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david_reads_books 's review for:
The Charioteer
by Mary Renault
Recent readers - I NEED to talk to you about this book.
The understatements are strong here, not just because it was written in 1953. What is hinted or even NOT seen/said, is quite important. I highly question items late in the book as there are ulterior motives that might be at play. This book really made me think!
The conversation scenes are so real. A large queer party is an early great seen in the book. But there is also: isolated room-gatherings, clandestine meetings in the kitchen or on walks or car drives or telephone or letters. This could make a great movie! The voices of the multiple characters in this book are so clear, the actors would love these clearly defined roles. The director would enjoy working the subtleties into the unspoken elements - eye glances, head nods, hesitations in speech.
All these delicate pieces come together in this highly-British WWII vernacular that references 'the classics' and society class hierarchy and military command structure. I would have loved to have read this book on my kindle, so I could click on the many references (poem quotes, stray time-period wordings, military initials), but I was already reading slower than usual per both this banter and understatements. By reading-through the passages I could assimilate the meanings necessary.
We see this story from Laurie's pov. He is 23 and has more college remaining after he gets through the war. It is early in the war with Laurie getting his knee badly injured getting out of Dunkirk (early June, 1940). He meets a pacifist/Quaker Andrew (age 19) working as a nurse during his rehabilitation. And Laurie also stumbles into meeting his chum Ralph (age 26) from high school (Laurie was a freshman when Ralph left during his senior year). Ralph (a naval captain) lost half his hand in the Dunkirk evacuation, as his ship (and command) were lost to a bomb. This love triangle is complicated, since there are yet other ex-partners or love-interests of these characters.
The war-stress has hit everyone hard, and differently. So you feel a non-romanticized side of war during this novel that revolves around romantic elements. There are different empathy from the nurses, per their discipline values, that allow meetings to occur 'overlooked/unseen'.
The book seems to start slow, but in retrospect I appreciate the realism of how everyone was introduced as they each came into the story line. Nothing sexually explicit occurs in this text, with a kiss being the most overt written. There is implied action. e.g. "Afterwards, ..." ;)
The speed of the ending requires close attention to detail. As I write this review, I am still inquiring to any other readers for help discussing how I interpreted what I read. I do not want to put any spoilers here.
Since you've read this far in my review, you can surely tell that your pure-rational and emotional sides of your reading-brain will be highly engaged in this book. I highly recommend doing a buddy-read of some type with this book to discuss the nuances.
I like seeing this book on these Goodreads Lists (as of 1/31/2022)
4th Best Gay Historical Fiction
4th Best Gay Romance in Times of War
5th Smart LGBTQ Literature
5th Literary Gay Romantic Novels
10th Classic Gay Male Literature
19th Best Gay Fiction
35th Best Gay Romances That Are Not Part Of A Series
45th Best LGBTQIA literature
52nd Best Gay Romance with Strong Characters
75th Best Gay Historical Romance
121st Best Gay Soldiers
The understatements are strong here, not just because it was written in 1953. What is hinted or even NOT seen/said, is quite important. I highly question items late in the book as there are ulterior motives that might be at play. This book really made me think!
The conversation scenes are so real. A large queer party is an early great seen in the book. But there is also: isolated room-gatherings, clandestine meetings in the kitchen or on walks or car drives or telephone or letters. This could make a great movie! The voices of the multiple characters in this book are so clear, the actors would love these clearly defined roles. The director would enjoy working the subtleties into the unspoken elements - eye glances, head nods, hesitations in speech.
All these delicate pieces come together in this highly-British WWII vernacular that references 'the classics' and society class hierarchy and military command structure. I would have loved to have read this book on my kindle, so I could click on the many references (poem quotes, stray time-period wordings, military initials), but I was already reading slower than usual per both this banter and understatements. By reading-through the passages I could assimilate the meanings necessary.
We see this story from Laurie's pov. He is 23 and has more college remaining after he gets through the war. It is early in the war with Laurie getting his knee badly injured getting out of Dunkirk (early June, 1940). He meets a pacifist/Quaker Andrew (age 19) working as a nurse during his rehabilitation. And Laurie also stumbles into meeting his chum Ralph (age 26) from high school (Laurie was a freshman when Ralph left during his senior year). Ralph (a naval captain) lost half his hand in the Dunkirk evacuation, as his ship (and command) were lost to a bomb. This love triangle is complicated, since there are yet other ex-partners or love-interests of these characters.
The war-stress has hit everyone hard, and differently. So you feel a non-romanticized side of war during this novel that revolves around romantic elements. There are different empathy from the nurses, per their discipline values, that allow meetings to occur 'overlooked/unseen'.
The book seems to start slow, but in retrospect I appreciate the realism of how everyone was introduced as they each came into the story line. Nothing sexually explicit occurs in this text, with a kiss being the most overt written. There is implied action. e.g. "Afterwards, ..." ;)
The speed of the ending requires close attention to detail. As I write this review, I am still inquiring to any other readers for help discussing how I interpreted what I read. I do not want to put any spoilers here.
Since you've read this far in my review, you can surely tell that your pure-rational and emotional sides of your reading-brain will be highly engaged in this book. I highly recommend doing a buddy-read of some type with this book to discuss the nuances.
I like seeing this book on these Goodreads Lists (as of 1/31/2022)
4th Best Gay Historical Fiction
4th Best Gay Romance in Times of War
5th Smart LGBTQ Literature
5th Literary Gay Romantic Novels
10th Classic Gay Male Literature
19th Best Gay Fiction
35th Best Gay Romances That Are Not Part Of A Series
45th Best LGBTQIA literature
52nd Best Gay Romance with Strong Characters
75th Best Gay Historical Romance
121st Best Gay Soldiers