After getting back from Finland and Russia I didn’t have much to do. I work for BYU and they didn’t schedule me till Summer term, which was two weeks after I got back. Ergo, I had a lot of time on my hands. I don’t generally read for pleasure during the school year because I’m constantly reading for my other classes so I took the opportunity to read the first Percy Jackson book by Rick Riordan, The Lightning Thief.
Let me preface by saying that I have always been fascinated by Greek/Roman mythology. I would even say any kind of mythology or theism interested me. I’ve learned a little of the Asgardian mythology and the Egyptian theism as well. However, I’ve always had an affinity for the Greek mythology and it’s effects are very prevalent in our society. References are all around us. We might hear a phrase like “By Jove, I think she’s got it!” or hear of a substance called an aphrodisiac, we call a self-absorbed person narcissistic and person’s weakness is their Achilles heel. You get the idea. I’ve enjoyed learning the stories of where all these things come from and the Percy Jackson books do a good job of telling these stories in a fun way.
I’m not going to go through the story of the Lightning Thief or the four other books, which I read in a week. Let me just say they were very entertaining books would that I highly recommend. What I think I most enjoyed about these books was the manner in which the author mixed the modern world with the world of the Greek Pantheon and their influence. Monsters were archetypes and resurface after a certain amount of time, therefore beasts like the minotaur came back again and again. There was also a mist that obscured the eyes of normal mortals so they couldn’t see the “truth” of the Greek monsters and gods as they mingled in our world. I found it amusing that the gods hadn’t really changed in 3000 years. They still fell in love with mortals, messed with their lives and believed that they were acting for humans’ benefit. In the end of the books the gods had to learn a lesson from humans, an interesting twist.
I very much enjoyed the books and again I recommend them to anyone looking for an interesting and instructional read. These books rekindled my interest in Greek mythology and may spark an interest in you!
Let me preface by saying that I have always been fascinated by Greek/Roman mythology. I would even say any kind of mythology or theism interested me. I’ve learned a little of the Asgardian mythology and the Egyptian theism as well. However, I’ve always had an affinity for the Greek mythology and it’s effects are very prevalent in our society. References are all around us. We might hear a phrase like “By Jove, I think she’s got it!” or hear of a substance called an aphrodisiac, we call a self-absorbed person narcissistic and person’s weakness is their Achilles heel. You get the idea. I’ve enjoyed learning the stories of where all these things come from and the Percy Jackson books do a good job of telling these stories in a fun way.
I’m not going to go through the story of the Lightning Thief or the four other books, which I read in a week. Let me just say they were very entertaining books would that I highly recommend. What I think I most enjoyed about these books was the manner in which the author mixed the modern world with the world of the Greek Pantheon and their influence. Monsters were archetypes and resurface after a certain amount of time, therefore beasts like the minotaur came back again and again. There was also a mist that obscured the eyes of normal mortals so they couldn’t see the “truth” of the Greek monsters and gods as they mingled in our world. I found it amusing that the gods hadn’t really changed in 3000 years. They still fell in love with mortals, messed with their lives and believed that they were acting for humans’ benefit. In the end of the books the gods had to learn a lesson from humans, an interesting twist.
I very much enjoyed the books and again I recommend them to anyone looking for an interesting and instructional read. These books rekindled my interest in Greek mythology and may spark an interest in you!
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