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4.13 AVERAGE
4.13 AVERAGE
This is a phenomenal book! I can hardly believe it was published such a long time ago!
The author has a brilliant way of describing the action, and provided a great many feelings for the reader. We have so many emotions in just one book, and it's very difficult to figure out what's going to happen next.
The one flaw is that there isn't a sequel. I would love to find out the future of these amazing characters.
The author has a brilliant way of describing the action, and provided a great many feelings for the reader. We have so many emotions in just one book, and it's very difficult to figure out what's going to happen next.
The one flaw is that there isn't a sequel. I would love to find out the future of these amazing characters.
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Fascinating, and the prose was lovely. Very English, in both good and bad ways. It did feel at times like that Eddie Izzard bit - "what is it, Sebastian? I'm arranging matches" - with so many things unsaid or said elliptically. But it also took me a long time to read so that might partially be my fault for missing things. At some point I'd like to reread it, as I think I'd understand it better.
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
One of the most beautiful books I've ever read.
This book made my heart cry
I think I'd like to read articles about this book - without a very literary background I fear I missed some stuff. But it was nonetheless beautiful and poignant, and I absolutely want to get myself a hard copy to hold and reread.
This book made my heart cry
I think I'd like to read articles about this book - without a very literary background I fear I missed some stuff. But it was nonetheless beautiful and poignant, and I absolutely want to get myself a hard copy to hold and reread.
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I was definitely charmed by this book. It's poetic, romantic, slow paced and beautifully written.
It's the story of Laurie Odell, who while staying in a hospital recovering from injuries after Dunkirk, develops an infatuation for two men; Andrew, a conscientious objector working at the hospital, and Ralph, a sort of mentor from his schooldays. The tittle of the book refers to an allegory by Plato about how the soul is a charioteer "driving two winged horses harnessed abreast", one is white and innocent and the other one is"is black and scruffy [...] given to bolting whenever he sees something he wants". Laurie has to make a choice between these two aspects of love, the more chaste and idealized (and closeted) one with Andrew, or the more physical and tumultuous one with Ralph.
I wasn't expecting the love triangle aspect of the book , or how melodramatic it would all be, but it works. The central dilemma faced by Laurie is understandable, and the reader can see how each of the choices would be appealing, and it was a great feeling to really not know how the book would end. I also like that.
This said, there's some characters and plot lines of the book that might be a bit irritating and drag the book down a bit, but not enough for me to dislike it. And I have to admire the sensibility, humanity and overall care that the author brings to her portrayal of homosexuality.
Music for this book:
Benjamin Britten - Reflections
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"In seven years, thought Laurie, every cell in one's body has been replaced, even our memories live in a new brain. That is not the face I saw, and these are not the eyes I saw with. Even our selves are not the same, but only a consequence of the selves we had then. yet I was there and I am here; and this man, who is sometimes what I remember and sometimes a stranger I met at a part the other day, is also to himself the I who was there: his mind in this different skull has traveled back to a place his living feet never visited; and the pain he felt then can feel again."
"Not for the first time, Laurie reflected that Andrew was the realist of them both, or had the courage of his realism perhaps. There was a postscript: 'Your bed is still empty. I have got a sense of guilt in advance toward the man they put in it; I don't know when I've resented a perfectly innocent person so much' ."
"It was the first time he had ever heard the clock strike ten at night."
"Now their heads droop side by side till their long manes mingle; and when the voice of the charioteer falls silent they are reconciled for a night in sleep."
It's the story of Laurie Odell, who while staying in a hospital recovering from injuries after Dunkirk, develops an infatuation for two men; Andrew, a conscientious objector working at the hospital, and Ralph, a sort of mentor from his schooldays. The tittle of the book refers to an allegory by Plato about how the soul is a charioteer "driving two winged horses harnessed abreast", one is white and innocent and the other one is"is black and scruffy [...] given to bolting whenever he sees something he wants". Laurie has to make a choice between these two aspects of love, the more chaste and idealized (and closeted) one with Andrew, or the more physical and tumultuous one with Ralph.
