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Mood: Sleepy ]
[ Currently: Editing the Podcast ]
One of the challenges I have set myself this year is to read outside my comfort zone. As part of this, I have turned to awards lists for inspiration. This book was nominated for a Giller Award and Governor General’s award here in Canada. It was also frequently featured on CBC radio.
Author Annabel Lyon gives us an interesting look at life in ancient Macedonia in her novel The Golden Mean. Telling the story of the time Aristotle spent tutoring Alexander the Great, she gives us an intellectual who is clearly smarter than most and, therefor, slightly withdrawn from the world. Lyon has peppered this novel with tidbits about both the way in which the Greeks lived and what they believed in, while giving us some interesting characters.
And it is with the characters that this novel shines, as it is really low on plot. Although this book purports to be a fictionalization about the student/teacher relationship between Alexander and Aristotle, it is far more about Aristotle. Cast as the absent minded professor who seeks to place the world into the order he believes, it is through his eyes we see what action there is. We are also treated to flashbacks to various points in his life. All other characters are also seen through Aristotle’s eyes. His long suffering wife, Pythia, is a child-bride who puts up with his moods and absences. Slave Athea is upity and rude. Alexander is a complex young man who starts out as a spoiled brat, but moves slowly into being an intellectual young man who heads up a nation of warriors. Phillip is a king, used to getting what he wants.
This is a slow, moving novel that while interesting for its meticulously researched details, failed to grab me.