This week I finished:
The Arcadian, by podcast guest Steven Pressfield: The book’s cover describes it as genre-bending and it is. I’m scheduled to record a second episode with Steven this week, so look for the recording soon.
I found it hard to put down. Steven makes the details vivid—of one character’s toes gripping the grass or the size of the splinters of a piece of wood being broken. I kept imagining how to make it visual if made into a movie.
After a while, it becomes clear that the main characters are in a cycle of rebirth. That concept would seem to me Hindu or Buddhist, but it’s western: Christian, Roman, Pagan, a bit of Jewish. I’m not sure the meaning or value of making it magical. I can’t tell what determines the nature of the rebirth.
In any case, he treats the themes of sacrifice, honor, duty, responsibility, mercy, guilt, masculinity, and couple others deeply and thoughtfully.
It was always gripping and engaging. Some parts shone. I’ll make a separate post to quote one part at length about wounded warriors.