I wasn't expecting the love triangle aspect of the book , or how melodramatic it would all be, but it works. The central dilemma faced by Laurie is understandable, and the reader can see how each of the choices would be appealing, and it was a great feeling to really not know how the book would end. I also like that
Spoiler
the ending is not completely satisfying (I was really rooting for him to choose Andrew (and I think so did the author)) since I guess it makes it a bit more realisticThis said, there's some characters and plot lines of the book that might be a bit irritating and drag the book down a bit
Spoiler
(I could've done without Bunny or the whole the mommy issues thing)Music for this book:
Benjamin Britten - Reflections
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"In seven years, thought Laurie, every cell in one's body has been replaced, even our memories live in a new brain. That is not the face I saw, and these are not the eyes I saw with. Even our selves are not the same, but only a consequence of the selves we had then. yet I was there and I am here; and this man, who is sometimes what I remember and sometimes a stranger I met at a part the other day, is also to himself the I who was there: his mind in this different skull has traveled back to a place his living feet never visited; and the pain he felt then can feel again."
"Not for the first time, Laurie reflected that Andrew was the realist of them both, or had the courage of his realism perhaps. There was a postscript: 'Your bed is still empty. I have got a sense of guilt in advance toward the man they put in it; I don't know when I've resented a perfectly innocent person so much' ."
"It was the first time he had ever heard the clock strike ten at night."
"Now their heads droop side by side till their long manes mingle; and when the voice of the charioteer falls silent they are reconciled for a night in sleep."
1/22/2019:
Oof. Now more than ever I am Team Laurie Should Get Himself Sorted Out First Before He Rushes Into Anything With Either Of These Messes. Every word of my original review stands. The Charioteer definitely rewards reencountering. (And the audiobook is good! I never listen to audiobooks but this may have marked a shift.)
1/10/2015:
I stand by my original effusions: "Team Ralph vs. Team Andrew is immaterial. Does this belong on the unrequited love shelf? OH GOD I DON'T KNOW I DON'T KNOW THIS BOOK HAS TURNED ME INTO GLUE." Regard this review as an attempt to unstick myself.
There's the above quote, which speaks to the stabilizing effect of being a member of a community, and then there's Laurie's disappointing interactions with the nascent gay community at Oxford. He describes his emotions thusly.
But enough about that. The Charioteer was one of the most enjoyable, immersive reads I've had in a while. For someone who likes everything to be character-driven, this was a goldmine. And what characters! Alec, who does not have time for this shit. Sandy, who (in my opinion) gets a raw deal. Bunny--BUNNY--who is Bunny. (Bunny ex machina. Bunny, Bunny, Bunny. Oh lord.) Reg "A pal's a pal the same all the world over" Barker, whose limitations don't preclude my absolute sorrow when his thread gets tied up and he disappears from view. The very cute Mervyn. The horrifying Aunt Olive, whose snooping takes the exact form I most fear.
And I haven't even gotten to the Axis of Angst. If you've been lurking around GoodReads long enough, you know how I generally feel about love triangles (short version: I hate them). The thing is, Ralph-Laurie-Andrew is done exceedingly well. The stakes were right, the conflict was believable, both candidates were wholly unsuitable in their own special ways, both candidates were absolutely perfect. Reader, I swooned. This is not a book primarily about romance and is all the more romantic for it. That meeting at Dunkirk! Those strolls through the woods! That kiss in the kitchen! The hospital transfer! RALPH SHOWING UP AT THE WEDDING LIKE THE KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOR HE SO CLEARLY THINKS HE IS.
And then there's Team Laurie Should Get Himself Sorted Out First Before He Rushes Into Anything With Either Of These Messes.
I mean,
Oof. Now more than ever I am Team Laurie Should Get Himself Sorted Out First Before He Rushes Into Anything With Either Of These Messes. Every word of my original review stands. The Charioteer definitely rewards reencountering. (And the audiobook is good! I never listen to audiobooks but this may have marked a shift.)
