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Book Review––Dateline: Troy (2006) by Paul Fleischman

Publisher: Candlewick

I haven’t read Homer’s Iliad since the 7th grade, and with frankness, I can say that I was more likely reading Cliffs’ account than Homer’s. Eventually, my memories from this exposure to the Iliad more or less combined with Hollywood’s blockbuster and disappointment Troy, which was released 10 years later. In Fleischman’s juxtaposition Dateline: Troy, he reformed my understanding of the Trojan War––which happened over 2 thousand years ago––while also refreshing United States history over the past half century. Fleischman does this by juxtaposing the Iliad storyline with American newspaper headlines.

While reading, I was skeptical at first. What implications was Fleischman trying to make? I kept a vigilante eye for American historical inaccuracies and signs of political leaning. However, upon further reading, this auditing transformed. I became more interested in recognizing the author’s connections between the American ethos and Greek mythological events. In one account, the Greeks failed to storm the vast walls of Troy and resort to years of pillaging ally cities in the region. Fleischman contrasts this event with a headline about how hostile territory is undermining efforts to capture Osama Bin Laden. In his next described account, 8 years pass, and the Greeks point their spears at each other, which offers an iconoclastic tale of Odysseus––one not taught in today’s public schools. After reading such accounts and others, I thought to myself, who symbolized Troy, the United States, Agamemnon, or the Gods?

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