Take a photo of a barcode or cover
abbie_ 's review for:
The Silence of the Girls
by Pat Barker
3.5 stars
The Silence of the Girls is by no means a perfect read, but I still thoroughly enjoyed this feminist retelling of the Iliad!
.
I thought I’d get what I didn’t like out of the way first, as I think when I put this last that’s all people take away from the review when in actual fact there’s a lot more great stuff about it! So I basically agree with a lot of people when I say that the inclusion of male perspectives baffled me. Surely a book being put forward as a feminist retelling from the perspective of Briseis should stick to Briseis?! And not switch to Achilles half way through, even if it is only for short chapters? An odd choice for a book trying to UNsilence the girls, and although I get that it was probably to fill gaps in the narrative where Briseis wasn’t present, I don’t think it was necessary. ALSO, while I enjoyed the modern language for the most part, some of it threw me and felt out of place, e.g. ‘bum fluff’ or ‘shlurping... something... like a pear’ - NO.
.
BUT, it cannot be denied that I loved a lot of stuff about this book! Briseis’ parts were spectacular in my opinion - unflinching, raw and compelling, as she adjusts to her new life stripped even of her own humanity, now an object, a prize of war. Her own narration and her interactions with the other women of the camp dismantle the idea that women were naive, prim and innocent, instead showing them as funny, courageous and just trying to make do with the lot they’ve been given, having no other choice.
.
I know Pat Barker writes a lot about war, although I haven’t read any of her other books yet, and I think she does a fantastic job of showing it for what it really is - no idealising or romanticising here. There’s one passage where Briseis lists the men killed in one day by Achilles and the manner of their death and it’s honestly HORRIFIC, but so, so good. It really gets across the mindlessness of it, the futility of these people dying. You need a strong stomach but it’s a powerful effect.
.
Overall, not flawless, but with lots of startlingly intense and moving parts and I couldn’t put it down despite its faults!
The Silence of the Girls is by no means a perfect read, but I still thoroughly enjoyed this feminist retelling of the Iliad!
.
I thought I’d get what I didn’t like out of the way first, as I think when I put this last that’s all people take away from the review when in actual fact there’s a lot more great stuff about it! So I basically agree with a lot of people when I say that the inclusion of male perspectives baffled me. Surely a book being put forward as a feminist retelling from the perspective of Briseis should stick to Briseis?! And not switch to Achilles half way through, even if it is only for short chapters? An odd choice for a book trying to UNsilence the girls, and although I get that it was probably to fill gaps in the narrative where Briseis wasn’t present, I don’t think it was necessary. ALSO, while I enjoyed the modern language for the most part, some of it threw me and felt out of place, e.g. ‘bum fluff’ or ‘shlurping... something... like a pear’ - NO.
.
BUT, it cannot be denied that I loved a lot of stuff about this book! Briseis’ parts were spectacular in my opinion - unflinching, raw and compelling, as she adjusts to her new life stripped even of her own humanity, now an object, a prize of war. Her own narration and her interactions with the other women of the camp dismantle the idea that women were naive, prim and innocent, instead showing them as funny, courageous and just trying to make do with the lot they’ve been given, having no other choice.
.
I know Pat Barker writes a lot about war, although I haven’t read any of her other books yet, and I think she does a fantastic job of showing it for what it really is - no idealising or romanticising here. There’s one passage where Briseis lists the men killed in one day by Achilles and the manner of their death and it’s honestly HORRIFIC, but so, so good. It really gets across the mindlessness of it, the futility of these people dying. You need a strong stomach but it’s a powerful effect.
.
Overall, not flawless, but with lots of startlingly intense and moving parts and I couldn’t put it down despite its faults!