I bought this book five or so years ago after seeing the movie based on it, The Eagle, which is a movie that literally makes no sense if the two male leads aren't in love with each other. I had heard from others who had both seen the movie and read the book that the book is differently gay from the movie, but still pretty gay. I am here to report that this is indeed correct.
The Eagle of the Ninth is about Marcus, a Roman soldier in Roman Britain whose father had also been a centurion in Britain. His father went north of Hadrian's wall with his legion (the Ninth) and never returned, losing the standard of his legion (the Eagle) in the process. After Marcus is injured and discharged from duty, he goes to live with his uncle and decides he needs to buy Esca, a British gladiator, to be his body slave. When he finds out that there are rumors of the Eagle being seen north of the wall, he decides he has to go get it himself.
I think the most interesting part of this book is seeing exactly what the movie changed about the story, and what it does to the narrative. The biggest change is that movie!Marcus is significantly dumber than book!Marcus. Book!Marcus is concerned with his family's honor, and he goes on a quest that is fairly foolish, but he has a plan, and before they leave he frees Esca and the two of them are genuinely friends for the entire hunt, which makes the entire journey significantly less dumb. Marcus is also much more a part of Britain in the book; he has friends and connections with people beyond Esca, and he understands British people and also falls in love with a girl who he wants to marry after they return from the north (spoilers!).
On the whole, I enjoyed reading it, although I don't think I would have stuck with it at all if I hadn't already seen the movie. I do wonder what I would have thought of it if I had read it as a child, though, since it's a children's story.
Grade: B
The Eagle of the Ninth is about Marcus, a Roman soldier in Roman Britain whose father had also been a centurion in Britain. His father went north of Hadrian's wall with his legion (the Ninth) and never returned, losing the standard of his legion (the Eagle) in the process. After Marcus is injured and discharged from duty, he goes to live with his uncle and decides he needs to buy Esca, a British gladiator, to be his body slave. When he finds out that there are rumors of the Eagle being seen north of the wall, he decides he has to go get it himself.
I think the most interesting part of this book is seeing exactly what the movie changed about the story, and what it does to the narrative. The biggest change is that movie!Marcus is significantly dumber than book!Marcus. Book!Marcus is concerned with his family's honor, and he goes on a quest that is fairly foolish, but he has a plan, and before they leave he frees Esca and the two of them are genuinely friends for the entire hunt, which makes the entire journey significantly less dumb. Marcus is also much more a part of Britain in the book; he has friends and connections with people beyond Esca, and he understands British people and also falls in love with a girl who he wants to marry after they return from the north (spoilers!).
On the whole, I enjoyed reading it, although I don't think I would have stuck with it at all if I hadn't already seen the movie. I do wonder what I would have thought of it if I had read it as a child, though, since it's a children's story.
Grade: B
No comments:
Post a Comment