The Praise Singer [Paperback]

there are many reviews of ms. renault's work here already, so i will keep this very brief: the reason mary renault is my favorite author is that she can bring the emotional and human quality of her characters to the surface. she makes these long dead people with strange names come alive. she gives them a quotidian life. she makes them human, and humane. true, her knowledge of the ancient greeks is encyclopedic. true, her descriptions are wonderous, but her deep empathy for the people in her novels is what separates her from other historical writers. she also handles homoeroticism/homosocial behavior with a sweetness and sensitivity that demonstrates the value of the delicate bonds that men should be encouraged to explore and nurture. her compassion for the human experience is sometimes overwhelming.

Maybe Mary Renault intended "The Praise Singer" to reflect the work of Simonides of Keos--compact, yet expressive and beautiful. Well, "The Praise Singer" is beautifully written. It is also too short. On the one hand, I'm grateful she avoided the temptation to have Simonides' fingers in every political pie in pre-democratic Athens; on the other, I wish she'd fleshed the story out more.

The book is typical Renault: exquisitely drawn characters (I will never forget her Anakreon) and lyrical language that moves you along (necessary, because there's not much of a plot). But her retelling of the story of Harmodios and Aristogeiton (which feels like a random vignette, unfortunately) is flat compared to the downfall of Polykrates of Samos, which is told second-hand but still gave me chills to read. The book is no epic, and it isn't one of her best historical novels, but if you like Renault's novels on ancient Greece, you will like "The Praise Singer," faults and all.

I must confess to being an ardent Renault partisan. You must therefore approach my review with skepticism, though I will attempt to win you over. I have read every one of Mary Renault's historical novels, some twice, as well as her nonfiction "The Nature of Alexander," and a competent biography about her (1993, by David Sweetman).

While the virtues of Renault's various historical novels naturally vary, they are, every one of them, of a quality deserving Amazon's five stars, meaning they are in the top 80 to 100% of available novels (to my understanding, that is the meaning of a system that rates from 1 to 5). I do not think it is fair to knock stars off the rating, just because you prefer another of her works. Instead, the rating should compare hers against all by other authors. When that is done, I fail to see how anything by Renault falls below the top 80%.

I do have my own favorites, but don't wish to prejudice the reader, because all of them are worth trying. Her fiction of Alexander (begin with Fire From Heaven) is so much better than others I have browsed in the bookstore, including one by an Italian prone to flowery, artificial sentiments.

If you want to be transported to Ancient Greece, you will find no better vehicle than Mary Renault, period. I have tried many other authors, and many of them fail to come close to Renault. Indeed you might be advised NOT to start reading Renault, because once you do, entire tribes of authors will fail to please you anymore. She sets the bar very high. Even Gore Vidal, another historical novelist, pales before Renault. She simply "gets" Ancient Greece like no one else does. She has the classic virtues, duty and decorum, and writes with authority as one who has burned the midnight oil studying the ancient works and getting inside the bones of the ancients.

The only author I have found to surpass Renault in historical fiction is Patrick O'Brian, but he deals with a different age, with high sea adventure in the British navy in the early 1800s. But it must be mentioned here, that Mary Renault was supplied manuscripts of the younger O'Brian, when he was coming up, and she warmly recommended him to her legion of fans; he returned the compliment. What could be more fitting, than for the two greatest historical novelists to be in a mutual admiration society? As publishers already arrange for the exchange of compliments, ideas, and research, I firmly believe that in the future, they must also arrange for the exchange of DNA. I can only speculate what kind of masterpieces their lovechild might have created. It is to be regretted by future generations that Mary Renault, as far as we know, never did procreate, although her books represent spiritual and intellectual children of sorts, as their influence will be felt for many hundreds of years, as they are classics of the English language.

The dollars you pay for any historical novel of Renault's will be amply rewarded. Choose the subject that interests you most, and buy with confidence.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 12 reviews  3.9 out of 5 stars