A review by nietzschesghost
Epic Continent: Adventures in the Great Stories of Europe by Nicholas Jubber
4.0
Epic Continent is writer, traveller and passionate history lover Nicolas Jubber's fourth book and explores the connection between storytelling, both the past and present and the impact centuries-old tales still have throughout Europe today. It looks at some of the continents iconic tales in context — split into six parts and topped and tailed by a prologue and epilogue, this book really captures the imagination and is a truly fascinating read.
The different sections each dedicated to an influential, enduring poem or story are as follows: The War That Launched a Thousand Ships — The Odyssey, Elegies for an Everlasting Wound — The Kosovo Cycle, A Song for Europe — The Song of Roland, The Taste of Götterdammerung — The Nibelungenlied, How to Kill a Monster — Beowulf, and finally - A Wasteland of Equals — Njal's Saga. The inclusion of Sources, Further Reading and Bibliography sections at the back are a nice touch for those who wish to read more on the subject.
Jubber depicts the places he travels to in such a rich and vivid way that it's very easy to pick this up and lose a few hours between the pages and before you know it you've turned the last one. The way the author links the times in which these epics were written to the tumultuous modern times in which we live is incredibly interesting and is the perfect illustration of how history is forever doomed to repeat itself.
The potent mix of travel, history and literature is compelling and will appeal to a wide range of readers. It also highlights the fact that the state in which Europe currently finds itself in terms of the refugee crisis, widespread division and loss of confidence in the political establishment is reflected in these tales of old. Many thanks to John Murray for an ARC.
The different sections each dedicated to an influential, enduring poem or story are as follows: The War That Launched a Thousand Ships — The Odyssey, Elegies for an Everlasting Wound — The Kosovo Cycle, A Song for Europe — The Song of Roland, The Taste of Götterdammerung — The Nibelungenlied, How to Kill a Monster — Beowulf, and finally - A Wasteland of Equals — Njal's Saga. The inclusion of Sources, Further Reading and Bibliography sections at the back are a nice touch for those who wish to read more on the subject.
Jubber depicts the places he travels to in such a rich and vivid way that it's very easy to pick this up and lose a few hours between the pages and before you know it you've turned the last one. The way the author links the times in which these epics were written to the tumultuous modern times in which we live is incredibly interesting and is the perfect illustration of how history is forever doomed to repeat itself.
The potent mix of travel, history and literature is compelling and will appeal to a wide range of readers. It also highlights the fact that the state in which Europe currently finds itself in terms of the refugee crisis, widespread division and loss of confidence in the political establishment is reflected in these tales of old. Many thanks to John Murray for an ARC.