Sheffield Year of Reading 2020 Book Club discussion

Oooo, that's exciting. I've wanted to read this for a while.

Sorry but I can't see the title from the link. What book is it?

Karen wrote: "Sorry but I can't see the title from the link. What book is it?"

The Silence of the Girls

Thank you. I've been wanting to read that too

Wow really getting into this book now! I can’t put it down which is great seeing as I have got more time on my hands now.

Omg! That's on my list.

It’s really good I have nearly finished it. Where is everyone else?

I read in November last year, I remember finding it so sad. I don't recall much rebellion though?

I really like it - I'm about halfway through! Much more engaging than the last book I think.

I only started it this morning, but struggled to put it down. At chapter 15 already.

On my very long list. Currently reading Melissa Harrison's At Hawthorn Time- a bit like a modern Hardy - nature will adapt and revive but doesn't look as though the humans are going to face a great ending. Have also recently discovered Sarah Moss. Has anyone else read anything by her?

It’s great to find a read you can’t put down. Any thoughts on the themes and voice of the book? Don’t forget you can download a copy here if you have a library card. https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/home/lib...

Finished our 2nd read- The Silence of the Girls, and quite enjoyed it. It’s a move away from my usual genres, a lot of the names were familiar , and I managed to pronounce them- not sure if they were all alive at the same time, so wondering if it’s historically accurate. No matter, it was a story of survival , and focused around 1 main character . I’d consider reading another historical fiction piece based on this.

That’s great, there are a few more books based in that time period. Circe by Madeline Miller which is based more around Myths and The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood. But if it’s peaked your interest in historical fiction we have lots to choose from in our digital library.

Just finished this book (about 15 minutes ago) when I came across the Sheffield Libraries Bookclub thread by chance. Is the intention to discuss the book on this thread? I'd love to hear other people's thoughts on the book!

I enjoyed The Silence of the Girls.

I really felt that the silencing of women's voices and the relegation of women to mere 'property' of men throughout history was portrayed here. In particular, the unfairness, the violence against women, and the resilience of women to carry on despite all this. I really felt the injustice. It makes you wonder how many other stories are out there that would benefit from re-telling from the woman's perspective?

Upon reading the good reads thread for this book, I was really interested in that for some people the introduction of chapters telling the story from Achilles viewpoint distracted from the fact that this was retelling from the woman's perspective. I can see why some people felt this way. There was one chapter that I felt in a hurry to end and it was an Achilles chapter. However I don't feel the inclusion of Achilles viewpoint overtook the book in any way.

Some people also felt that the fact that the women mainly spend their time talking about the men and their war was not feminist and that this took away from the book. Personally, I don't agree with this, on the contrary actually I think that is entirely the point. These women were enslaved, and their lives were reduced to centre around the whims of men.

What I also found interesting was the exploration of relationships between slaves and their masters, women and other women, nobility and common people, Greeks and Trojans etc. These relationships aren't always what you might expect, for example, Briseis' reflection at the end of the book on how her relationship with Achilles started compared to how it ended. Or the fact that some of the slave women come to like, even love, their slave owners. How much choice do they have in this? All makes for a very fascinating read.

All in all, a great read based on greek mythology, on par with Circe by Madeline Miller for me. Thank you Pat Baker!

Hailey wrote: "Just finished this book (about 15 minutes ago) when I came across the Sheffield Libraries Bookclub thread by chance. Is the intention to discuss the book on this thread? I'd love to hear other peop..."

Hi Hailey! Yes, we do discuss the book, I think things have just slowed down due to the covid craziness.

I agree r.e. I didn't have an strong feelings towards the Achilles narrative, I thought it was a bit random as we see him as a continuously contradictory enigma through Briseis, and having him narrate at one point undid this interesting perspective but I don't feel it detracted from the feminist tone of the book overall.

Also agree r.e. the women talk a lot about the men and this doesn't detract from the feminist narrative either because the women were stolen by the men and their lives and fates are shaped by them, whether they like it or not. If your life was determined by someone who saw you as an object I think I would fixate on this a lot too. I remember physically recoiling in outrage at the treatment of the women, it's a really powerful narrative.

I think the reason I didn't feel too strongly about this book is it just felt like another collection of "this is what happened, it was awful", when historical analysis in recent years has really narrowed in on lost voices and peeled back "glory" to see what was underneath. There wasn't a whole lot of raw emotion in the book, the women are very quickly subdued and meld in to their fates seamlessly, which I understand from a survival perspective but I still think a lot of them would be angrier and question the world, even if it's just a soliloquy from Briseis that never gets said aloud. I think for a 2018 publication I was expecting a bit more than another reiteration of horrible facts?

I think this is why Circe by Madeline Miller has done absolutely stellar. Even if she focuses more on the mythology than real people, she still digs deeper in to gender inequality and anger than Barker does here with mortal women whose lives and fates have been brutally determined by men seeking "glory".

Circe is available as an ebook on our elibrary.
https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/home/lib...

It’s an absolute brilliant read. If it has sparked interest in Greek Mythology Stephen Fry has written a beautiful book about it called Mythos. Which is also available on our elibrary.

Finally got to pick up my copy of this book from the library. Only five months late!

Sarah wrote: "Finally got to pick up my copy of this book from the library. Only five months late!"

Enjoy!

Just finished the book and I am a mess of emotions. I felt angry or sad all the time I was reading it but I could not put it down! I'm glad I finally got to read it.

(view spoiler)[I did shed a little tear for Patroclus but I didn't bawl my eyes out like when I read The Song of Achilles (hide spoiler)]