archimedes was born there). Athens tried to capture it, enjoyed some early success, then got routed by the Spartans. The Spartans didn’t slaughter the captured Athenian soldiers straightaway. Instead, they imprisoned them in a quarry and left them to from heat, thirst, starvation, disease, all of the above.
Precis
Gelon and Lampo are unemployed potters in Syracuse. Gelon loves Greek plays and worries that the Athenian defeat will lead to the demise of Greek drama. He and his mate venture in into the quarry with food, water and wine and promise to bring more if the prisoners recite lines from plays. They eventually persuade the starving Athenians to stage ‘Medea’ and ‘The Trojan Women’ by Euripides. Themes include friendship, the horrors of war, grief and the unifying value of art and literature. And there’s a happy ending.
Writing
First person by Lampo. The prose is crisp, well-paced and engaging, the dialogue (apart from the plays) is contemporary with an Irish flavour and sense of humour. Shades of Kevin Barry. Roddy Clarke too in the dialogue.
Bottom line
You have never read anything quite like this
Love books like this that encourage further research
Great read, allegory for creating art amidst adversity, hope he writes another book soon
Unique
Funny, sad, moving, entertaining and completely different to everything else. A real gem of a book.