Should've been the source material for 300.

Συμπαθές ανάγνωσμα, γραφή που κυλάει ευχάριστα και πλοκή που αιχμαλωτίζει τον αναγνώστη. Ένα τίμιο page-turner, αλλά μέχρι εκεί. Τίποτα περισσότερο, τίποτα λιγότερο.

Una descripción espectacularmente épica de la batalla de las Termópilas (unas 100 páginas). El resto del libro (unas 300 páginas) totalmente prescindible.
En la traducción española, en el capítulo 36 se salta la mitad del contenido y se inventa un trozo (verificado con la edición inglesa). ¿Por qué hacen este tipo de cosas?

Absolutely amazing. Anyone interested in ancient history or military fiction simply must read "Gates of Fire." By Zeus, this is one of those books that everyone should read, regardless of what their favorite genre is. Steven Pressfield has an amazing gift for transplanting the reader into his era of choice.

I could attempt to spend hours writing a witty review, but ultimately it would not do this book justice. So do yourself a favor and add it to your "To Read" shelf, or the gods will surely curse you and your offspring from this day until the end of time.

Get your copy here: https://amzn.to/2KBFAty

Considering going into this book I knew what was going to happen historically, I'm not fussed in ancient history, and the format in which the book was using to tell the story didn't appeal to me; that should tell you a lot about how well written this book is that I gave it five stars. A brilliant story about love, grief and sacrifice. How a small force of men in a brotherhood willing to sacrifice their lives for the love of each other, for country and for freedom against an empire. The only thing missing is the fact that it happens half a millennia before Easter becomes a thing lol

The characters are so well realised, the prose is so well written and I was half in tears by the end, even though I knew the ending from the start. Strongly recommend this book.

ΚΑΤΟΠΙΝ ΔΙΑΤΑΓΗΣ ΤΗΣ Μεγαλειότητάς Του, του Ξέρξη, γιου
του Δαρείου, Μεγάλου Βασιλέα της Περσίας και της Μηδίας,
Βασιλέα των Βασιλέων, Βασιλέα των Χωρών κυβερνήτη της
Λιβύης, της Αιγύπτου, της Αραβίας, της Αιθιοπίας, της Βαβυ­
λωνίας, της Χαλδαίας, της Φοινίκης, του Ελάμ, της Συρίας,
της Ασσυρίας και των χωρών της Παλαιστίνης· άρχοντα της
Ιωνίας, της Λυδίας, της Φρυγίας, της Αρμενίας, της Κιλικίας,
της Καππαδοκίας, της Θράκης, της Μακεδονίας και της
Υπερκαυκασίας, της Κύπρου, της Ρόδου, της Σάμου, της Χί­
ου, της Λέσβου και των νήσων του Αιγαίου· ανώτατου άρχο­
ντα της Παρθίας, της Βακτριανής, της Κασπίας, της Σουσια-
νής, της Παφλαγονίας και της Ινδίας· αφέντη όλων των αν­
θρώπων από Ανατολής μέχρι Δύσης, του Αγιοτάτου, Σεβα­
σμιοτάτου και Υψηλοτάτου, του Αήττητου και Αδιάφθορου,
του Ευλογημένου από το θεό Αχούρα Μάζντα και Παντο­
δύναμου μεταξύ των θνητών.

Και ξεκινώντας έτσι την ανάγνωση, καταλαβαίνεις ότι μάλλον θα διαβάσεις κάτι καλό.
Αυτό που δεν καταλαβαίνεις, είναι το ΠΌΣΟ καλό θα είναι αυτό.
Γιατί δεν ανοίγεις ένα βιβλίο.
Ανοίγεις έναν ασκό συναισθημάτων, που ξεχύνονται άπλετα καθόλη την διάρκεια της ανάγνωσης.
Και όχι μόνο αυτό. Οι περιγραφές είναι τόσο ζωντανές, που νομίζεις ότι είσαι σε μια γωνιά και εσύ και παρακολουθείς. Ίσως και για λίγο να νομίσεις ότι ήταν εκεί και ο ίδιος ο συγγραφέας, του οποίου η πένα δεν γράφει. Όχι, όχι! Ζωγραφίζει....
Ο πιο φανατικός αρχαιολάγνος θα ωχριούσε, μπροστά στον τρόπο που μιλάει για του�� Σπαρτιάτες και το πώς φαντάστηκε να δίνεται η μάχη των Θερμοπυλών. Χωρίς ωστόσο να αδικεί και τους Πέρσες.
Μια μάχη για την οποία τόσα και τόσα βιβλία γράφτηκαν, τόσα και τόσα τραγούδια εμπνεύστηκαν.
Από τα βιβλία που τα ανοίγεις και χάνεσαι μέσα τους.

