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Journeys To The Underworld
The sybils were among the most influential women of the ancient world. This novel is the record of one woman's travels, researching these powerful prophetesses. Facts and legends of the sybils and the cults of the dead are pieced together with living local traditions.
- GenresNonfictionTravel
226 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1988
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About the author
Fiona Pitt-Kethley
53 books9 followersI have published over twenty books - poetry, travel, novels, etc. I live in Cartagena, Spain. I am writing a book on the Sierra Minera and working on anew poetry collection. My last published book was my Selected Poems. My hobbies are snorkelling, mineralogy, hill-walking, music, Kyokushin karate, cycling and fishing.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
August 26, 2024
What is this book about? Ostensibly it is a record of travels through 1980s Italy, driven by a desire to see more of the less well-known sites and artefacts related the underworld of the ancient world. But it is not about that, really.
The book is a long series of episodes with little coherence. A typical episode runs along the lines of:
- Author travels to somewhere way off the beaten track, on a shoestring. Discomfort abounds. Missed connections, sweaty trains and busses, dirty hotels and guesthouses.
- Author is sexually harassed by pretty much any man crossing her path, be it bus conductor, station master, museum guide, random passers by (etc). Sometimes she goes along with it, most times she tells them off (and away they go).
- Author reaches, or almost reaches, some obscure landmark or museum and spends some time there (and usually gets harassed some more while on the site).
- Author offers some bland comments regarding the scraps of antiquities she saw at the site.
- Author travels to the next spot.
The art/historical observations are of little value. The travel notes are much of a sameness (always uncomfortable) and never useful. Author's accounts of the sexual harassment she encountered is repetitive and predictable. Hence my question, "What is this book about?".
This book was published in 1988. For whose benefit?
Postscript: The secondhand copy I read had a dedication "[name] for Mother's Day, 1991". So I hope the mother who received this may have had some enjoyment of it.
The book is a long series of episodes with little coherence. A typical episode runs along the lines of:
- Author travels to somewhere way off the beaten track, on a shoestring. Discomfort abounds. Missed connections, sweaty trains and busses, dirty hotels and guesthouses.
- Author is sexually harassed by pretty much any man crossing her path, be it bus conductor, station master, museum guide, random passers by (etc). Sometimes she goes along with it, most times she tells them off (and away they go).
- Author reaches, or almost reaches, some obscure landmark or museum and spends some time there (and usually gets harassed some more while on the site).
- Author offers some bland comments regarding the scraps of antiquities she saw at the site.
- Author travels to the next spot.
The art/historical observations are of little value. The travel notes are much of a sameness (always uncomfortable) and never useful. Author's accounts of the sexual harassment she encountered is repetitive and predictable. Hence my question, "What is this book about?".
This book was published in 1988. For whose benefit?
Postscript: The secondhand copy I read had a dedication "[name] for Mother's Day, 1991". So I hope the mother who received this may have had some enjoyment of it.
Displaying 1 of 1 review