Business Standard

Wednesday, December 25, 2024 | 06:44 PM ISTEN Hindi

Notification Icon
userprofile IconSearch

Giving voice to Homer's women

Unfortunately, Barker's voices are dissonant and unpersuasive

The Silence of the girls book by Pat Barker
Premium

The silence of the girls, Author: Pat Barker, Publisher: Doubleday, Pages: 293, Price: $27.95

The NewYork Times
War is men’s business,” Hector says in the Iliad. Pat Barker begs to differ. The British novelist has made war her subject, winning the 1995 Booker Prize for Ghost Road, the final novel of her remarkable World War I trilogy, Regeneration. In her new novel, The Silence of the Girls, she takes on the foundational war story of the Western canon, giving voice to the muted women of Homer’s Iliad.

It’s a rich premise, since in the Iliad (if not the Odyssey) Homer’s women remain underrealised — static as statues, waiting patiently upon their plinths to be awarded as prizes, enslaved

What you get on BS Premium?

  • Unlock 30+ premium stories daily hand-picked by our editors, across devices on browser and app.
  • Pick your 5 favourite companies, get a daily email with all news updates on them.
  • Full access to our intuitive epaper - clip, save, share articles from any device; newspaper archives from 2006.
  • Preferential invites to Business Standard events.
  • Curated newsletters on markets, personal finance, policy & politics, start-ups, technology, and more.
VIEW ALL FAQs

Need More Information - write to us at assist@bsmail.in