1/10/2015:
I wanted someone to follow, I wanted him to be brave. But he wants to be brave for me too; and no one can do that.So I said I would edit/(re)write this review once my head was in a better place, i.e. not jet lagged, stuffed-up, or perched on top of a body sitting in an airport. Well, only one of those conditions has changed, but the book and its dogeared pages have been coyly sitting next to me on my couch for days now and I've finally given in.
I stand by my original effusions: "Team Ralph vs. Team Andrew is immaterial. Does this belong on the unrequited love shelf? OH GOD I DON'T KNOW I DON'T KNOW THIS BOOK HAS TURNED ME INTO GLUE." Regard this review as an attempt to unstick myself.
"Some instinct of his recognized, in this cautious and discreet person, one who had escaped from solitude, whose private shifts had given place to a traditional defense-system. Somewhere behind him was the comforting solidarity of a group."In a lot of ways, The Charioteer--before it's a romance or a historical novel or a war story or any of that--is the novelization of that anachronistic (and tonally inappropriate) ditty by (the aptly named) Friend & Lover, "Reach Out Of The Darkness" ("and you might find a friend"). One of the novel's preoccupations (and they are legion, and range from insanely successful to dated) is community, and it is safe to say that Renault's take on community here is nuanced.
There's the above quote, which speaks to the stabilizing effect of being a member of a community, and then there's Laurie's disappointing interactions with the nascent gay community at Oxford. He describes his emotions thusly.
"Shutting yourself away, somehow; roping you off with a lot of people you don't feel much in common with, half of whom hate the other half anyway, and just keep together so that they can lean up against each other for support."The context for this quote is problematic (and fuel for a thousand dissertations, so I won't go into it), but I will admit that this part, at least, spoke to me as someone who has had the experience of being expected to get along with a random assortment of alumni from my alma mater, just because circumstances had drawn us to the same place at the same time, when in fact the people who were offering me the most friendship and support and solidarity were the ones least like me. And that, too, was a community.
But enough about that. The Charioteer was one of the most enjoyable, immersive reads I've had in a while. For someone who likes everything to be character-driven, this was a goldmine. And what characters! Alec, who does not have time for this shit. Sandy, who (in my opinion) gets a raw deal. Bunny--BUNNY--who is Bunny. (Bunny ex machina. Bunny, Bunny, Bunny. Oh lord.) Reg "A pal's a pal the same all the world over" Barker, whose limitations don't preclude my absolute sorrow when his thread gets tied up and he disappears from view. The very cute Mervyn. The horrifying Aunt Olive, whose snooping takes the exact form I most fear.
And I haven't even gotten to the Axis of Angst. If you've been lurking around GoodReads long enough, you know how I generally feel about love triangles (short version: I hate them). The thing is, Ralph-Laurie-Andrew is done exceedingly well. The stakes were right, the conflict was believable, both candidates were wholly unsuitable in their own special ways, both candidates were absolutely perfect. Reader, I swooned. This is not a book primarily about romance and is all the more romantic for it. That meeting at Dunkirk! Those strolls through the woods! That kiss in the kitchen! The hospital transfer! RALPH SHOWING UP AT THE WEDDING LIKE THE KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOR HE SO CLEARLY THINKS HE IS.
For the first time in months, he had remembered the dirty little parcel done up in newspaper at the back of his locker. It had contained the things saved from his pockets after Dunkirk, when the clothes had been cut away. A pocket-knife; a pipe he had been trying to get used to; a lighter; and the book Lanyon had given him seven years ago, with a brown patch of blood across the cover, and the edges of the pages stuck at the top. At different times he had tried the knife, the pipe, and the lighter, found them ruined, and thrown them away. The book had looked done for too; but it was still there.So I am obviously Team Ralph, but I get the appeal of Team Andrew, I really do. (And if I had read this book at fifteen, who knows. Who knows.)
And then there's Team Laurie Should Get Himself Sorted Out First Before He Rushes Into Anything With Either Of These Messes.
