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Dragonflies
After ten years the Trojan War is at a deadlock. Both sides are exhausted, and Odysseus, cleverest of men, wants more than anything to return to Ithaka and his wife and son and orange grove. He aches for home, but not without a certain fear that he will return a stranger to the son he hasn't seen in ten years. When Agamemnon, King of the Greeks, asks Odysseus to devise a scheme to settle the conflict once and for all, Odysseus comes up with the idea of the great horse. No Trojan, he thinks, can resist a magnificent horse. Yet many think the idea mad. The comic and iconoclastic Odysseus will have more than his ingenuity tested before he can set sail for home. This deeply imagined and exquisitely written novel details the last days of the Trojan War. Told from Odysseus' perspective, it fleshes out the myth and mystery of one of the greatest stories in the Western canon.
168 pages, Paperback
First published January 9, 2008
80 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 25, 2016
Another fascinating Trojan War retelling. The War is at stalemate after 10 years; Agamemnon and Menelaus, brothers who inflicted it on everyone, ask Odysseus to think of some subterfuge to bring an end to hostilities. The story is told from Odysseus's viewpoint: the last few days and months--spring to summer--ending the War, interspersed with reminiscences. Thinking of his little son, Telemachus, luring crabs out of their holes to catch them, leads him to conceive of the wooden Horse. If the Trojans lead it into their city, Greeks hidden inside can emerge secretly and overpower the Trojans for a decisive victory. The idea is debated. The Greeks finally decide to use it, with modifications. Chosen men enter the belly of the Horse, wait and the Horse is taken into the City. At the end he muses, "... at long last the Trojan War is finished ... soon, very soon, in a month at most, I will be home."
These familiar characters are given personalities. We see Odysseus not merely as the trickster and with a slippery tongue, but truly longing for wife and son. His family appears in his memories. He has "hoist himself by his own petard" by having suggested an Oath of mutual help, years ago and now being bound by it. Written with vividness, terseness and imagination. I took dragonflies as a symbol for change--life to death, change of seasons.
Highly recommended.
These familiar characters are given personalities. We see Odysseus not merely as the trickster and with a slippery tongue, but truly longing for wife and son. His family appears in his memories. He has "hoist himself by his own petard" by having suggested an Oath of mutual help, years ago and now being bound by it. Written with vividness, terseness and imagination. I took dragonflies as a symbol for change--life to death, change of seasons.
Highly recommended.
March 2, 2019
A fun, quick read told from the POV of Odysseus about how the Trojan War (finally) came to an end. Sometimes the language slips into a "too modern" phrasing that feels jarring, but these instances are minimal. All in all, this book is unique, very entertaining, and highly recommended.
March 31, 2013
GRANT BUDAY: DRAGONFLIES
The novel describes the last days of the Trojan War, culminating in the story of the massive wooden horse, bedecked with gold and jewels, which the Greeks built and then used to trick the Trojans into letting them into their city. The narrator is Odysseus himself. In place of the loftiness of the epic he substitutes descriptions of the situations and characters in the realistic style of the modern novel, with even a few touches of gentle humor and mockery.
Buday presents a vivid picture of an ancient society, many of whose norms are clearly brutal. His achievement is that he leads his readers to like and admire Odysseus despite his acceptance of these norms. Odysseus comes across as warm-hearted, kind, loyal, loving, and courageous, and we admire his moral qualities even though we might dislike some of the things he does unthinkingly, as almost any other person in his position might have done at the time.
Buday's Odysseus is not only a courageous fighter and practical man of affairs, he is also thoughtful and sometimes sees the world in poetic terms. His experiences have led him to mix a profound sense of disillusionment with an equally profound sense of what is valuable in the world. He is very aware of the beauty and mystery which he sees in the world. He keeps thinking of the pleasure of his relationship with his wife and little son. But he also alludes to the suffering and injustice in the world and describes some examples in detail. He comes to see the whole Trojan War as a pointless exercise, one which is motivated by selfishness and which has caused enormous and unnecessary suffering. He questions whether the gods are real. If they are real, he doubts that they are moral beings. He doubts that the misfortunes which people suffer are the just result of their misdeeds, for which the gods punish them. And out of this comes the most troubling of all his questions: which is worse, to live in a world ruled by such gods or in one in which everything happens only by chance?
Odysseus' view of the world is encapsulated in an image which comes near the end of the novel. "I step onto the portico where the guard Menelaus stabbed lies in a lake of blood. Dragonflies with brilliant blue bodies and two sets of wings are bogged in it. I squat for a closer look. They feed richly. Playing the god, I lift one up to free it but its wings are clotted and gummed. " Hence the title.
The rhythms of Buday's prose and his generally careful control of language ensure that the philosophy and the poetry do not in any way slow down the story.
Buday lightens the obviously tense atmosphere with a few touches of gentle humor and mockery. The novel might have been even better if there had been a little more of that and if the dialogue had been a little livelier. But that does not change the fact that this is very good novel.
The novel describes the last days of the Trojan War, culminating in the story of the massive wooden horse, bedecked with gold and jewels, which the Greeks built and then used to trick the Trojans into letting them into their city. The narrator is Odysseus himself. In place of the loftiness of the epic he substitutes descriptions of the situations and characters in the realistic style of the modern novel, with even a few touches of gentle humor and mockery.
Buday presents a vivid picture of an ancient society, many of whose norms are clearly brutal. His achievement is that he leads his readers to like and admire Odysseus despite his acceptance of these norms. Odysseus comes across as warm-hearted, kind, loyal, loving, and courageous, and we admire his moral qualities even though we might dislike some of the things he does unthinkingly, as almost any other person in his position might have done at the time.
Buday's Odysseus is not only a courageous fighter and practical man of affairs, he is also thoughtful and sometimes sees the world in poetic terms. His experiences have led him to mix a profound sense of disillusionment with an equally profound sense of what is valuable in the world. He is very aware of the beauty and mystery which he sees in the world. He keeps thinking of the pleasure of his relationship with his wife and little son. But he also alludes to the suffering and injustice in the world and describes some examples in detail. He comes to see the whole Trojan War as a pointless exercise, one which is motivated by selfishness and which has caused enormous and unnecessary suffering. He questions whether the gods are real. If they are real, he doubts that they are moral beings. He doubts that the misfortunes which people suffer are the just result of their misdeeds, for which the gods punish them. And out of this comes the most troubling of all his questions: which is worse, to live in a world ruled by such gods or in one in which everything happens only by chance?
Odysseus' view of the world is encapsulated in an image which comes near the end of the novel. "I step onto the portico where the guard Menelaus stabbed lies in a lake of blood. Dragonflies with brilliant blue bodies and two sets of wings are bogged in it. I squat for a closer look. They feed richly. Playing the god, I lift one up to free it but its wings are clotted and gummed. " Hence the title.
The rhythms of Buday's prose and his generally careful control of language ensure that the philosophy and the poetry do not in any way slow down the story.
Buday lightens the obviously tense atmosphere with a few touches of gentle humor and mockery. The novel might have been even better if there had been a little more of that and if the dialogue had been a little livelier. But that does not change the fact that this is very good novel.
July 14, 2016
Such a good novelization of this classical tale. Told through the point of view of Odysseus, it made me want to re-read the original version from Homer. Fun to read and remember.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews