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Summary: steven pressfield is sad
Review: Dear Friends and Readers, Any contact with this book should be considered septic. I suspect Robert E. Lee and U.S. Grant would throw this book upon the ground simply because it is so demeaning to their considerable gentlemanly demeanor, afforded them by West Point training, as well as their simple good taste. I have searched this sad thing far and wide for any redeeming value- and as yet have found none. Every sentence is automatically filled with stupid choices. A writer, such as Mr Pressfield, has choices to make, which make reading a great joy, or a descent into stupidity. This so-called historical novel is fully-leavened with a bestial engorging of sick, stupid, humanity- debasing philosophy. Under the conceit of portraying Spartan history, Mr Pressfield has dragged all who entered this mess into a dark rathole. The Great and Profound Logic, Theater, Science, Poetry, Architecture, Astronomy, Geometry, Physics, Metaphysics, Politics, Analytic Geometry, of the Greeks, have No Place in Mr Pressfield's World. What a Sad Joke. Mr Pressfield is a simpleton.Dan
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Summary: One of the pooest written books I've read.
Review: I have been studing ancient warfare for five years and I find a history book more entertaining then this. This book remains entirely on the surface and never penetrating into any deeper meaning. The characters are too one dimensional and dry, the descriptions, except for the battle, are almost embarrassing to read. I'm sorry, but a star higher then one is just not suitable for this book, and I by no means care what other people say about how great it is; this book is poor. Where have all the great writers gone to?
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Summary: Laconians Arise! To the gates!
Review: In 480 BC, led by the Persian king Xerxes, son of Darius, the Persians arrived on the border of Thessaly and Greece with an invading force totalling over 2 million. Here, at a mountain pass called Thermopylae, 300 Spartan warriors + a handful of squires and allies made one of the most valiant stands in military history. The Lacedamonians held the pass for the better part of a week, slaying something like 20,000 Persians (of which roughly 18,000 were university of Michigan fans). The title of Pressfield's book is appropriate as in Greek Thermo = "hot" and Pylae = "gates." The battle is recorded in Book VII of Herodotus' "Histories." When the Spartans repeatedly repel Xerxes' stunned forces, Herodotus details the scene thus: "...it became clear to all, and especially to the king [Xerxes], that though he had plenty of men, he had but very few warriors." (Histories, Book VII, trans: George Rawlinson). The text centers around a fictional Spartan squire named Xeones, the lone Laconian warrior to survive the battle (albeit with a multitude of serious wounds). In reality, the only Spartan to survive was a fellow named Aristodemus. Supposedly, he was a messenger who tarried along the path to Thermopylae and missed the battle. He spent the rest of his life in disgrace in the eyes of his fellow Spartans, despite a heroic showing at the battle of Plataea (the decisive battle of the Persian war). Back to Xeones. Pressfield's presentation of the story is nothing short of brilliant. Captured by the Persians, Xerxes orders his personal historian to record the infantryman's story. Through the persona of Xeones, we are informed of events in the Persian war before, during and after the battle of Thermopylae. Xeones interacts with historical figures on both sides of the war, such as the Spartans Leonidas and Dienekes, as well as Xerxes, Orontes and Artemisia. In this way, the book is much more than simply a narrative on the battle itself. We are invited to glimpse the rigid lifestyle of a Lacedamonian warfighter. The Spartans were able to relentlessly pound their adversaries into submission, but not with superior numbers. Rather, they relied on a brutal training regimen which instilled within their men an exemplary discipline and code of honor. Today, it takes 6 months for an individual to earn the Trident and Eagle of a U.S. Navy SEAL; the most respected fighting force of the present world. 2,500 years ago, it took 13 YEARS for a Spartan youth earn his place as a Lacedamon warrior (7-20), + another 40 years of military service to his country (20-60). Thanks to an obviously arduous scholarly research, Pressfield does a magnificent job of describing for us the extreme dedication that was entailed within this rigorous lifestyle. This is a must-read book for anyone who is even vaguely interested in military or classical history. It is also a refreshing text for everyone who tires of the modern military climate where political correctness and social engineering projects are deemed more important than combat readiness. I would recommend this book to all history buffs, anthropologists, classical scholars and students / fans of Michigan State University! I will leave you with a passage from Nietzsche which glazed thru my mind over & over as I was reading this book. It engages the austere life of the gallant warrior: They call you heartless: but you have a heart, and I love you for being ashamed to show it. You are ashamed of your flood, while others are ashamed of their ebb. -"Also Sprach Zarathustra," first part, section 10: "On War and Warriors," trans: Walter Kaufmann of Princeton university. This book is a tremendous feat. All the texts bearing the name "Gates Of Fire" will exalt all who have the ability to read: MOLON LABE!
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Summary: A great book on Ancient Greece!
Review: I was really impressed by this novel! What I didn't realize when I was buying this was that the battle is just an anchor for the story. The book includes a very well-thought-out frame story about several intertwining lives in ancient Greece. It tells you not only about the individual warriors in the battle, but also how they came to be there, what motivated them to sacrifice themselves for the good of all their unappreciative Greek brethren. This book stirred up a lot of emotions, and was so well written I could empathize with many of the characters. It's definitely something you can use as a measuring stick with which to judge any other historical fiction you may read!
