Ransom

Fabulous in both senses of the word - a slender novel that entrancingly re-imagines the events and characters of Homer's Iliad at the point when Achilles takes revenge on Hector for having killed Patroclus. How interesting that both the Iliad and the Odyssey (see also The Lost Books of the Odyssey by Zachary Mason) continue to generate first-class literature! Ransom is particularly captivating because of the re-visioning of Troy and the Trojans, humanising them and rescuing them from the opprobrium heaped on them in classical Greek and even Roman literature (Aeneas doesn't really count as a Trojan, does he?). This is beautifully written prose that taps into deep-rooted mythical narrative without being entombed by it. Highly recommended.

Have always been intrigued by Iliad-related stories and this was no exception. A beautiful and brief look at the grief of Achilles and Priam.

Lyrical writing from Malouf. Its a very short read but a book I want others to read for the beauty of the language .

This is utterly beautiful. Exploring the tiniest sliver of the siege of Troy, the moment when an aging father lays himself bare before the killer of his son, it is exploded into an epic exploration of what it is to be human. It is achingly brilliant.

A most moving account of King Priam's embassy to Achilles, developed from the Iliad of Homer, to plead for the body of his son Hector, Malouf is a poet as well as a novelist, and every word counts. Everyone of any age, would gain from reading this wonderful book.

David Malouf's Ransom, a short moment where time is suspended with the gods playing their usual role of manipulating puppeteers and Homer curiously remaining silent. A pocket of time when Priam, the king of Trojans shows humanity and modesty, and Achilles the bloodthirsty ruthless hero compassion.

A great fan of Iliad and Odyssey and all derivative literary efforts, but this novel did not reproduce anything of what the Iliad means for me. A rotten, boring novel.

I would have prefered to have read the original text. Some moving insights into the lives of the carter and the father but on the whole not my kind of book.

David Making does an amazing job of bringing to life the power of the "everyday". It reminds me a little of Bill Gates responding to a school student"s question by saying "Do you mean do I mow the lawn? " I often wonder what a life of no financial worry or need for work must be like. In Malouf"s book we are given a very clear idea.

This is not history.Rather it is the story of Troy told in a way an ancient epic deserves. I have read it once before years ago and when I found it again I could not resist and second time round I find it just as magical as the first.

Iniziamo col dire che lo ricomprerei. E, detto da una persona 'obbligata' a leggerlo per un esame universitario, mi pare considerevole. Un libro diverso, particolare... Una scrittura poetica che ti trascina, ti avvolge più che coinvolgerti. Emoziona in modo profondo, come pochi. Imperdibile, soprattutto per gli amanti dei classici greci.Peccato manchi l'ebook!!

I have been addicted to the Iliad since childhood. Weird I know. It has always mystified me that Achilles is popularly cast as the beautiful archetypal warrior. David Malouf gets that the real Iliad is about a man as fallible as the rest of us. A man who grieves as the irretrievable loss of his humanity and the heartbreak of the collateral damage to kind and soulful old men like Priam. This is a beautiful book. You will read it more than once.

Malouf takes an instant from the epic Iliad and allows us behind the curtin, to experience the intimacy of Prius' journey to collect his heroic son's body, and the ripple of change the journey effects on a simple carter.

A wonderful reexamination of the Iliad. Malouf's poetic prose conveys in rich detail, the narrative of two men, great in their own way, who meet as adversaries but part as men who discover and share the bonds of humankind.

ho dato la valutazione eccellente in quanto è stato consegnato in tempi brevissimi e si presenta in ottime condizioni. Molto interessante.

Superbement bien écrit, poignant et récit diaboliquement intelligent qui s'insère dans les "creux" de l'Illiade. Ce Priam en route vers le camp des Achéens pour supplier Achile de lui rendre le corps d'Hector est un personnage qu'on n'oublie pas facilement.

Yay

オーストラリアを代表する作家・デイヴィッド・マルーフによる『イリアス』終盤のクライマックス部分の小説化。ギリシア側のアキレスは竹馬の友・パトロクロスに単独出陣を許したことを後悔している。やがて戦況を見つめる彼の目は、パトロクロスがヘクトールに討たれる瞬間を捉える。一方、トロイのプリアモス王は猛り狂うアキレスによって息子・ヘクトールが八つ裂きにされる様を見つめる。最愛の人間を目前で殺害され今生に取り残された二人の人間、という双方のパラレル性を示して物語は動き出す。ヘクトールの屍の返還を求めるプリアモス王がアキレスの陣地に赴くその道中と、『イリアス』で最も有名であろう両者の会見までが現代の語り部の手によって甦る。『イリアス』は暗い宿命感に満ちた叙事詩だ。本書の設定では、二人の主人公が同時に身を切るばかりの喪失感を味わっている。さらに追い打ちをかけるように、アキレスは自分の死が近いことを知っているし、プリアモス王はトロイが落ちることを知っている。どんなに重い雰囲気の小説になるかと思っていたらば、簡潔で流れの良い文章にはペーソスとユーモアが漂い、神々が不意に登場したりと来世感があるせいか、読後感が軽やかだ。著者さんは文章の技巧でもって、リアリズムと寓話性の間で巧みな綱渡りを見せている。そして最後に、おお、こう来たか、と膝を打ってしまった。そう、きっと、「物語」とは死者たちに捧げる法螺話だった。『イリアス』を誕生させた三千年前の法螺吹きに向かって、現代の法螺吹きが敬礼している。「ストーリーテリング」とは、神々の気まぐれと無慈悲に対して人間が行使出来る、おそらく唯一の意趣返しなのだと。

