Gates of Fire

Si te gusta la épica esta novela es sin duda espectacular, no hay otras palabras para definirla.

Pressfield es capaz de coger una historia conocida por todos, que incluso puede llegar a ser aburrida, y a base de épica y una gran carga emocional, la convierte en una de las mejores experiencias lectivas que he tenido en mi vida.

Su gran punto fuerte, pues que el autor es capaz de humanizar a los legendarios espartanos y convertir a estos en simples seres humanos, en vez de los acostumbrados héroes.

Todo ello lo hace con una prosa ágil y bien cuidado, en la que destacaría por encima de todo las escenas de acción, narradas con una gran maestría.

Resumiendo, libro muy recomendable si te gusta la épica y el trasfondo militar. Sino es el caso, creo que sigue mereciendo la pena por su calidad, aunque seguramente no llegue a encandilarte del todo.

Os dejo el enlace a mi blog para que leáis la reseña algo más completa que hice allí.

http://fantasiascifiymuchomas.blogspo...

Έχω νιώσει άπειρα συναισθήματα και έχω ταξιδέψει σε αμέτρητους κόσμους μέσα από τις ιστορίες των βιβλίων που έχω διαβάσει. Δεν θυμάμαι όμως να έχω ανατριχιάσει σε τόσα πολλά σημεία με κανένα άλλο εκτός από αυτό!
Είναι ένα εξαιρετικό ,ένα μεγαλειώδες θα τολμήσω να πω, βιβλίο όπως άλλωστε και η ιστορία στην οποία είναι βασισμένο που δεν είναι άλλη από αυτή των 300.

A review of
Gates of Fire
By
Steven Pressfield

This is a novel set around the events of the battle of Thermopylae in Ancient Greece, the same battle that inspired the well-known 300 Graphic novel and film. A tale that still captures the imagination of people thousands of years after the events took place. We all know the story; the 300 brave Spartans who stood against the hordes of Persia, hugely outnumbered and yet, still fought and died bravely to the last man, taking a massive toll on the Persian army.
So going into this book I knew how it was going to end, but what I didn’t expect is just how immersed I would become in the lives of the book’s characters. This book gives us a very well researched glimpse into Spartan life and Ancient Greek culture through the eyes of its main protagonist Xeones. Xeones is not a Spartan himself, but through fate he ends up living amongst them. Unable to become a full Spartan warrior, but still a free man he instead becomes the battle squire for the Spartan commander Dienekes. The story flashes forwards and backwards in time, from his childhood, through parts of his life in Spartan Greece, and of course, to the events surrounding the final battle itself. We see his life, learn how they thought, get a glimpse at the Spartan philosophy and mind-set. We meet his family and friends, his comrades in arms. There were so many amazing characters in this book, from his friend Alexandros, to his master Dienekes, to his rivals, each and every one takes an emotional toll by the end of the novel.
One point I found quite jarring at first, but by the end, I found quite fantastic was Pressfield’s use of Ancient Greek words and phrases throughout the novel. I actually learnt quite a lot of the language by the end, so when it was used I really understood the dialogue on a deeper level. This element shows an incredible level of research from the author and brought a real sense of authenticity.
In short this book was fantastic, there are some heavy emotions involved in the read, but is definitely a must read. There is such bravery and valour, and yet, shows the deep philosophical undercurrent of Ancient Greece and the Spartan culture. By the end I felt I truly understood the characters sacrifice.

If you enjoy ancient Greece, or are a fan of any form of military fiction I can recommend… Hell, everyone should just go and read this book. It’s amazing. Do it, but prepare yourself, it hits hard.

Thanks for reading.
Lee C. Conley

Tristemente Eroi

Romanzo storico che affronta l'epica battaglia delle Termopili, in cui perirono 300 valorosi spartani contro l'immenso esercito Persiano, mantenendo sobria la parte dello scontro e approfondendo le personalità dei protagonisti.

L'autore ha uno stile scorrevole ma crudo - come è giusto che sia, trattando soldati dediti alla guerra – e allo stesso tempo applica ai dialoghi punte di filosofia di indubbio interesse: belle le discussioni sulla paura e sul suo contrario. Alla fine ci si affeziona alle sorti – già segnate dalla Storia – di questi uomini e donne che costituiscono un vigoroso affresco di umanità, lasciando in chi legge una sensazione di partecipazione e solidarietà nei confronti di un ineluttabile destino.

A few years ago I read and loved Pressfield's The Afghan Campaign, which is apparently one of his minor works, so I expected to be blown away by this one. Unlike most readers, though, while I think it's competently written, I was never able to enjoy it.