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.

When I first tried reading this book about the Battle of Thermopylae, after a while I just had to put it down. I didn't know if it was because I just didn't like it, or if it was because it wasn't the right time to read it. So I tried again.

Forgive me for saying something like this, but it's clear the book is written by a man. There is way too much detail, but absolutely no emotional foundation. I think one of the reviewers captured it best when he/she commented on Pressfield's ability in writing a "military novel." Need I say more?

I am betting my husband would love this. But for me, just when it gets good, Pressfield derails into too much boring, needless detail. I stuck it out pretty far, but after about 2/3, I've decided that there are too many other books in the world to spend any more time on this one.

I'm definitely going to see what my hubby thinks, though. When I find out, I'll update my review!

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.

Πάρα πολύ ενδιαφέρον βιβλίο,από αυτά που δεν σε αφήνουν να το αφήσεις.Ειλικρινά,αισθάνεσαι πως είσαι μέσα στη μάχη και παρακολουθείς τα τεκτενόμενα από πρώτο χέρι!

Ce roman, frate, CE ROMAN!! Mi-a luat o lună de zile să-l citesc, și deși am întâlnit câteva chestii care m-au făcut să strâmb din nas, nu pot să nu recunosc talentul autorului! Nu le prea am cu scenele de luptă descrise amănunțit, dar în cazul ăsta le-am apreciat, fiindcă au acordat veridicitate poveștii celor trei sute de spartani de la Termopile. Nu știu ce-aș mai putea spune acum, la cald, decât că mi s-a părut un roman EPIC, plin de personaje și întâmplări memorabile, care oferă spartanilor ce e al spartanilor. Sper numai să mă adun destul de mult încât să-i pot scrie o recenzie care să-i facă dreptate!

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CITEŞTE RECENZIA MEA PE BLOG: https://literaryjungle.wordpress.com/...

This was an interesting book. I wasn’t sure what to expect from it and had thought it would be a book of history, but was actually a work of historical fiction. It was well told and, from what I know, an accurate enough telling of the story of the 300. Herodotus also tells this story in his histories and it is hardly surprising that a tale of so few holding off an army of so many should be remembered as one of the great military stories of all time. This one is told through the eyes of a captured assistant to the Spartans who is asked by the Persian king to tell his story and who does so in quite some depth and detail.

The odd thing was that this story is told really by an historian of the Persians, and normally this would, within the context of the novel, raise concerns over the accuracy of the story as told and translated from the Greek and into Persian for the king. I guess I’m too aware of concerns for such distortions as this wasn’t something that was really played with at all by the author. The convoluted process involved in the telling of the story was not really to get the reader to question the accuracy of what was being told, but rather to find a way to get many of the threads in the story to all line up.

This book is apparently taught at West Point http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gates_of... and I found that very interesting. This is a story about bravery and what it takes to be brave, and I guess that is exactly the sort of thing people in the army would expect to learn. I couldn’t help reflect while reading this book how often when America is involved in military adventures overseas they are much more likely to see themselves as the 300, and therefore acting to defend their homeland, rather than as the Persian invaders. This is interesting, as it does involve some fascinating mental gymnastics.

This is a remarkable story and well told here in a way a modern audience would be much more likely to enjoy. Many of the famous lines are all here, from fighting in the shade (due to the number of arrows the Persians would be able to fire) to telling the emissary of the Persians 'to come and get them' referring to the Greek weapons after being asked to hand them over. Boy’s own stuff this. I kept thinking that it was odd that it was mostly told in first person, as generally these stories are told in omniscient narration, and this made me think that perhaps modern tellings of stories like this are much more likely to be told through the eyes of an individual.

Anyway, I enjoyed this more than I thought I might.