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Glorious Exploits

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Glorious Exploits

By: Ferdia Lennon
Narrated by: Ferdia Lennon
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.


Ancient Sicily. Enter GELON: visionary, dreamer, theatre lover. Enter LAMPO: lovesick, jobless, in need of a distraction.

Imprisoned in the quarries of Syracuse, thousands of defeated Athenians hang on by the thinnest of threads.

They’re fading in the baking heat, but not everything is lost: they can still recite lines from Greek tragedy when tempted by Lampo and Gelon with goatskins of wine and scraps of food.

And so an idea is born. Because, after all, you can hate the invaders but still love their poetry.

It’s audacious. It might even be dangerous. But like all the best things in life – love, friendship, art itself – it will reveal the very worst, and the very best, of what humans are capable of.

What could possibly go wrong?

‘One of the most original and brilliant debuts in years’ Irish Times

‘Bold and totally unexpected ... I was hooked from the first page’ Douglas Stuart, author of Shuggie Bain

‘Brilliant ... Hilarious, moving, and profound’ R. F. Kuang, author of Yellowface

©2024 Ferdia Lennon (P)2024 Penguin Audio

©2024 Ferdia Lennon (P)2024 Penguin Audio Ancient Fiction Friendship Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Heartfelt Funny Inspiring Tear-jerking Thought-Provoking Witty

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Critic reviews

'Madly ambitious, cathartic like all great tragedy, but shockingly funny too, Ferdia Lennon's outstandingly original début is just glorious.' (Emma Donoghue, author of Room)

'A very special, very clever, very entertaining novel.' (Roddy Doyle, author of Paddy Clarke, Ha Ha Ha)
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Most relevant
This is the best book I have read in a long time., The storyline was so unusual and so well ‘handled’. Not a single word is wasted and the description makes it so easy to envelope yourself into the world described. I loved the main character and the narration by the author. Would thoroughly recommend.

So different

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It is rare to find a book that so completely understands it’s place in the world. A poetic master piece told with all of the humour and tragedy that one might expect from Euripides own voice.

I laughed, I cried, but mostly I found myself stunned into contemplative silence. I suspect that the ending of this book will stay with me for a very long time.

Utterly Profounding

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As a teacher of Classics and an avid reader of contemporary literature, particularly anything written by an Irish author, I was excited to add this to my listening list. It certainly did not disappoint. I actually think this is a book that should be listened to rather than read because the author’s brogue beautifully conveys the tone and spirit of his words. It’s a refreshing difference from so much of the recent work that has been written reimagining classical stories, which typically adopts the underrepresented, female perspective. Here, though, we have a story of two Syracusan men, very contrasting characters, close friends who embark upon what seems like a doomed mission to put on two Euripides plays with a cast of starving Athenian prisoners in the quarries at Syracuse in 412 BC after the disastrous defeat of the Athenian Sicilian expedition. It’s intelligently researched and beautifully told - funny, sad and informative in equal measure. There are laugh-out-loud moments and also bits that make you gasp. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Original, bittersweet, utterly gripping

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Thanks for writing. Absolutely brilliant story and example of great storytelling
and imagination. Recommend it massively.

Learning about history in a fabulous story

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Heartbreaking, funny and the best read this year. So much personality in the author's narrative.

Excellent classical tragic romp

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