- Hardcover: 288 pages
- Publisher: John Murray Publishers Ltd; Reprint edition (22 Feb 1979)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0553170252
- ISBN-13: 978-0719536144
- ASIN: 0719536146
- Product Dimensions: 21.1 x 15 x 2.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 579,332 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
| ||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
"[Renault's] historical novels . . . are among the finest ever written." -- "The Washington Post Book World"
"A song of praise, a work of love, a serene, deliberate book, full of wisdom, rich in character, incident and description." -- "Wall Street Journal" --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
"A song of praise, a work of love, a serene, deliberate book, full of wisdom, rich in character, incident and description." -- "Wall Street Journal" --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
Book Description
In a masterful novel that vividly recreates the world of Ancient Greece, Mary Renault tells the story of Simonides, an ugly boy destined to create beauty through his extraordinary poetic talent.
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
If you want a taste of what living in ancient Greece was really like then Renault is the writer to read. In this novel she eschews the heroics of Alexander and Theseus and instead focuses on the little-known epic poet/bard Simonides who sings Homer as he travels around the Greek world. He witnesses great events and introduces us to the people who make things happen, but he himself is content to sing of life rather than drive it.
Perhaps Renault's least popular Greek novel, this is a quiet, subtle book that somehow still manages to haunt you once it's finished. Superb.
Perhaps Renault's least popular Greek novel, this is a quiet, subtle book that somehow still manages to haunt you once it's finished. Superb.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The least popular of Renault's books? Perhaps, because it may be regarded as the most intelligent (which is saying a lot). It is shot through with a restrained irony which is a long way short of "knowingness". The picture of a Greek civilisation moving gradually from an oral to a literate culture combines with speculation on the artist's relationship with the state in a way that has things to say to us. Also, as always with Renault, it's a very good story.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
For some reason, this proved to be the least popular of Mary Renault's works. This has nothing to do with its quality, but more I suspect with the unfamiliarity of the main character, Simonides (6th Cent BCE), some of whose work still survives. Also unfamiliar is the concept of praise-singing. In early Greece, competitors in the main games (not just the Olympics; there were many others)were escorted home in great honour, often accompanied by choral odes, specially commissioned for the event. Mentioned in The Praise Singer is Simonides' later contemporary, Pindar, probably the finest such composer known. One copy of his (Pindar's) work survived and was discovered only relatively recently. It's spectacular work, in places reaching the spiritual level. The only regrets are that the remaining work is incomplete and, more so, that the music accompanying the odes hasn't survived. And it was from others, such as Simonides himself, that Pindar would have learned his craft. Another point about Simonides: he was the author of the brief, but spine-tingling epitaph dedicated to the 300 Spartans and their king, who held back the Persian invasion of Greece in 480 BCE for just long enough for a stronger defence to be arranged farther south. As with Mary Renault always, this isn't dry history, but told in the first person as if through a modern voice-recorder.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
