Sparta: A Novel
Jun 2013 · Macmillan + ORM
2.4star
5 reviewsreport
Ebook
401
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About this ebook
“Robinson brings the tolls of war up close . . . Her powerful novel demonstrates that fiction actually can function as a sort of explosive device.” —The Washington Post
A Washington Post Notable Fiction Book
Going from peace to war can make a young man into a warrior. Going from war to peace can destroy him.
Conrad Farrell has no family military heritage, but as a classics major at Williams College, he has encountered the powerful appeal of the Marine Corps ethic. “Semper Fidelis” comes straight from the ancient world, from Sparta, where every citizen doubled as a full-time soldier. When Conrad graduates, he joins the Marines to continue a long tradition of honor, courage, and commitment.
As Roxana Robinson’s new novel, Sparta, begins, Conrad has just returned home to Katonah, New York, after four years in Iraq, and he’s beginning to learn that something has changed in his landscape. Something has gone wrong, though things should be fine: he hasn’t been shot or wounded; he’s never had psychological troubles—he shouldn’t have PTSD. But as he attempts to reconnect with his family and his girlfriend and to find his footing in the civilian world, he learns how hard it is to return to the people and places he used to love. His life becomes increasingly difficult to negotiate: he can’t imagine his future, can’t recover his past, and can’t bring himself to occupy his present. As weeks turn into months, Conrad feels himself trapped in a life that’s constrictive and incomprehensible, and he fears that his growing rage will have irreparable consequences.
“[A] page-turner . . . Sparta is an exceptional account of life after war.” —People
A Washington Post Notable Fiction Book
Going from peace to war can make a young man into a warrior. Going from war to peace can destroy him.
Conrad Farrell has no family military heritage, but as a classics major at Williams College, he has encountered the powerful appeal of the Marine Corps ethic. “Semper Fidelis” comes straight from the ancient world, from Sparta, where every citizen doubled as a full-time soldier. When Conrad graduates, he joins the Marines to continue a long tradition of honor, courage, and commitment.
As Roxana Robinson’s new novel, Sparta, begins, Conrad has just returned home to Katonah, New York, after four years in Iraq, and he’s beginning to learn that something has changed in his landscape. Something has gone wrong, though things should be fine: he hasn’t been shot or wounded; he’s never had psychological troubles—he shouldn’t have PTSD. But as he attempts to reconnect with his family and his girlfriend and to find his footing in the civilian world, he learns how hard it is to return to the people and places he used to love. His life becomes increasingly difficult to negotiate: he can’t imagine his future, can’t recover his past, and can’t bring himself to occupy his present. As weeks turn into months, Conrad feels himself trapped in a life that’s constrictive and incomprehensible, and he fears that his growing rage will have irreparable consequences.
“[A] page-turner . . . Sparta is an exceptional account of life after war.” —People
Ratings and reviews
2.4
5 reviews
A Google user
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December 13, 2016
I served in Iraq in 2005-2006 and in Afghanistan in 2002 and 2011. I have lived with most of the symptoms experienced by Conrad Farrell. I still take antidepressants more than five years since I came back from Afghanistan. The author captured the anger, confusion, guilt, depression and detachment experienced by those with PTSD perfectly. Reading Sparta was painful for me, but also riveting. I couldn't put down my tablet until I finished it.
Micheal Minardi
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January 7, 2018
Horrible ending
About the author
Roxana Robinson is the author of four previous novels, three collections of short stories, and the biography Georgia O'Keeffe: A Life. Her work has appeared in The Atlantic, The New Yorker, Harper's Magazine, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, More, and Vogue, among other publications.
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