The sequel to the cult book of children literature in Greece, it continues in the same way but it is hardly as interesting. Everything in it felt like a rehash of events of the first book, now taken to a more state-level degree. And it doesn’t look good. I mean, ok, the story in the first wasn’t much either but it was mostly about school life and some juvenile romance. This one felt like an endless rant.
So the basic story is about the hero trying to make a living by becoming a teacher to some tiny village in the middle of nowhere. If you remember the plot of the first, then you know this is a repeat of something much similar that took place there. Once again the students love him but the parents don’t, just because he doesn’t want to hit their sweeties all the time. Go figure… Anyways, the core story is about how he teaches children not through oppression and the fear of punishment but rather through understanding and love. This is seen as an insult by the local shepherds who do their best to ridicule him. Ok, this conflict was bollocks if you ask me, since he was hired by them as a private tutor and not from the state. They could have easily kicked him out of the village every time they felt like it and nobody would give a damn. There was no police or even a village elder to stop them, they were the leaders of their own lives, this whole issue shouldn’t even exist.
The dialogues are still written in the local dialects of that time, which made them so natural [i] (and somewhat incomprehensible) [/i] but the constant allegories are now a lot fewer. Loudemis is using them very scarce, so the whole atmosphere feels a lot less fantasy-like and a lot more depressing. The feeling of propaganda is also of a much higher caliber, since we don’t get just a few grains of salt but almost a fabricated documentary for recruiting young people to fascist organizations. The author starts right away and ends with endless complaints about the nation being full of traitors, liars, and abusing politicians. They all need to be shot and their remains hanged for public display! It gets really bothersome to read when he constantly mentions how much he hates the government, religion, and traditions. Especially the last one, it is presented as if we are living in Middle East in terms of how ridiculously narrow minded and chauvinistic the local style of life is supposed to be. He also deifies the gypsies too much, calling them poor but honest. Well, maybe they were like that back then but now they are mostly thieves or do black market.
The romantic aspect of the story is still present, only that this time it was taken on a more adult level. It’s no longer about kids having silly feelings for each other and having a hard time expressing them. Now it is closer to lust and yearning to protect what you love. It also has some implied cases of sex as well, since we get rapes and births.
In all it was an interesting read but lacks a lot that innocent feel of the previous one. To the most part it will feel like it has some poorly presented conflict with authority just for the sake of propaganda.