Beautiful Boys: "The Charioteer" by Mary Renault

[dangermousie]

Mary Renault has always been one of my favorite authors. Her novels, set in ancient Greece, are just breath-taking. I defy anyone not to fall for Theseus of "King Must Die" and "Bull from the Sea" or Alexander of "Fire From Heaven." Yet I've always stayed away from her one "contemporary" novel (by that I mean set in the 1940s), "The Charioteer." It had no Ancient Greece, so why would I want to read it?

Well, I found it in a used bookstore today and have started reading. My God. It is beautiful. It is exquisite and romantic and lyrical and every good thing one can think of. People who write horrid slash should be forced to read Renault until they have memorized it word for word. Maybe then they will learn how to write heart-breaking, intelligent, amazing men who also happen to be attracted to others of their own gender. I am fast beginning to think Laurie Odell and Ralph Lanyon are my most recent OTP.

Comments

Thanks for the rec!

[grace-om.livejournal.com]

I love Mary Renault, but I haven't read "The Charioteer" either. Something fun to look for :-)

And I need to go back and reread all her other books, as it's been a few years.

Re: Thanks for the rec!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yes, it's very very good. One of the authors who I've kept liking over the years, even once the initial infatuation with her writing has fades.

[shezan.livejournal.com]

Just posted a long article from Paul Hammond's remarkable Love Between Men in English Literature (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0312163274/qid=1127925243/sr=8-4/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i4_xgl/026-5833922-1020457), on The Charioteer here (http://www.livejournal.com/community/maryrenault/), if you're interested.