Gates of Fire is primarily about the battle at Thermopylae, as told through the eyes of Xeones, a young squire. Much of the book deals with Xeones's life, Spartan military training, and the lead-up to the famous battle, but the battle itself definitely gets its share of attention.

First, the good stuff. Gates of Fire is a decently written book, without fluff, and at his best Pressfield deals with intensely emotional moments in a very effective understated way. Although this book was apparently part of the inspiration for that ridiculous movie, 300, it's not stupid or over-the-top. Pressfield deals with war in such a way that you can see how people come to diametrically opposed conclusions about it--why some people think it's glorious and want to be part of it, and why others think it's hell. And while I wasn't a stranger to these historical events before reading the book, I still learned some things from it (did you know the Spartans had allies at Thermopylae? Me neither).

And now, the problems:

1) It's very heavy on the history, at the expense of the fiction. Pressfield gives us info-dumps about Spartan culture, for instance, rather than weaving it into the story. And there's also long narrative stretches about military strategy and training and so on. If you're like me--you like historical fiction, but don't read history books for fun--it can be rough going. Especially since much of it is quite densely written, with lots of names and Greek terms thrown at the reader without any context.

2) Relatedly, the book doesn't really have a main character, or anyone I was able to connect to. Xeones is the narrator, but not really the protagonist (unlike the narrator in The Afghan Campaign); he tends to disappear into the background and narrate in the third person, and sometimes it's not even clear if he's present or not. And while there are some decent secondary characters, like Dienekes and Alexandros, none of them are the protagonist either. I'm sure this is intentional: it's a book about a group, not about an individual, and the Spartans fought as a unit; focusing on individual heroics might seem to cheapen that. But when the main character is "the Spartans" and there's less focus on individual character development, again, it makes the book feel more like history than fiction. As is, everybody died (including Xeones) and I didn't give a flip, which is kind of lame. I don't expect or want to be crushed by every major character death in a book that I read, which would be exhausting, but this kind of drama ought to have summoned a least a little emotion.

3) Finally, the book is told in a circuitous way; I found the jumping back and forth in time a bit distracting, but more off-putting was the way Xeones would forecast an event or subplot before narrating it in detail later. Already knowing how Thermopylae turned out, I was hoping for some suspense in the details, but there too Pressfield tells us the end before getting started on the story.

So in the end, while I wouldn't call this an objectively bad book, I didn't find it particularly compelling or rewarding, and was glad to be done with it. Obviously, tons of people love it, and if you are a military history buff you should definitely give it a try. And it's definitely more male-oriented, so if you're a guy you probably shouldn't let my review turn you off. But it may be disappointing to the casual reader, especially the casual female reader. It certainly was to me.

Přála bych si, aby víc autorů dokázalo takhle popsat bitvy. Protože - ach - tak šíleně živé! Beznaděj proudící skrz slova, těla a krev.

Ale Pressfield nevytvořil dílo jen o bitvě, jak by se mohlo zdát, to vůbec. On uchopil Spartu a v románu ji přiblížil lidem. Sparťanské způsoby, obyčeje, myšlení, bydlení, víra, odívání. Všechno tam je.

Až mi zase někdo bude tvrdit, že dějepis je nuda, strčím mu pod nos Ohnivou bránu a donutím ho, aby si ji přečetl.

Ότι και να πω για αυτό το βιβλίο είναι πραγματικά λίγο.
Ένα σύγχρονο έπος για το οποίο ο Ηρόδοτος, ο Όμηρος και ο Θουκυδίδης θα ήταν περήφανοι.
Μία σκληρή αλλά άκρως ρεαλιστική ιστορία για τη τιμή, τη δόξα, τη φιλία, τον θάνατο και τη ζωή, αλλά και το θάρρος.

Αυτό το βιβλίο θα έπρεπε να διδάσκεται στα σχολεία.

Το καλύτερο βιβλίο που εδώ διαβάσει μέχρι σήμερα. Θα κάνω πολύ καιρό να το ξεχάσω.!

This was quite a magnificent read. I would give it strong 4.5, because I quite did not like the form. It might be because I listened to the audiobook, but the form of a chronicle or witness recording was sometimes a huge obstacle. This was especially salient during dialogues, which felt a bit crippled and without the necessary flow. The form also did not give a space for many descriptions of the setting. However, these are my only complaints. The book is truly a masterpiece, and I have to say I really enjoyed even the Greek vocabulary that was used throughout the story. A must read for any fan of historical fiction.

2nd read: 4.9 stars.