Afbeelding auteur

Stephanie Plowman

Auteur van The Road to Sardis

7+ Werken 91 Leden 3 Besprekingen

Werken van Stephanie Plowman

The Road to Sardis (1965) 35 exemplaren
To Spare the Conquered (1965) 20 exemplaren
Three Lives for the Czar (1969) 14 exemplaren
My kingdom for a grave (1970) 12 exemplaren
The Leaping Song (1976) 5 exemplaren

Gerelateerde werken

Young Winter's Tales 2 (1971) — Medewerker — 1 exemplaar

Tagged

Algemene kennis

Geboortedatum
1922-12-28
Geslacht
female
Nationaliteit
England

Leden

Besprekingen

Story of Greco-Persian War through the eyes of a Greek, Theron of Athens [first boy then young man], from Marathon to Salamis--a period of 10 years or so. Theron is an eyewitness to all the highpoints of the war and takes part in the definitive defeat of Persia at Salamis. Written in a simple manner for young people.
The title is taken from a quotation of Aeschylus describing the call to arms at Salamis:
"Then was borne across the sea, a voice, a strong Clamour exultant like a leaping song, and Echo, answering from the island rock Cried battle."… (meer)
 
Gemarkeerd
janerawoof | Dec 26, 2018 |
A young man, Lycius of Athens, has come to Sardis to muster as one of Xenophon's Ten Thousand. Before he will begin his journey to Persia with his fellow mercenaries, he sits by a campfire and ruminates on the question asked by the ghosts of dead friends that he can never forget--

" 'Why have you come to Sardis, Lycius?'
Night after night this happens and I cannot answer them. All I can be sure of is when my journey here began--a night in early spring thirty years ago, when Thebes set her army tramping seven miles through the mud in a surprise attack on Plataea, so setting me, with many others, on the first stage of the long road which was to bring me here to Sardis."

Thus begin the thoughts of Lycius and his narration, from the start of the Peloponnesian War when he is a six-year old, through the progress of the war, his fighting at Syracuse and at Goat Rivers, both devastating defeats for Athens. His actions after the war and advice of friends and family influence his final decision.

On the whole, I was gripped by this book from the first page of the prologue; but I found it helps to know a little about this period in history. When it was written 50 years ago, I would guess people had more of a grounding in classical history than they do today. I found it more enjoyable on rereading [I read it twice in order to review it.] Some of the famous historical figures of that period were prominent--Alcibiades, his duplicitous cousin; Euripides, whose plays were often suitably quoted at certain points in the narrative; and Thucydides, the general/historian, among others. In history, Lycius himself was a cavalry officer in Xenophon's army, mentioned in Book 4 of Xenophon's Anabasis 1-4. I don't consider this novel difficult reading although somewhat dated. I do regret any negative over-the-top stereotypes the author used: mostly the Spartan characters. The only one half-way decent was the old king, Archidamos.

Recommended.
… (meer)
 
Gemarkeerd
janerawoof | Nov 15, 2015 |
I re-read this book recently, for the first time in forty years or so. I loved it as an adolescent, and was interested to see how my perceptions have changed. It was written in the early 1950s, and the attitudes of Empire are very clear to me now, but they're not entirely inappropriate given that the book is the story of a young Roman officer, stationed in Britain in the years preceding Boudicca's rebellion, and the part he plays during that rebellion.

Martius is the son of a disgraced Roman general, intent on proving himself, and this might be what drives him to excel at all he does - and he is rather tiresomely all-round competent. But the atmosphere of a frontier province on the brink of rebellion is very convincingly done, and there are some vivid characters. I particularly like Flaviola, Bouddica's scholarly daughter; Gaetulicus, the very pattern of a stolid centurion; Carus the brilliant commander of the Fourteenth who suffers with endless stomach complaints. And then there's Cerialis, the incoming commander of the Ninth - bluff, loud, and in the cinema of my mind played by Brian Blessed.

A period piece, but a very good story, and the writing is excellent. I was also rather startled to realise that my powers of concentration were much better as a teenager than they are now!
… (meer)
 
Gemarkeerd
hyarrowen | May 24, 2012 |

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Statistieken

Werken
7
Ook door
1
Leden
91
Populariteit
#204,136
Waardering
½ 3.6
Besprekingen
3
ISBNs
11
Talen
2

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