Status Updates From Glorious Exploits

This lad isn't great is he? I mean when you've had nothing you're more likely to go on a spree, but he keeps flaking on his best friend. I forsee consequences with the 'producer'. Enjoyable

i already know this is gonna be 5⭐️

Honest and dark but with an Irish sense of humour

16

“Those rats are the worst of everything under an indifferent sky, but the sound coming from the aulos, frail as it might be in comparison, well, that's us, I say to myself, that's us giving it a go, it's us building shit, and singing songs, and cooking food, it's kisses, and stories told over a winter fire, it's decency, and all we'll ever have to give.”

☹️

"You've never seen a people laugh as much as us Athenians,' says Paches.

Again that smile. 'There's more to Athens than tragedy,' says Paches with feeling. 'We laugh till we cry, and we drink.' Another swig. 'We drink till we fall down, but we're up first thing in the morning to scheme and love and build and do it all again. It's a city of belief, not despair. That proverb has nothing to do with the Athens I knew.'

“It gets so intense that I can believe in the great city of Sardis, and I can believe in the splendour of our future, yet it's the here and now, the two of us standing a few feet apart, that seems incredible, and often I need to reach out and touch her, prod her warmth to be satisfied she's real.”

I don't even seem to limp. She's cured me, I think, and even when I'm a long way away from her and the dog, and the jerky arc of my foot returns, twisting through the sand, I can't stop grinning.

…I listen to the sound the coins make in my pocket - much fainter than the din from the pouch Gelon gave me, yet its music is all the sweeter, 'cause it's mine, and it's hers, and I know in time we can make it a song.

He sang a song from Medea's chorus.
It was a bit a few scenes later, when the kids are dead, and it gives a weird sense of time merging, and for a moment, I have the feeling that the future and the past aren't separate at all, just different snatches of a single song, always sung, given consequence when heard.

You only need the quickest scan of their faces, and you see it. Something that I haven't glimpsed since battle, when they were gleaming in armour. That very same thing is in their eyes now, though in a much, much frailer form: pride. These fellas are proud to be Athenian. It doesn't last long, but while it's there, it's unmistakable and kind of beautiful and foolish.

“I remembered that Oedipus was good. That even though he'd done and suffered all those horrible things, he was still good; whether the gods cared didn't matter. And I remember as a kid feeling that this was awfully sad and beautiful. There was dignity even in the worst that could happen under this sky, and I felt less alone.”

“Music - doesn't need to be a dithyramb or anything, but still. A tragedy without a tune is like a sun that doesn't give off heat: dead, and nothing will grow from it. When men go to war, they do it to music. When they set sail for better shores and row into the vast blue, they do it to music. Even our hearts beat to some rhythm, and the director who neglects it neglects what makes us men.”

'You came,' says Gelon, frowning, but I can see in his eyes that he's pleased - relieved, even.
'Of course.'

holy shit.

ouch

Got to put you on hold for now. Stinkin 7 day limit. Gah!

“Gelon’s shocking handsome. But it’s a desolate handsome, which only makes it better. Gelon has a face you’d imagine demands contentment, yet the briefest look at him dispels this. It’s a cheeky reminder that beauty isn’t everything. Look, it seems to say. Here’s Gelon: godlike, broken Gelon. Look and remember beauty isn’t all.”

Lowkey a humiliation ritual but it’s Athenians suffering during the Peloponnesian war so yk

I’m loving this. Funny, touching, unique. Highly recommend listening to the author read it himself!

DNF

I put this down to start monte cristo. May or may not finish it

the writing/prose> love.

I’m having a great time.

why am i not finding this book funny? i read the blurb and everyone singing its praises were like "laughing out loud" and "the levity in Ferdia Lennon's prose" and I'm just here contemplating if Euripides would've found it funny and shared some olives with these poor bastards.

dare i say this is……bad, so far. the actual plot is interesting but the way it’s told is not at all. the POV character is so deeply annoying and stupid that he’s frustrating to follow. the modern irish writing style is annoying, repetitive and takes you out of the story. might dnf.

What in the world

“I’m pouring water in the desert, hoping flowers grow, what does it even matter if a few do, we’re fucked, and the music stops.”

“Those rats are the worst of everything under an indifferent sky, but the sound coming from the aulos, frail as it might be in comparison, well, that’s us, I say to myself, that’s us giving it a go, it’s us building shit, and singing songs, and cooking food, it’s kisses, and stories told over a winter fire, it’s decency, and all we’ll ever have to give.”

“and she listens, not just with her ears—you get the sense with Alekto that she’s listening with every part of her being, noting the movement of your eyes, the way you rest your hands, the little hesitations or shifts in voice. It’s fucking invasive.”