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Book Review
Nov. 14th, 2008 06:12 pmThe Praise Singer
by Mary Renault
Renault remains one of my favorite historical fiction authors. She does and amazing job of evoking the ancient Greek world. This novel concerns the great poet Simonides, and is told from his point of view. As with The Last of the Wine, she gracefully weaves together historical events with personal incidents. This book was particularly interesting to me because Simonides is a musician (poets of this period were essentially composer-singers), and his story thus provides a good look at the musical life of ancient Greece. Renault concentrates more on the external aspects than the internal, though - she writes more about the occasions for performance and how Simonides builds and maintains his career than about how he creates his work.
by Mary Renault
Renault remains one of my favorite historical fiction authors. She does and amazing job of evoking the ancient Greek world. This novel concerns the great poet Simonides, and is told from his point of view. As with The Last of the Wine, she gracefully weaves together historical events with personal incidents. This book was particularly interesting to me because Simonides is a musician (poets of this period were essentially composer-singers), and his story thus provides a good look at the musical life of ancient Greece. Renault concentrates more on the external aspects than the internal, though - she writes more about the occasions for performance and how Simonides builds and maintains his career than about how he creates his work.
