Ithaka

I loved it. It was a lovely love/adventure story with real characters and a good ending. It's not one of those stereo typical books where the girl OF COURSE gets the guy in the end. LOVE LOVE LOVE.

Ithaka was a book that I took great pride in reading. I found myself enticed by the book and its accurate historic events. Having already read the first book "Troy" also by the author Adele Geras, I found myself hoping that Ithaka would be as good or better as the first. I was proven correct. The novel starts out with fresh characters in their early years. I have always enjoyed when an author does this because I feel I can get to know the characters better if I start out reading about them when they were younger. I'ts like you kind of watch them "grow up." So i applaud Adele Geras on this. Then as you get farther into the book, events from the greek story begin to take place. Like how Penelope is forever waiting for her husband's return from the war in Troy. I absolutely love how the author invents new characters and intertwines them with the real characters in the old story. It spices up the story even more and keeps you wanting more. These new characters inserted in the story are also developed very well. An example would be how Klymene is portrayed as she grows up. At first she believes she is in love with Telemachus but soon finds her own heart is with a different man. Many love triangles form in this book which just adds to the already ancient story plot of Penelope fighting off the suitors coming to take her hand in marriage. So in conclusion I rate this book four out of five stars. Why did I not give this book five starts you ask? I did not give it five stars because I found the end to not suit this book. It did not give a very good sense of closure and I was extremly dissapointed to have such an abrupt ending. Althought it can be good to leave a reader hungry for more, this left me almost to hungry. Otherwise this book was great and deserves to be read endless times.

Readers familiar with THE ODYSSEY know that it is the story of Odysseus's long journey home from the Trojan War. Odysseus outwits various monsters, witches, and even the gods to win back his kingdom and rescue his faithful wife from the hands of thieves. THE ODYSSEY contains lots of adventure, excitement and heartache. It can also be a challenging read since even modern translations adhere to its original verse format. Adèle Geras, whose previous book TROY was a retelling of THE ILIAD, has now taken on THE ODYSSEY. ITHAKA is the story of THE ODYSSEY told by those waiting for Odysseus's return. While it doesn't contain the same adventures as Odysseus's travels, Geras's treatment of the material lends quiet dignity to the events as told by an ordinary teenage girl, and fleshes out the story as it might have been experienced by women. Klymene is handmaiden to Odysseus's patient wife Penelope. While Penelope spends her days weaving and waiting for her husband's return, Klymene experiences the changes that are part of growing up, and does her part to keep Ithaka ready for the return of a king she has never known. Klymene begins to understand the difficulty of Penelope's task to wait "unchanged and unchanging" when she falls in love with Telemachus, Odysseus's impetuous son. Telemachus only has eyes for Melantho, a beautiful and treacherous girl from a neighboring kingdom who has come to serve in Penelope's household. Klymene's situation is made more difficult by her ability to see the gods, whose appearance around the household usually signals trouble. She is also keeper of the household's many secrets, some of which could mean the difference between life and death for Ithaka's inhabitants. Geras adds some interesting twists to an already well-known story, detailing aspects that are muted in Homer's original. The sinister arrival of the suitors who plan to marry Penelope and rule Ithaka is expanded upon in the book. Mocking Ithaka's famed hospitality, the suitors defile a once peaceful land with greed, rape and murder, involving Klymene, her family and friends. Penelope is also allowed some humanity within the confines of her impossible task. Geras questions the inherent sexism of THE ODYSSEY by challenging the double standard of Odysseus's infidelity through the course of his adventures, while his wife Penelope waits faithfully at home. The conflict Penelope faces in actually being attracted to one of the suitors makes her wait more poignant. Geras gives the ordinary events of adolescence --- unrequited love, outgrown friendships, tense relationships with elders --- a mythic resonance by associating them with a tale as old and beloved as THE ODYSSEY. Critics have long argued about whether life in the ancient world was lived or understood in the same way it is now. We know some things are very different, like the polytheistic system of belief prevalent in the ancient world. Lives were shorter. Yet, by translating the ancient world of THE ODYSSEY

It has been many years since King Odysseus has left to fight in the Trojan War. And many on the island from which he rules, Ithaka think that he is dead. Only a few still believe that he is alive, one of whom is his devoted wife, Queen Penelope. Not only must the lonely queen deal with running the island and its many affairs, but with Odysseus' quite mother Antikleia and temperamental father Laertes. Not to mention she and Odysseus' hard-heaeded son Telemachus. But Klymene, Penelope's lovely handmaiden is there to help in any way. Especially with Telemachus, who she is starting to have feelings for. She and her twin brother Ikarios have grown up with the young prince and been like extended family to him and Penelope. Then a young girl named Melantho comes to Ithaka and things become more and more stressful for Klymene and Ikarios. And when suitors from neighboring isles come to ask for Penelope's hand in marriage, and wear out their welcome, it makes things even worse. Anyone who is fan of Ms.Geras' previous works will not be dissapointed in this novel. Shocks and surprises abide in this great pageturner. Ms.Geras has once again dove into the world of Ancient Greek Myth and come out with a perfect 10. Even if you're not that familiar with The Odyssey, you won't need to know it to enjoy this.

This book has everything a person might want in a novel, not to mention one in the historical fiction genre. Adele Geras has proved time and time again how to capture the true elements of love, passion, war and time. What a joy!