Pages from the Past

Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon

Set in Syracuse, Sicily, during the Peloponnesian War but told in contemporary Irish dialect, Glorious Exploits follows Lampo and Gelon, best friends since childhood. Thrilled to have survived the Athenians' recent invasion and as shocked by the Syracusan victory as everyone else, these unemployed potters are in a mood to celebrate. Of course, they hate the Athenians. Still, that doesn't mean you can't love the theatre of their great playwright Euripides, does it? Realizing that if the Athenians are as doomed as everyone says, this might be their last chance to hear Euripides's poetry, they go down to the quarry where the Athenian prisoners are being held and offer extra rations to any prisoner who can recite his work, a decision that sets into motion an extraordinary series of events. A novel that asks big questions about war and its aftermath, Glorious Exploits is a story as hopeful and playful as it is tragic.

Pages from the Past usually meets monthly on the fourth Monday of each month. We will be reading mostly historical fiction books and the occasional popular non-fiction title.