"If you knew all about me, you wouldn't be good to me like you are."I know all about you, Laurie, and you're judgmental and indecisive but you're also kind, sensitive, and loyal and it's the tragedy of my life right now that this novel will never have a sequel, and that it hasn't been made into a movie. Let's get this adapted pronto. The nigh-on impenetrable Britishness (and I have a lifetime of experience, not to mention an undergraduate degree, in deciphering this stuff) and the extremely guarded speech of the characters will make it a difficult task, but a rewarding one.
I mean,
This, thought Laurie, is what he doesn't tell everyone. The practiced inflection had held many chapters of inadvertent autobiography.LET'S DO IT.
The stars rating for this is harder for me to decide on than I usually do. It gets into the 4-5 echelon straight away: a WWII period piece about self-discovery, “Soldiers!” (to be read in the most Lydia voice you can muster), queer love, and life set during the Blitz in Britain. Plus Mary Renault, whose Fire in Heaven – if not the whole Alexander trilogy – I’d gobbled up as a teenager. As I'm looking at it now - the decision of 5 stars made - my lip is curling upward as if to ask, Is it though?
My beef with the book is minor, however, and it may well be a plus for some readers. It concerns Renault’s style of writing, and reminded me why I’d struggled to finish Persian boy all those years ago. There are parts in the book – especially in the beginning – where the sentences are so dense, it takes a while to get used to. Maybe dense isn’t the right word either, but I found myself re-reading certain passages and conversations more than twice to cut through the references and period-typical language to the actual meaning. Sometimes it helped, more often than not only partially. As I spent more time with it though, this stopped bothering me as much, but it did resurface once or twice when I’d encounter an especially probing thought put forth succinctly and wonder – Mary, if you were able to write something like this, why all the needless complexity?
“We sign the warrant for our own exile, he thought. Self-pity and alibis come after.”
Where this book truly shines is its characterization. In fact, it’s hard to think of a story with so little going on and so many repetitions (conversations, driving around, Laurie’s constant tardiness to this hospital or that) which still manages to wheel you in and makes the suspense almost tangible. The main reason for this is that Renault is a true wiz when it comes to writing the characters so that they jump off the page. Laurie is equal parts fittingly annoying and endearing in his obtuseness: throughout the book his “eye for detail” and the psychology of humans is being exalted, yet he seems incredibly dumb where it comes to how people relate to him, most obviously in his relation to Ralph. And oh my, Ralph. I can’t remember the last time I felt so invested in a fictional character: he’s the quintessential show-don’t-tell exemplar, his worry and kindness toward Laurie, as well as his solemn practicality, are moving, and especially considering what a flawed character he’s made out as. Reg was another “supporting act” who jumped out of the page, and illustrated the point of war relegating petty class differences to the back-burner wonderfully.
This really is a book about war times much more than it is a romance of sorts; and more than a romance, it is a quasi-philosophical look at different aspects of love, dealing with one’s knowledge of oneself, and sacrifice. It does all of these things near-brilliantly, and throughout are scattered little gems of insight into the human condition, as well as more down-to-earth but nevertheless engaging snippets of queer life in the era like the almost-famous party scene.
”He had made, as he lay looking at the night-light's quivering circle on the ceiling, a strange and solemn discovery. It had come to him that no one would ever look from these eyes but he: that among all the lives, numerous beyond imagination, in which he might have lived, he was this one, pinned to this single point of infinity; the rest always to be alien, he to be I.”
The only point of contention in characterization that comes to mind is with regard to Andrew. I felt he was too romanticized, or else, put forth too violently as an ideal of platonic love / purity with not much to humanize him. Perhaps, though, this was the point Renault was trying to make, as we see both him and Ralph through Laurie’s eyes. Sometimes, when he thought about Andrew, I wanted to slap him across the face and tell him to grow up. If this was the intention, then it was successful.
