Book Review - 'The Way Home' by Julian Barr
This is the first time I’ve been approached to review a book. And I thank Odyssey Books for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.
‘The war of the gods has left Aeneas’s country in flames. Though he is little more than a youth, Aeneas must gather the survivors and lead them to a new homeland across the roaring waves. Confronted by twisted prophecies, Aeneas faces the wrath of the immortals to find his own path.’
‘First in a trilogy based on Virgil’s epic poetry, Ashes of Olympus: The Way Home is a tale of love and vengeance in an age of bronze swords and ox-hide shields.’
This is Julian Barr’s debut novel and, as he has a PhD in Classics and is a mythology expert, I was looking forward to reading this as I’m not as familiar with ‘The Aeneid’ as I am with ‘The Iliad’ and ‘The Odyssey’; I’ve only read it once, ages ago.
Before I go any further, I admit only realising as I’m writing this review, that the book is YA, something that wasn’t made immediately obvious.
Unlike Virgil’s poem, where Aeneas relates events to Dido, the queen of Carthage, in ‘The Way Home’, Barr starts his story with the sack of Troy and we follow the story as it happens, not after the fact.
Straightaway, we’re with the main character, Aeneas, as he’s woken up with the awful news of the Greek army in Troy. He leaves his wife and young son with his elderly father to join the men defending the city. Within moments, it’s obvious any defence is a lost cause, but he’s determined to try and reach the king, Priam.
Witnessing the brutality of the enemy, realising there’s nothing he can realistically do, he fights his way back to his family who has managed to escape with other survivors. When he finally catches up with them, it’s clear everyone has been touched by tragedy and loss, including his family.
They now look to him to lead them away from danger, and Aeneas has no choice but to do what is expected of him, wracked though he is with grief and doubt.
Events move at a fair pace, so there’s no chance of getting bored. The downside to this is I didn’t feel there was enough time to get to know the characters. Also, I didn’t get much sense of character development.
Barr has introduced his own characters, mainly women, like Eumela, a healer, and Beroe, a take-charge fisherwoman who, interestingly, knows how to read. I felt their presence was an attempt to balance the male-centric world of ancient tales.
The character of Pyrrhus, Achilles’ son, has been considerably fleshed out, with a daughter in tow.
Just as in Virgil’s poem, the gods and goddesses are present as characters in the story. I was a little thrown at reading Venus portrayed as Zeus’ daughter, as Homer has written, I know. But I’m so used to Venus’ born-from-the-sea origin, especially after reading Bettany Hughes’ ‘Aphrodite and Venus’, it took me by surprise. But that’s just me.
When I started reading this, I really wanted to enjoy it. From that, you’ll probably gather that I didn’t. And you’ll be right.
There’s nothing wrong with the storytelling, it does what it sets out to do. The descriptions of war, of spending days on a ship in all sorts of weather, of grief and loss, come across well.
It took me a while to work out why I couldn’t get into this book. It was only after I’d reviewed Tolkien’s ‘The Silmarillion’, and when I thought back on Madeline Miller’s ‘Circe’, comparing it as I’d done with Pat Barker’s ‘Silence of the Girls’, I realised why.
It’s the language used in dialogue. Modern language used in an ancient setting does not work for me. And that’s one of the reasons I didn’t enjoy ‘Silence of the Girls’.
To read dialogue which includes, “Daddy”; “Cheers… we won’t let you down”; “I’m Philemon, but you can call me Phil” is too jarring and pulls me right out of the story.
If I’d known this was a YA novel, maybe I’d have expected the language to be more modern to appeal to a younger audience. Though I don’t know if I’d have agreed to read and review it.
Having said that, it would appear I’m in a minority of one. So, don’t judge this book based on my review alone. If you like myths, if you want to encourage the younger generation to try out the classics, I’d say read this and decide for yourself.
One thing I am grateful for though – it’s made me want to read Virgil’s ‘The Aeneid’ again.