Hearts of Stone
Hearts of Stone
By
My Rating: 5
Genre: Historical Fiction, War
Finished on: Jan 29th, 2020
Beautiful. Simply Beautiful.
Whenever I pick up any book based on war, it is me wanting my conscious self to have a realization of what has happened in the world, what has been happening in the world, and what could still happen in this world. How the war changes things, changes people, changes your priorities.
And this book did not disappoint me regarding that at all.
The war based books which I've read so far, the setting was either in France or Russia or Poland or Germany. And the brutal, horrifying things which occurred were pretty much the same. But the Greece's account in this book was a new insight to my existing knowledge. A complete new picture of how this war was dealt with. The fights in the hills, near the cliff, and amazing account of the submarine battle under the water, was beautifully described. Though I am not sure if I should be using that adjective, but I want to convey how I really lived through it all while reading.
So three friends, from two different countries, get separated while vowing they'd meet each other again. But the fate had something different in mind for them. The bitter irony is that they do meet, although not as friends, but as enemies. And so much had changed since then.
Even before the war Andreas Katarides was devoted to do something for the country. Fight, live and die for the country. When the war started, Eleini Thesskoudis joins in the resistance for the same cause, fight and live to see your country free.
Their patriotism was commendable, but Peter Muller's was not. I'll be brutally honest here, I do not understand how can you support your own country, when your sensible brain cells can clearly detect whatever your country is doing, is wrong.
They are invading other's land. Stealing from them, starving them, killing them. Heck, filtered out an entire race and put them in camps to eventually put them to their death.
So, just, how and why do you want to support them? For what? The least you could do is let your own country's people realize this and in turn help them raise awareness, so that something can be done about it. So that your country improves. Prevents it from being the bad guy. And that's exactly what Dr Muller did, or tried doing before he was executed for being a " traitor ". But Peter never knew until it was too late.
And, (if any Peter fans are reading this, they can stop reading the review right here and now), Peter is pathetic.
Yes, you heard me, pathetic.
He meets Eleini's parents, Inspector and Rosa Thesskoudis. Them despite knowing Peter is an enemy now, belongs to a country which is giving them a very hard time, they give him a warm welcome, ask him how he is, as they used to do when they were still friends. And while doing that, they also let him realise they cannot meet him like this anymore, as they serve their country as much as he does, and wouldn't wanna be called as a traitor by calling him inside, and politely ask him to leave.
How does he react?
" Eleini wouldn't have wanted me be treated this way "
" GrEeKs ArE sO pRoUd "
Those were not the exact lines, it's almost close to it.
Anyway, the point is, from that moment Peter lost whatever respect I had for him. Not only did he seem to me as some sort of Jingoistic being, but also an insensitive human.
Although, yes, I agree he couldn't shake off the image of the boy getting shot by the heinous person Heinrich Steiner, but he also didn't bat an eye when Eleini's parents were being executed in broad daylight. He simply looked on. Would he have watched in the same manner if Eleini were in their place? Would he?
And regarding her parent's execution, I cannot imagine what Eleini had to go through that moment. While reading I was wondering what all could have happened with the options Eleini had:
Whenever I pick up any book based on war, it is me wanting my conscious self to have a realization of what has happened in the world, what has been happening in the world, and what could still happen in this world. How the war changes things, changes people, changes your priorities.
And this book did not disappoint me regarding that at all.
The war based books which I've read so far, the setting was either in France or Russia or Poland or Germany. And the brutal, horrifying things which occurred were pretty much the same. But the Greece's account in this book was a new insight to my existing knowledge. A complete new picture of how this war was dealt with. The fights in the hills, near the cliff, and amazing account of the submarine battle under the water, was beautifully described. Though I am not sure if I should be using that adjective, but I want to convey how I really lived through it all while reading.
So three friends, from two different countries, get separated while vowing they'd meet each other again. But the fate had something different in mind for them. The bitter irony is that they do meet, although not as friends, but as enemies. And so much had changed since then.
Even before the war Andreas Katarides was devoted to do something for the country. Fight, live and die for the country. When the war started, Eleini Thesskoudis joins in the resistance for the same cause, fight and live to see your country free.
Their patriotism was commendable, but Peter Muller's was not. I'll be brutally honest here, I do not understand how can you support your own country, when your sensible brain cells can clearly detect whatever your country is doing, is wrong.
They are invading other's land. Stealing from them, starving them, killing them. Heck, filtered out an entire race and put them in camps to eventually put them to their death.
So, just, how and why do you want to support them? For what? The least you could do is let your own country's people realize this and in turn help them raise awareness, so that something can be done about it. So that your country improves. Prevents it from being the bad guy. And that's exactly what Dr Muller did, or tried doing before he was executed for being a " traitor ". But Peter never knew until it was too late.
And, (if any Peter fans are reading this, they can stop reading the review right here and now), Peter is pathetic.
