A review by jnzllwgr
The King Must Die; The Bull from the Sea by Mary Renault

3.0

I am about 130 pages Renault’s two-part epic, modern retelling of the adventures of Theseus. I had hoped a mid-20th C. retelling might also attempt to use the era’s brisk rhythmic cadence to bring new relevance to some ancient tales. If rock bands can sings hymns in certain Christian denominations today, surely — as a contemporary of Burroughs, Kerouac, etc — she would know how inject some exciting life as she dusts these off. However, I’m not sure they’ve gone far enough. I do not have a strong knowledge or passion for Greek or Roman stories and I’m stuck wondering how creative they’ve really been with things. She’s adopted a semi-historical style which maintains a flavor of the epic poems —*but as a novel*— which feels counterintuitive; it feels like a governor has been placed on the accelerator. The story is interesting enough, but it just doesn’t MOVE. Who knows. I might pick it up again sometime when feeling a bit more patient.