Eaters of the Dead (also published as The 13th Warrior)
Author:
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
Book Type: Paperback
Author:
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
Book Type: Paperback
Crichton did a fantastic job of retelling Beowulf in a believable and entertaining way while working in details of two distinctly separate cultures. The narrator, Ibn Fadlan, is an Arabian emissary who winds up in a madcap adventure with these wild, dirty Norsemen. I felt that Ibn, although we're told at the beginning that he's an extremely reliable narrator, was kind of a snob the way he referred to these guys as filthy, like animals, unclean, etc. Yet he didn't mind partaking of their honey mead or ravaging their slave women. He was not allowed to drink fermented grape drinks but is okay with fermented honey drinks? Needless to say, I didn't care a bit for Ibn.
The story, though, brought back amazing memories of reading the adventure tale in high school. I loved the detail of the hunt, the chase, and the fights (well, maybe not that last one).
The cultural differences between the monotheistic Ibn and the polytheistic Norsemen interested me. Sprinkled throughout the book are tiny bits of conversation that shed light on the reasons for their beliefs. I think the last conversation Ibn has with the interpreter, Herger, sums it up in a beautiful and thought-provoking way. I do believe I now understand the logic behind polytheism. And the idea of Valhalla has never been presented so clearly - or given so much insight into why the Norsemen lived as they did, fighting so much.
The footnotes only add to the complexity of the story, completing the details with historical information to back them up. Oddly, though, at the end, Crichton included thoughts from scholars about the history behind the story and I felt myself shivering at the thought that it may not have been Cro-Magnon man killing Neanderthal man (Beowulf vs. Grendel and his furry mom) but a different one entirely.
Easy to read, short, and had short chapters.
This doesn't get five stars because women and slaves were treated horribly, which I realize was likely true to the time. But I don't have to like it and I'm not going to.
The story, though, brought back amazing memories of reading the adventure tale in high school. I loved the detail of the hunt, the chase, and the fights (well, maybe not that last one).
The cultural differences between the monotheistic Ibn and the polytheistic Norsemen interested me. Sprinkled throughout the book are tiny bits of conversation that shed light on the reasons for their beliefs. I think the last conversation Ibn has with the interpreter, Herger, sums it up in a beautiful and thought-provoking way. I do believe I now understand the logic behind polytheism. And the idea of Valhalla has never been presented so clearly - or given so much insight into why the Norsemen lived as they did, fighting so much.
The footnotes only add to the complexity of the story, completing the details with historical information to back them up. Oddly, though, at the end, Crichton included thoughts from scholars about the history behind the story and I felt myself shivering at the thought that it may not have been Cro-Magnon man killing Neanderthal man (Beowulf vs. Grendel and his furry mom) but a different one entirely.
Easy to read, short, and had short chapters.
This doesn't get five stars because women and slaves were treated horribly, which I realize was likely true to the time. But I don't have to like it and I'm not going to.
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