The Persian Boy by Mary Renault Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Persian Boy
Book Review: Best book I've read in years!
Summary: 5 Stars
Pros: How can I list them all? The writing is eloquent, lush, and yet very readable. The story is gripping and the romance touching. The book somehow gets you to understand a supremely different time and different places without long explanations. Bagoas is a wonderful character.
Cons: I can't think of much. The ending is very abrupt.
I actually feel lucky to have discovered this book. "The Persian Boy" tells the story of Bagoas, a eunuch and the historical lover of Alexander the Great. In the book, he is taken in deadly attack on his family. At the age of ten, he is castrated and sold into slavery. He has a hard time of it until he becomes the kept boy of Darius and later the lover of Alexander. Bagoas is an incredibly loveable character. Both vulnerable and hard, he wishes for the life he could have had if he were not castrated even as he is grateful for his life with Alexander. He obeys Alexander unquestioningly even as he worries over some his decisions and mourns his relationships with Hephaistion and Roxanne. Bagoas is a beautiful and complex character and the fact that the story is narrated through his point of view gives it much of its charm.
As a historical novel, The Persian Boy really shines. Somehow, the novel manages to make you understand ancient Greece and Persia, two cultures so different from our own, without dumping too much information on the reader. Mary Renault really has a talent for giving just the appropriate information as she goes. It is also worth noting that the author's attitudes are never intrusive in the story. Bagoas has most the prejudices of his era, though his relationship with Alexander and his status as a slave lessens some of them. Some will think the book far too sympathetic toward Alexander, but it is sympathetic because this is how Bagoas feels and actually makes a lot of sense. The first person point of view lends a lot to Bagoas' perspective and the style in general is just so rich.
In the end, Bagoas' love for Alexander is at times touching and at times heartbreaking. Even if you love the Alexander/Hephaistion dynamic, it is hard not to sympathize with Bagoas who is so completely in love with a man who (at least in Renault's books) so deserves to be loved.
I know that this is such a gushing review, but I truly mean it when I say that this is the best book I've read in years. The only problem I can think of is that the ending feels very abrupt -- like the story just stops instead of truly ending.
I read "The Persian Boy" before "Fire from Heaven" and can tell you that it works very well as a stand alone novel. 5+ stars.
Book Review: Book review
Summary: 4 Stars
This book is very good. It is historical accurate about the fall of the Persian Empire. At the beginning of the book, it is very long but detail of the main character and his past life. It has a great detail of his new life and how he must live. You can really relate to the character because he has an array of emotions and other strong feelings. The book makes you feel that your are their because the main character describes all the battles and the palaces and the situation he in to survive and meet new friends
I give this book to thumbs up for being really detailed and a great connection with the main character
Book Review: Boy oh Boy, What a Story!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a story that begins and ends in horror, with plenty more in between. There is also beauty, glory, triumph and tragedy in this story of Alexander the Great based on the historical record.But most of all there is love, and once we get over the nature of that love, we can surrender ourselves to enjoying the flow of the story as we follow Alexander the Great, one of history's most fascinating figures, on a journey of conquest through the known world.
We follow him from the viewpoint of the Persian boy of the title, a narrator very different to the usual fictional protagonist. But this boy is not fictional, he really lived, and I venture to suggest that Mary Renault's tale is not half as colourful as the real thing must have been.
I find it hard to lay a handle on this book. It's fiction, it's history, it's a romance, a war story, an epic adventure. It deals with the great themes of humanity and it's a ripping yarn.
If you've read any of Mary Renault's other books, you won't need convincing. If you haven't, then enjoy this one as your first taste of her opus, because it is one of her very best.
Book Review: Captures you from the start
Summary: 5 Stars
Normally I don't recommend books online, but after re reading this and getting ready to do a research paper and book review on Alexander's empire, I had to add my two cents worth.Read it. Yeah, it has homosexual themes, but as others have said, its not primary, its an afterthought of the writer. Bagoas is simply a fantastically written character. Taking a few historical bylines from people like Arrian and Plutarch, Mary Renault has created a fascinating figure in history. It wistfully makes you wish you could actually meet this eunuch and find out what his life was truly like.
Renault also covers the story of Alexander's campaign with clarity, compassion and with a marvelous sense of adventure for her readers. The information on life in an ancient army camp is well-written, not over explained, and the campaigns themselves are only as a non-soldier like a former palace concubine could see it. Renault has a fantastic grasp of Alexander that, while it might not be spot-dead on, it has to be close.
Everyone clearly comes to life. I'm just so disappointed that something like "The Continuing Life of Bagoas" was not written following the sequel to "The Persian Boy". Hints of Bagoas' life following Alexander's death is mentioned throughout the book....but oh, what I wouldn't give for more. I also highly recommend the sequel to "The Persian Boy", "Funeral Games" for the follow-up of Bagoas, though he's mentioned sporadically, it does have him as a bit of a plot point.
Book Review: Depends on what you're looking for...
Summary: 4 Stars
I will come right out and say it: I am a dirty-minded brat. I love slash, and will read pretty much any book that focuses on a m/m relationship. So, I read "The Persian Boy," because it is the slasher's equivalent to fantasy's "The Lord of the Rings."(By the way, if you haven't got a clue what I'm talking about, what with the slasher-talk and all, just skip this review.)
The horrible truth of the matter is that just as every fantasy fan will swear that LotR was what got them into fantasy, and that it changed their life, yadda yadda yadda, every slash fan out there will declare that "The Persian Boy" is lush, beautiful poetic, the definative work on a real-life m/m relationship...so on and so forth. And, like LotR, half of them are lying through their teeth.
Oh, yes. You know who you are. You think that LotR's only redeeming feature is that Orlando Bloom was in it. You utterly failed to see the grand mythic beauty in it. Instead, you saw the grand mythic boredom. Well, "The Persian Boy" is a lot like that. You pick it up thinking, "Yay! Boysmut!" and instead find an endless tale of Alexander the Great's military conquests and daily life in an army camp.
Oh, the book TOTALLY has its moments. Bagoas, our protagonist, is very smart and a little bitchy, which of course makes for a great narration. And if you are interested in the history behind Alexander, then this is a fine book for you. The writing is gorgeous, if a little purple for my personal taste. The author clearly knows her stuff, and, more importantly, knows how to tell a good story, so the book is most definately enjoyable on that level.
Basically, before you run out and buy this book, know why you want to read it, and, if you have any doubts, check it out in your local library first. I wish I had. I'm not sorry I read it, but it really wasn't to my usual taste.