Ransom is based on a small part of the Iliad saga. Piam the King of Troy travels to the Greek camp to retrieve the body of his son Hector who was killed by the great warrior Achilles.Beautifully written, the story supports what James Campbell describes as the Power Of Myth. The characters in the novel are larger than life figures but with human characteristics. So in that sense the novel is about all of us even in the 21st Century at least 3000 years after the Trojan War. It's a story about loss and grief, fathers and sons, youth and old age, love and duty. It's relived in some way, every day, everywhere. It's about brotherly love, living in the moment, understanding your mortality and joy. It's also very sad, describing ultimate and devastating loss.Piam as King is remote from everyday life. His guide Samos brings him back to earth. Piam decides however to do something himself beyond the role and life the Gods and his position has designated for him. This something is to retrieve his son’s body. Achilles also is trapped in a situation where his love for Patroclus has driven him. The ransom provides a way out for both of them. Both will die soon but al least they had lived. It raises the question of how far we are free to choose the path that our lives take. Both Achilles and Piam are creating stories about themselves that will allow themselves to live on in the minds of men. Piam know he will die soon and his fate will be for his naked body to be dragged into the streets where dogs will tear him apart. Rather than his death being the story he has created a better story of his life. These issues we all can ponder upon.The Gods or fate or chance, whatever you call it, can affect the world but they don’t change human nature.That this tender novel lingers so long and hauntingly in the mind is a testament both to Malouf’s poetry and to his reverence for the endless power of myth.

David Malouf's "Ransom" is a gem, a lovely 5-part little 219-page novel, starring Achilles, his friend Patroclus (briefly), the King of Troy Priam, Priam's wife and son Hector (briefly) and Somax, a day laborer. It is a perfect novel, parsimonious, absorbing, and filled with an extensive, thoughtful philosophy describing what it means to be a human being. In some ways, it is a parable.Malouf's other sensational novel, "An Imaginary Life" (see my review), touched on what it means to be civilized. Taken together, these marvelously told stories should be on everyone's reading list because they epitomize how great modern (though historical) novels are constructed.The primary chacater is the old man Priam, who devises a radical, risky, creative plan to retrieve Hector's body from the avenging and unforgiving Achilles.In some ways the story is a bit gory and violent, but these features are alleviated by Australian Malouf's lyrical prose. He is simply a great story teller, a touch better (perhaps) than Canada's Alastair MacLeod("NoGreat Mischief" -- see my review). While MacLeods' story telling genius charms you, Malouf goes farther and makes you think, reflect and remember (not unlike Anabel Lyon's "The Golden Mean" -- see my review).There are flashes of humor, little examples of the Trojan War, often revealing the vast ignorance about the world they had back then -- brought to life in the character of Somax, a plain but philosophical, rough day laborer, who doubles as Priam's teacher and cart driver on their expedition to retrieve Hector.What's the book about? It's about having sons -- children, raising them, nourishing them, loving them, watching them become adults. It's about brotherly love (and perhaps further, normal love between some men), living in the moment, understanding your mortality and joy. It's also very sad, describing ultimate and devastating loss. Achilles builds a funeral pyre for Patroclus on a scale equal only to the pyre built by Alexander the Great -- after the death of his life-long lover, Hephaestion.I read it essentially in one "sitting," on long flights from San Francisco to Europe. Read it and enjoy. It's a winner and a clear 5 on Amazon's rating scale.

As one might expect, there are few surprises here in terms of the narrative arc - however, what makes this book worth reading, and at times, an absolute joy, is the writing. I adore the Iliad (and Homer more generally) and am always curious to see what modern authors do with, or how they re-shape, such rich material. Here, Malouf focuses on Hector's death and the ensuing meeting between Priam and Achilles - the ensuing "ransom" for Hector's body. This is certainly one of the great moments in world literature - a profoundly poignant scene that speaks to the Iliad's most basic theme(s) and Malouf does a masterful job of driving that poignancy home.Here's an example of a passage that, in my opinion, fills the book with force and literary brightness: Priam is explaining to his family why he wants to meet Achilles, despite its dangers and their natural protestations - he wants to undertake,`An act, in these terrible days, that even an old man can perform, that only an old man dare perform, of whom nothing now can be expected of noise and youthful swagger. Who can go humbly, as a father and as a man, to his son's killer, and ask in the gods' name, and in their sight, to be given back the body of his dead son. Lest the honour of all men be trampled in the dust.'This is just one example (and not by any means the best) of what helps make this book such a joy to open and just...enter.

Weirdly written. The whole thing kind of felt like a prologue, like the real story was just about to begin at any moment, but never actually did. The characters were OK, but never really grabbed me, and the story doesn't really go anywhere. It wasn't boring, but it seems utterly forgettable.

Reading the Iliad, one sees nothing out of place about Priam begging Achilles to release the body of his son, Hector. But in Malouf's hands, this episode expands into a tale of its own, partly built upon the realization that what Priam does is something totally new in this culture - a king (nearly a god in the eyes of his people) becoming quite human in a desperate gambit to regain his son's body from the near-mad Achilles. Malouf observes that, had Priam followed tradition, he would have earned hardly a word in Homer's epic.Malouf uses his efficient but beautiful language, along with a few added characters of his own, to pull the reader into this alien world during a most human moment. "Ransom" flows like a long prose-poem. Read this in one or two long sittings, where you can let the world of the Trojans and Greeks, and their gods, carry you along. An enthralling read.