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North of Ithaka: A Granddaughter Returns to Greece and Discovers Her Roots
by
Eleni N. Gage (Goodreads Author)
In North of Ithaka, Eleni Gage returns to the remote Greek village of Lia, where her father was born and her grandmother murdered, to rebuild the ruins of her namesake's home and come to terms with her family's tragic history. In doing so, she leaves behind a sparkling social life and successful career to continue the tale of a family and a place which her father, Nicholas...more
Paperback, 304 pages
Published
April 4th 2006
by St. Martin's Griffin
(first published 2004)
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This book is about the author returning to the small village in Greece where her grandmother had a home. She decides to restore this home where her grandmother was imprisoned and executed. I really tried to like this book, but I found it tedious, boring and meandering. I did finish the book hoping that I would find an appreciation for this writer's voice, but it just never happened. I can't recommend this book.
I got this book from a recommendation from the Folklore Society, based on the fact that the author has a degree in Folklore and went back to Greece to finish a family saga, and it's a secondary book to her father's book "Eleni".
Unfortunately, this is probably her first book. It's very self conscious and the dialogue is very mundane. I was hoping for a lot more folklore, but I think that the author was trying more for 'atmosphere'. I think that the book has potential, but as is, it's very boring...more
Unfortunately, this is probably her first book. It's very self conscious and the dialogue is very mundane. I was hoping for a lot more folklore, but I think that the author was trying more for 'atmosphere'. I think that the book has potential, but as is, it's very boring...more
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Eleni Gage is the daughter of writer Nicholas Gage. His most famous book; Eleni is the story of his mother who was murdered during the Greek Civil War. Eleni was adapted for film in 1985 - John Malkovitch played the role of Nick Gage
Eleni Gage returned to the small village of Lia in Northern Greece with the intention of rebuilding her murdered Grandmother's house. This is the house in which she was keep prisoner and the house from which she made her final journey. Eleni's father and his sisters...more
Eleni Gage returned to the small village of Lia in Northern Greece with the intention of rebuilding her murdered Grandmother's house. This is the house in which she was keep prisoner and the house from which she made her final journey. Eleni's father and his sisters...more
I was hoping to get a lot from this book, but it failed to maintain my interests. The only redeeming thing about the book was looking at the old pictures featured. Her father's work captures so much raw emotion and North of Ithaka seems flat in comparison. I really wanted to like this book.
Nice book, but a little too cliché if you really know Greece. But I suppose Greeks who emigrated in Europe and those who emigrated elsewhere in the world see Greece differently.
Overall, it's a nice book, though not as well written as her father's (can't help the comparision, sorry).
Overall, it's a nice book, though not as well written as her father's (can't help the comparision, sorry).
Good read. I liked how well she describes the feeling of the small greek village and it's people. I felt like I really got to know them.
I didn't read Eleni first, I guess you should to know the full story, but it's not necessary.
The descriptions of the rituals and holidays were a bit too much for me sometimes, but overall it was a fast read.
I didn't read Eleni first, I guess you should to know the full story, but it's not necessary.
The descriptions of the rituals and holidays were a bit too much for me sometimes, but overall it was a fast read.
Jul 25, 2011
Tori
added it
2008- A story of a woman's quest to spend a year rebuilding her grandmother's home high in the mountaintops of Greece, while also discovering her history. Made me want to read the book about her grandmother.
Read this after the island and was a little disappointed .... But to be fair its only becase i fell in love with the island... So do read and dont take my review too seriously
Just after reading It's All Greek to Me, this was a little redundant, but reminds me that I want my kids to read Eleni, by Nicolas Gage (her father).
A really engaging memoir. Also affecting and unpretentious. Many of her reflections about life in Lia remind me of my own family.
I read before I was to vacation in Greece.
Full of interesting info about the people and culture.
Full of interesting info about the people and culture.
Great memoir of a granddaughter's journey back to her family's Greek village to re-build the house and the past of her grandmother, Eleni Gage. The story is a modern-day woman's connection with her family's rich and dark past dating back to WW2 Greek village devastated by war and murder. The book is written from a modern perspective on the history of our roots and how they make up who we are today as Greek American women living in America. Great read with a universal theme for all women who have...more
Review to follow.
I didn't actually finish this. I found it getting too self-conscious, and including pretty boring dialogue, ordinary conversation between family members. But I did think it an interesting look at a Greek-American going back to the village of her family, where her grandmother was murdered and trying to find her roots and establish herself in a village where single women were not supposed to be so autonomous.
Eleni Gage was doing a book signing at an event in the Detroit area that my son happened to be working at. He was impressed, thought it sounded like a book his mother would like to read and bought it for me. I am finally getting to read it and am enjoying the story. What a wonderful adventure! I'll rate it after I finish it.
Tee hee - I've joined a book club! And this is my first book!
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Someone else at the book club rated this an 8/10...maybe I'm in the wrong book club. I found the book unorganized and trite, and not really that interesting. I wouldn't have finished it if it hadn't been for a discussion group.
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Someone else at the book club rated this an 8/10...maybe I'm in the wrong book club. I found the book unorganized and trite, and not really that interesting. I wouldn't have finished it if it hadn't been for a discussion group.
An interesting book about the author's return to her ancestral village in Greece, indeed her ancestral home. Interesting, but not terribly profound. There are recipes in the back, if one is into Greek cuisine (which I'm generally not, despite my general Hellenophile nature).
Full disclosure: I know, and adore, the author personally, but this is truly one of the loveliest memoirs I've read. This exploration of cultural identity is poignant and funny, clever and warm, and makes you immediately want to book a ticket to Greece. Highly recommended.
Great sequel to Eleni....what a wonderful experience to go back and rebuild a memorial to someone you have never meet but are so connected with. Learned a lot about Greek culture and found it all to be so interesting.
Nicholas Gage's daughter's story about rebuilding her grandmother Eleni's house in Lia. Oct 2008. OK. -- OK
Easy read. I really like this book and would love to be able to have the same adventure.
May 14, 2013
Linda
added it
May 07, 2013
Panagiota
marked it as to-read
May 02, 2013
Lit Bug
marked it as to-read
Apr 17, 2013
Modgreek
marked it as to-read
Feb 28, 2013
William
marked it as to-read
Feb 13, 2013
Ingrid
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The daughter of a Greek father and a Minnesotan mother, Eleni Gage grew up in Athens, Greece, and Worcester, Massachusetts, and has always been fascinated by cultural rituals and traditions. That interest led her to study Folklore and Mythology at Harvard University as an undergraduate, and, eventually, to earn an equally practical master's degree, an MFA in Creative Writing, Fiction, from Columbi...more
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