hramona's reviews
405 reviews

This book is many things. It is a book of poetry. It is a book of collected thoughts, small gems of knowledge, tales and songs. What this book is not, is a book about women and the sea. Whoever told her to add the subtitle women and the sea to it should be fired. The way it’s been organised would be fine if it wasn’t sectioned off with titles of Greek goddesses who have absolutely nothing to do with the text itself. My friends and I agreed it felt very much like a (male) editor essentially decided books “about women” were really popular right now so she ought to jump on the bandwagon being a woman herself.  
If you ignore that, it’s a really lovely book. But if you want to read tales of women in context of the sea this book is absolutely not it. 

Hesiod; I can understand why the authorship of Theogny and Works and Days is so contested. The prior feels so utterly different to the later, and maybe he was just inexperienced but I’m not sure. In Theogny Hesiod writes as though Zeus is utterly infallible, never wrong, never tricked (which we all know is nonsense), yet in Works and Days he writes of how Zeus is tricked so??
The Theogny felt as though a close relative was telling you a really wild story but instead of telling you the really fucking good bits, tells you about all the people involved, and all of their families members and how the person they robbed a bank with ‘s second cousins aunties grandma twice removed was called Janet. 
The Works and Days is truly fascinating. The advice he is giving is astoundingly accurate to the day of doing things (harvesting, ploughing, setting sail) which seems bonkers and amazing. And at least in this, his hatred of women is less aggressive and much more amusing (yeah I WILL shake my ass at a man to get his barn Hesiod and it’ll fucking work too). 
And then Theognis. Oh, Theognis. You’re a very paranoid, self-conscious, petulant little man child. There’s some cracking bits of wisdom and some truly beautifully poetic lines in the Elegies that you just can’t shake the mastery of, but considering he spends the majority of the time talking about poor him his friends are such bastards (probably told him they were washing their hair and later he saw them partying), and how money is immaterial and doesn’t matter BUT HIS GOT TAKEN AWAY ITS SO UNFAIR!!!! and also, wine? Like a LOT about wine. I think he might have just been a very paranoid, self indulgent, and lonely man. My advice: stop being a dick to Kurnos, you’re pretty hard to be around as is, give him a break dude. 

I loved finding something I could read through so quickly without any big thoughts happening. I do think Haynes’s “A Thousand Ships” did this better? But it was still immensely enjoyable and a new experience to read from Pyrrhus’s POV. 

Having a severe book hangover from this. The way Mistry writes is beautiful and breathtaking but the ending is agonising. It felt a little like A Little Life, in its vaguely poverty/trauma porn ending. I really struggled with Maneck, his entitlement and lack of understanding really put me on edge. I wanted to smack the boy into reality so he’d act like less of an arrogant little fuck weasel, but maybe there was just something about seeing someone who had a little more privilege that just rubbed me the wrong way. Mostly I’m finding it hard to get over the ending that almost felt like it ruined it? I’m not sure it was necessary for the plot or the development of characters for it to end the way it did but I would definitely read more of his work. 

ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Very informative and so many references and works cited which is a Blessing to seeing coming up to my masters. I also desperately want to have the absolute NERVE of a woman who cites her own work as evidence, fucking hero imho

Am I ever going to read a book by Emezi that doesn’t crack open my insides, haul them out and love them fiercely? 

I have a new found love for Aphrodite and a deeper understanding and admiration for these Goddesses that are slowly weaving their way into my life. I was almost worried about reading the section on Hestia because it was markedly smaller but WHY after experiencing the way she writes about Aphrodite and Artemis I have no idea. I have since began swimming naked after reading, and it feels like the most honest way I can love and show gratitude for these incredible Goddesses.