The last hundred or so pages left me at the edge of my seat – I’d been careful not to spoil the ending for myself and was thus suitably distressed in the will-it-or-won’t-it be another tragedy like many of the “classics” of queer literature from the era. I won’t spoil it for anyone else, but suffice it to say, it fit with the rest of the book and didn’t disappoint. Having now written this and put my thoughts in order, I can circle back to the question from the first paragraph and say – Yep, it’s worth the 5-star review.
My beef with the book is minor, however, and it may well be a plus for some readers. It concerns Renault’s style of writing, and reminded me why I’d struggled to finish Persian boy all those years ago. There are parts in the book – especially in the beginning – where the sentences are so dense, it takes a while to get used to. Maybe dense isn’t the right word either, but I found myself re-reading certain passages and conversations more than twice to cut through the references and period-typical language to the actual meaning. Sometimes it helped, more often than not only partially. As I spent more time with it though, this stopped bothering me as much, but it did resurface once or twice when I’d encounter an especially probing thought put forth succinctly and wonder – Mary, if you were able to write something like this, why all the needless complexity?
“We sign the warrant for our own exile, he thought. Self-pity and alibis come after.”
Where this book truly shines is its characterization. In fact, it’s hard to think of a story with so little going on and so many repetitions (conversations, driving around, Laurie’s constant tardiness to this hospital or that) which still manages to wheel you in and makes the suspense almost tangible. The main reason for this is that Renault is a true wiz when it comes to writing the characters so that they jump off the page. Laurie is equal parts fittingly annoying and endearing in his obtuseness: throughout the book his “eye for detail” and the psychology of humans is being exalted, yet he seems incredibly dumb where it comes to how people relate to him, most obviously in his relation to Ralph. And oh my, Ralph. I can’t remember the last time I felt so invested in a fictional character: he’s the quintessential show-don’t-tell exemplar, his worry and kindness toward Laurie, as well as his solemn practicality, are moving, and especially considering what a flawed character he’s made out as. Reg was another “supporting act” who jumped out of the page, and illustrated the point of war relegating petty class differences to the back-burner wonderfully.
This really is a book about war times much more than it is a romance of sorts; and more than a romance, it is a quasi-philosophical look at different aspects of love, dealing with one’s knowledge of oneself, and sacrifice. It does all of these things near-brilliantly, and throughout are scattered little gems of insight into the human condition, as well as more down-to-earth but nevertheless engaging snippets of queer life in the era like the almost-famous party scene.
”He had made, as he lay looking at the night-light's quivering circle on the ceiling, a strange and solemn discovery. It had come to him that no one would ever look from these eyes but he: that among all the lives, numerous beyond imagination, in which he might have lived, he was this one, pinned to this single point of infinity; the rest always to be alien, he to be I.”
The only point of contention in characterization that comes to mind is with regard to Andrew. I felt he was too romanticized, or else, put forth too violently as an ideal of platonic love / purity with not much to humanize him. Perhaps, though, this was the point Renault was trying to make, as we see both him and Ralph through Laurie’s eyes. Sometimes, when he thought about Andrew, I wanted to slap him across the face and tell him to grow up. If this was the intention, then it was successful.
The last hundred or so pages left me at the edge of my seat – I’d been careful not to spoil the ending for myself and was thus suitably distressed in the will-it-or-won’t-it be another tragedy like many of the “classics” of queer literature from the era. I won’t spoil it for anyone else, but suffice it to say, it fit with the rest of the book and didn’t disappoint. Having now written this and put my thoughts in order, I can circle back to the question from the first paragraph and say – Yep, it’s worth the 5-star review.
One of tne most beautiful love stories I've ever read.
It's not a book to read just once, it needs multiple readings to unfold its multiple layers and double meanings and subtleties.
Warning:You're in serious danger of falling in love with Ralph Lanyon. Every time he said "Spuddy" to Laurie my heart melted with tenderness.
It's not a book to read just once, it needs multiple readings to unfold its multiple layers and double meanings and subtleties.
Warning:You're in serious danger of falling in love with Ralph Lanyon. Every time he said "Spuddy" to Laurie my heart melted with tenderness.