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dobbsthedog 's review for:
The Charioteer
by Mary Renault
This book is excellent. I don't think I've ever read a book so thoroughly in my life (not even at university); there are so many little details that are easy to miss, and so much happens in the spaces and ellipses. I know that I will read this again and I know that I will notice things I didn't in these first two times through.
I initially picked this book up to do a buddy read on the romancelandia subreddit, though this book really isn't romance. It is sort of romance adjacent, and there is a lot of romance in it, but overall I don't think it fits within the romance genre. It was also originally published in 1953, a time when censorship was a big concern for any non-hetero books, and I think that Mary Renault did an amazing job of writing this story about a British soldier injured during WWII who falls in love with 2 men that he then has to choose between. As I said, there is a lot of romance and love in this book, but there is absolutely nothing explicit whatsoever (there are several m/f kisses and one chaste m/m kiss), it's all allusions and inference and honestly, I think that almost makes it more powerful? After reading this, I'm not sure that I'll ever be able to hear "come here, then" or "and his heart was in it" without blushing...
In addition to Renault's amazing ability to write this incredibly romantic, yet entirely SFW, book, her writing is absolutely gorgeous. I have so many tabs stuck throughout the book, marking my favourite lines. It was so fun during the discussions on reddit to see folks using these lines as their flare. Some of my favourites: "he was timelessly, cozily bored", "the blackberries tasted of frost and faint sun and smoke and purple leaves: sweet, childish, and sad", "he felt rather less like a citizen of nowhere".
While this certainly isn't an easy book to read, I think that if you have the time and inclination, it is well worth it.
I initially picked this book up to do a buddy read on the romancelandia subreddit, though this book really isn't romance. It is sort of romance adjacent, and there is a lot of romance in it, but overall I don't think it fits within the romance genre. It was also originally published in 1953, a time when censorship was a big concern for any non-hetero books, and I think that Mary Renault did an amazing job of writing this story about a British soldier injured during WWII who falls in love with 2 men that he then has to choose between. As I said, there is a lot of romance and love in this book, but there is absolutely nothing explicit whatsoever (there are several m/f kisses and one chaste m/m kiss), it's all allusions and inference and honestly, I think that almost makes it more powerful? After reading this, I'm not sure that I'll ever be able to hear "come here, then" or "and his heart was in it" without blushing...
In addition to Renault's amazing ability to write this incredibly romantic, yet entirely SFW, book, her writing is absolutely gorgeous. I have so many tabs stuck throughout the book, marking my favourite lines. It was so fun during the discussions on reddit to see folks using these lines as their flare. Some of my favourites: "he was timelessly, cozily bored", "the blackberries tasted of frost and faint sun and smoke and purple leaves: sweet, childish, and sad", "he felt rather less like a citizen of nowhere".
While this certainly isn't an easy book to read, I think that if you have the time and inclination, it is well worth it.