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Summary: Lessons for manhhood
Review: Well, I live in Turkey and saw the book. Don't know what happened but bought it. After the first paragraphs I was astonished. In fact I read it as a translation, so I have no idea if language used in the book is "good English" or not. The book really took my attention until the end. There are alot of good, very good paragraphs in the book: King Leonidas tells how to be the king, and Dienekes's late answer for the opposite of fear. Which is as I never thoght "love". I like readind historical novels, but I might say that this one is the best so far.
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Summary: A study of manhood
Review: One of my favorite reads. It is exciting, although the dialogue and some of the other mechanisms are sometimes a bit clunky, and it is a study of manhood. At 48, having been married for over 20 years, having spent time as an officer in the U.S. Army, as a trial lawyer, as whitewater kayaker and as a competitive oarsman (all activities revealing of the self and of others) I think I can reliably say it's a good one. I offer these suggestions as aids to understanding the book. Xeo, and the Persian narrator, comprise a plot device which reveals the purpose of the book. We meet Xeo when he is young, rootless, and searching for a place in life after the destruction of his city. His role is the search for and examination of manhood. The Persian narrator, as a device, is a hint, actually an explicit declaration, that the book is about gaining an understanding of the honorable men who stood at the Hot Gates and thus, all honorable men. Dienekes is, of course, the ideal man. He is courageous (knowing fear and facing it down); competent, caring, and willing to yield his masculine ideals of honor to his wife's higher morality in saving the son of Rooster. All are drawn to him, even though he is not be prettiest, nor the strongest, nor the fastest. Polynikes is a bit of a "straw man", another plot device whose purpose , mostly by negative example and by coming off second to Dienekes, is to show that manhood is more than athletic prowess and the ability to physically dominate-- as he himself comes to recognize by acknowledging the virtue of Alexandros. Alexandros is the boy who dies becoming a man and whose literary role is to be the lens through which Xeo studies the process of becoming a man, as exemplified by the contrast between Dienekes and Polynikes in their conduct toward Alexandros. The author stresses the superiority of women's courage and morality via the men, Leonidas and Dienekes,who honor the courage and morality of Spartan women. At the same time, the book is a good insight for women into what men are, or should be.
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Summary: What a bucket of pig-slop
Review: My dear Brothers, Please stay well away from this frightful snoutfull of cheesy faux-history. ... Stephen Pressfield hates you the reader almost as much as he hates hates hates The English Language. dtownsell.
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Summary: Death of a Civilization
Review: Dear Friends, I like writing. A lot. Titus Andronicus is a beautiful work about the slimiest most horrible people on earth. If you have a chance, rent the video, starring Anthony Hopkins, Jessica Lange, Alan Cummings...This was hideous. But, a great work of art, intelligence, insight, et cetera. Shakespeare is heroically adroit in his use of English...It is so far be low Shakespeare...
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Summary: Opa!!! Top 3 best books I've ever read...2nd time around
Review: Yasou! Easily one of the best books I've ever read. After reading this book I was inspired to research every piece of literature out there regarding Sparta and Spartan life. The characters are very knowable. People like Leonidas, Dienekes, Polynikes, Alexandros, and Xeo, to name a few are names that will always be with me. I know these guys, I know people like these guys. I can relate to these guys. Do yourself a favor and get this book and read. It is a wonderful book for women as well. My wife loved the book, and she is not the reading type. She had no idea how powerful and strong the women were in Sparta. We are planning a trip to Greece in 2003, this book is part of the reason. I want to explore my Greek roots and visit the statue of Leonidas and see, smell, and feel the countryside. This book will inspire you. Andio!
Rating:
Summary: Not recommended
Review: Mr. Pressfield reminds us of Simonides epitaph for the heroic soldiers at the Battle of Thermoplyae in the very beginning: .............Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by ...............that here obedient to their laws we lie......... Nothing more has ever needed to be said in the last 2,500 years. Now we have more than we ever really wanted to know - twelve year old boys tortured and beaten to death in the name of encouraging other boys how to be "manly". A society so off the main track, and condemned even then by contemporaries, that it makes the Nazis warm and fuzzy. If you are a specialist in Spartan society, by all means read this book. If you are looking for a good historical read, run... In an attempt to make the characters well-drawn, the author simply manages to put them in quite bizarre contextual contradictions. Unintentionally hilarious is the Spartan explaining to the Egyptian the rationale for his society. It is "freedom", he says. One wonders. "Slavery" would have been a more accurate response, not to speak of "sadism". Scariest of all is the blurb on the back cover by an American Colonel who recommends this book as an example of the beauty of the military mindset. Give me citizen soldiers, anyday. The style is earnestly striving for verisimilitude, but manages to leave us only with a sort of quirkiness. Our speech patterns are no longer like Homer. But he gets "A" for effort here.
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