Yes, you heard me, pathetic.
He meets Eleini's parents, Inspector and Rosa Thesskoudis. Them despite knowing Peter is an enemy now, belongs to a country which is giving them a very hard time, they give him a warm welcome, ask him how he is, as they used to do when they were still friends. And while doing that, they also let him realise they cannot meet him like this anymore, as they serve their country as much as he does, and wouldn't wanna be called as a traitor by calling him inside, and politely ask him to leave.
How does he react?
" Eleini wouldn't have wanted me be treated this way "
" GrEeKs ArE sO pRoUd "
Those were not the exact lines, it's almost close to it.
Anyway, the point is, from that moment Peter lost whatever respect I had for him. Not only did he seem to me as some sort of Jingoistic being, but also an insensitive human.
Although, yes, I agree he couldn't shake off the image of the boy getting shot by the heinous person Heinrich Steiner, but he also didn't bat an eye when Eleini's parents were being executed in broad daylight. He simply looked on. Would he have watched in the same manner if Eleini were in their place? Would he?
And regarding her parent's execution, I cannot imagine what Eleini had to go through that moment. While reading I was wondering what all could have happened with the options Eleini had:
- Stay in the cave and never surrender, be a devoted resistance fighter and make this decision for the greater good
- Surrender, while maybe poisoning yourself so that you don't give anything away
- Surrender, let them break you until you die
- Surrender, let them break you, until you actually compromise the resistance bands and then die
And one thing I've noticed in this book is that the very topic Simon used in the starting of the book, was used again to end the trio's story for us.
Deiter Muller, grandson of Peter, meets Anna Thesskoudis, grand daughter of Eleini, as he wants to uncover the cave which Dr Muller discovered all those years ago. The cave which could have the tomb of Odysseus in its possession.
And the very same place ended up being the resting place of Andreas. The place where the trio meet, as they had vowed to do so, and they part for the last time ever.
It was heartbreaking in a poetic way.
Also, (Peter's fans AND history lovers can stop reading at this point - you've been warned!), I will never understand the obsession with the tomb of Odysseus in a middle of war, and post that for that matter.
I agree it is ancient. I agree they just uncovered something which was alive 30k years ago.
I agree with this people will come all over the world to look at its civilization and all that. I very much agree.
But, which people are you talking about? The same ones who are being slaughtered in this war as you speak?
People are being starved, killed, tortured and you are here caring about protecting the tomb of Odysseus? Yes, I'm referring to Peter here, as Heinrich was anyway a lost case.
One moment he plans to conceal the cave forever if found, so that Heinrich doesn't gets his hand on it.
And another moment he's reasoning with his dying childhood friend for not blowing up the cave because then tHe AnCiEnT CiViLiSaTiOn WiLl bE lOsT.
After carrying Eleini to a safe place, I wasn't expecting him to return for Andreas anyway. But when Andreas did blow up the cave, what is Peter most disappointed for? Not for his dead friend but losing the tomb of a person who has been dead thousands of year ago.
You're freaking impossible, Peter!
And from this even Deiter was no better. Anna here is trying to tell him she wouldn't allow him to take Eleini back to Greece to point out the location of cave, because that's the resting place of Andreas and it shouldn't be wise to disturb it, AT LEAST when Eleini is alive. And how does he respond?
"You are being sentimental Anna"
No doubt Peter's blood runs in his veins.
If Eleini wanted, in all these years she could have easily took some people to that place, asked them to dig the site, so that they can have their precious tomb of Odysseus, and she can give Andreas's remains a proper burial. But did she do that? In all the years that she lived even after war, did she do that? No!
So how wise will it be to ask a frail old women to come along and point to that very place where she lost everything?
Be a little empathetic, Deiter. Prove you aren't like your grandfather.
At the end of the book, I almost skipped reading the author's notes, but then gave a second thought.
I'm glad I did.
Simon Scarrow tells how exactly he got the ideas to write this book. How he justified WWII based books come under historical fiction, unlike how people claim otherwise.
He tells how he deliberately made the story such that Anna, in her present, learns the events of her grandmother's horrifying past. Anna used to see her grandmother as a frail, weak and old woman, but on learning her past, she sees how behind this old woman, there once lived a vibrant, energetic young woman, who fought for her country by risking her life at many points in her life. This makes the younger generation realise what the older generation went through.
And that is what history is for, as Simon himself explained to his students and made Anna explain to her students as well, history might not fetch you a great job (trust me, I disliked this subject in my school too), but it is very much necessary to learn whatever happened in the past, so that you don't ever repeat the mistakes of the past in your future.
This point is something to take home.
One of my favourite quotes in this book:
Age withered all people, and perhaps recorded history was the saving grace of those who became old. A reminder that they too were once young and vibrant and making their mark on the world around them.
Words: 1576
Chars: 8659
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