The Siege of Troy, Theodor Kallifatides
The Siege of Troy, Theodor Kallifatides
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The Siege of Troy

Author: Theodor Kallifatides, Marlaine Delargy

Narrator: Kate Mulligan, Armando Durán

Unabridged: 5 hr 24 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/10/2019


Synopsis

In this perceptive retelling of The Iliad, a young Greek teacher draws on the enduring power of myth to help her students cope with the terrors of Nazi occupation.Bombs fall over a Greek village during World War II, and a teacher takes her students to a cave for shelter. There she tells them about another war—when the Greeks besieged Troy. Day after day, she recounts how the Greeks suffer from thirst, heat, and homesickness, and how the opponents meet—army against army, man against man. Helmets are cleaved, heads fly, blood flows. And everything had begun when Prince Paris of Troy fell in love with king of Sparta Menelaus’s wife, the beautiful Helen, and escaped with her to his homeland. Now Helen stands atop the city walls to witness the horrors set in motion by her flight. When her current and former loves face each other in battle, she knows that, whatever happens, she will be losing. Theodor Kallifatides provides remarkable psychological insight in his version of The Iliad, downplaying the role of the gods and delving into the mindsets of its mortal heroes. Homer’s epic comes to life with a renewed urgency that allows us to experience events as though firsthand, and reveals timeless truths about the senselessness of war and what it means to be human.

About Theodor Kallifatides

Theodor Kallifatides has published more than forty works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry that have been translated around the world. Born in Greece in 1938, Kallifatides immigrated in 1964 to Sweden, where he began his literary career. As a translator, he has brought August Strindberg and Ingmar Bergman to Greek readers, and Giannis Ritsos and Mikis Theodorakis to Swedish ones. He has received numerous awards for his work in both Greece and Sweden. He lives in Sweden.

About Kate Mulligan

Kate Mulligan has acted with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival for more than ten seasons in productions including Hairspray, Alice in Wonderland, and Sense and Sensibility. Her film and television work includes Being John Malkovich and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

About Armando Durán

Armando Durán has appeared in films, television, and regional theaters throughout the West Coast. For the last decade he has been a member of the resident acting company at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. In 2009 he was named by AudioFile as Best Voice in Biography and History for his narration of Che Guevara. A native Californian, he divides his time between Los Angeles and Ashland, Oregon.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Lynne

This is a relatively short book consisting of a couple of hundred pages. However, I found it to be far more interesting in comparison with the Iliad, which I thought was rather dry in writing style and the ten year war extremely violent. Nevertheless it was still an excellent book from an historical......more

Nej det här tyckte jag var torrt och tråkigt.......more

Es una obra de una complejidad importante, donde se comparan dos realidades tan diferentes y tal iguales según el autor como la narración de La Iliada y la ocupación alemana de Grecia. Parecen los valores clásicos como el enfrentamiento con algunos rasgos de caballerosidad, la venganza, la furia, la......more

Goodreads review by nats

Una reconstrucción de la Ilíada con un estilo mucho más asequible, utilizando la técnica del relato enmarcado, y contextualizado en la primera Guerra Mundial. A ratos la lectura se me hizo un poco pesada, pero creo que la obra consigue trasmitir la esencia del clásico de Homero.......more

“The Siege of Troy” retells Homer’s “Illiad”, reframing it as a story told by a teacher to her students in German-occupied Greece in the waning days of World War II. The retelling is faithful, but deliberately emphasizes the horrific aspects of the Trojan War - the cruelties done to women, the horro......more


Quotes

“Kallifatides’s reworking of Homer’s epic provides an intriguing take on the human dimension of the myth and strikes a rich, resonant note.” Publishers Weekly

“Kallifatides has done a splendid job of retelling The Iliad through Miss’s voice, which possesses the elegance and eloquence of simplicity. It’s a lovely introduction to Homer’s original.” Booklist