Glorious Exploits: A Novel (Unabridged)
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4.7 • 10 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
An utterly original celebration of that which binds humanity across battle lines and history.
On the island of Sicily amid the Peloponnesian War, the Syracusans have figured out what to do with the surviving Athenians who had the gall to invade their city: they’ve herded the sorry prisoners of war into a rock quarry and left them to rot. Looking for a way to pass the time, Lampo and Gelon, two unemployed potters with a soft spot for poetry and drink, head down into the quarry to feed the Athenians if, and only if, they can manage a few choice lines from their great playwright Euripides. Before long, the two mates hatch a plan to direct a full-blown production of Medea. After all, you can hate the people but love their art. But as opening night approaches, what started as a lark quickly sets in motion a series of extraordinary events, and our wayward heroes begin to realize that staging a play can be as dangerous as fighting a war, with all sorts of risks to life, limb, and friendship.
Told in a contemporary Irish voice and as riotously funny as it is deeply moving, Glorious Exploits is an unforgettable ode to the power of art in a time of war, brotherhood in a time of enmity, and human will throughout the ages.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Themes of friendship, loss, war, and unabashed humor all run through this historical fiction debut. In 412 BC, two unemployed childhood friends decide to stage two plays by Euripides in a sun-baked quarry, with starving Athenian prisoners as their actors. The pair get backing, acquire costumes, and attempt to nurse the cast back to health—all in the name of a good story. In this love letter to the arts, Ferdia Lennon confidently walks the line between gallows humor and deep sentimentality, contrasting brutal moments about the horrors of war with unexpected moments of smashing wit. And somehow, it all fits together perfectly. Lennon narrates the tale himself, and his Irish lilt and spot-on comedic timing bring out everything that makes this quirky novel so wonderfully unique. Part Monty Python, part Waiting for Godot, this absurdist romp is as devastating as it is hilarious.
Customer Reviews
Fun and Different
Ferdia Lennon is an excellent author-narrator for this comic Irish novel set in the time of the Trojan Wars and the Greek tragedies.