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Summary: More than happy
Review: I adore this book! It's well written and the characters are believeable. Ms. Renault did a fabulous job sticking with historical accuracy as much as possible, and that made it all the more wonderful. Now I want to know what REALLY happened! Anyone got a time machine?
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Summary: One of my favorites!
Review: I love this book. Mary Renault is a serious scholar of Alexander the Great but also writes historical fiction based on historical characters and events of the times. The Persian Boy is Bagoas, a Persian eunech. We follow Bagoas through his family's demise and his subsequent castration to his elevation as the Great King Darius' concubine. After Darius' assassination at the hands of traitorous friends, Bagoas is taken to meet Alexander. He becomes his lover and friend and follows Alexander until his death. This is a richly written novel, full of description and lively characters. It is one of my favorite novels of the last 10 years and I recommend it highly!
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Summary: A Wistful, Glimmering Once-Upon-a-Time
Review: Not being a classicist at the time, I was a little discouraged when I first picked up _The Persian Boy_. Forty pages in, and I couldn't keep names like Nabarzanes, Orxines, and Oxathres straight in my mind. However, Renault's thoughtful, unpretentious prose and her ability to evoke that *perfect* image soon had me - to use a tired but appropriate term - hooked. Bagoas' narrative is infused with devotion and youthful foolishness, recounting Alexander's triumphs and blunders with a refreshing endearment. This book has occasionally come under fire from Alexander-buffs, who accuse it of being a rather romanticized account of the tale. But of *course* it's romanticized! What one must bear in mind, though, is that this is a romanticization that takes care not to transgress the facts. Renault has done her research, and her blend of humanity and historical detail resurrect - through the eyes of lovesick Bagoas - an Alexander both winsome and sad. This book is a humble gem, and one that leaves the reader with a comforting message, that yes, it's all right to believe in heroes.
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Summary: Historical novels just don't get any better
Review: I recently re-read this book after an absence of 20 years, and was amazed at how strongly it affected me.The tragic story of Bagoas' youth will hook you from the start, and he develops into an extremely interesting character... a classic Persian beauty, mutilated in his youth, bedmate to the King of Persia, who wants nothing more than love -- which he has never had. He has been used by many, but loved by none. Enter Alexander the Great, at the head of a Greek army which vanquishes the Persians. Bagoas is sent to Alexander as a gift, and... Enjoy the story. I will say no more. One of the best novels ever written -- Mary Renault was a genius.
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Summary: Heroic portrait of a hero.
Review: There are many interpretations of Alexander the Great, from an alcoholic megalomaniac & murderous military genius at one extreme to Mary Renault's interpretation at the other. But whether Mary Renault's interpretation is the right one or not is beside the point. Her poertrayal is entirely convincing within the limits set by her, and her Alexander and his supporting caste is entirely convincing. Being true to the inner world of her novels makes her a great historical novelist. Hence I reccommend highly her trilogy (particularly this and the previous one). Those interested in a contrary interpretation should try Peter Green's biography 'Alexander of Macedon', also an excellent read.
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Summary: An extraordinary journey of the heart.
Review: Breathtaking portrayal of two human souls.
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Summary: Glorious
Review: Here is a vivid portrait of perhaps the most extraordinary figure in human history: Alexander of Macedon - as seen through the eyes of his devoted servant, Bagoas. This is the young King who, nearly 2,500 years ago, sought to conquer the world. And though he did not achieve this end (an utter impossibility, as no one knew then what depths were in the oceans or what lied beyond the scope of their own earthbound horizons.) Yet all that he did achieve before his untimely death in Babylon at the age of 32, was amazing - likening him to almost a god, and one who would be known forever as Alexander the Great. Mary Renault gives Bagoas a fine voice - and a depth of passion for his King brilliantly interwoven with genuine adoration and love, so rarely seen in historical writing. This author's novels are a seductive blending of ancient historical fact and sweeping fiction that's meant only to tell the tale by force of bringing it vividly before your eyes. This history needs to be cherished. Go read this book, and hold it close to your heart.
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Summary: A History Lesson and a Love Story
Review: Mary Renault initially captured my attention with Fire From Heaven, the first of the Alexander novels, and gave new life to this revered warrior and hero. But with The Persian Boy, as told through the eyes of Bagoas, a slave boy who becomes confidant, advisor, and lover to Alexander, she humanizes this historical figure even further, and gives him attributes that the history books neglect, those of a man. She probes his mind, as witnessed by the eyes of adoring Bagoas, who first reveres Alexander as his master, and then dotes upon him as lover. Bagoas remains faithful to Alexander through months of separation during the conquest of Greece, and stands by his side despite treacherous efforts to discredit and dethrone his King, through Alexander's 'relationship' with his boyhood companion Hephaistion, and his 'marriage of convenience' to Roxane. This novel, while it appealed to me on a romantic level, also exemplifies the nature of love, be it between man and woman, or man and man, as a fevered, passionate longing for another, a sense of loyalty to them and to your relationship with them, during hard months of separation, and a desire to do anything to please and/or comfort them. However, the book also accurately recreates Alexander's journey of seige across Greece, and the hardships he and his followers endured. Readers would be hard pressed to find a more descriptive and honest look at Alexander the Great as a flesh and blood creature, and not just the conquering hero of many bloody battles which history books offer us.
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Summary: A living image
Review: The second volume in her Alexander trilogy, Mary Renault's historical novel *The Persian Boy* must surely be ranked as one of her finest books. Many of the reviews which greeted its original (delayed) publication, reflecting the mores of the time, were openly and unambiguously hostile. As may be expected, this disapproval by and large centred on what by any objective measure must be considered the very discreet treatment of a possible physical relationship between Alexander of Macedon and the young eunuch presumed in the sources to be his *eromenos*, the Persian Bagoas. Interestingly, given the gaps in the historical record concerning this individual, even recent students of Alexander's life and career have adopted a predominantly pejorative attitude towards Bagoas. Whatever the truth about him, it seems that Alexander's Persian boy continues to cause unease among those whom, as Mary Renault would put it, such thoughts disturb. The non-judgmental among us, however, may rightly view *The Persian Boy* as one of Renault's most accomplished works and, within the parameters of her own interest, surely also a statement of personal significance to the author. Its cyclical structure, thematic resonances, beautifully observed psychological tensions and human dilemmas, unfold in what Dylan Thomas called a `colour of saying' which is at times the match of anything she wrote. As other reviewers have noted, the book is not without its flaws, both artistic and historical, and these Mary Renault herself later acknowledged. But because *The Persian Boy* is not simply an historical novel but a safe place of generous beauty created by an author of not inconsiderable courage-and this in the teeth of contemporary distaste for such themes-other critical standards should also be applied. It can be argued that *The Persian Boy* is as significant for an objective appreciation of a complex and important writer as it may be for a study of the development of the modern historical novel itself. A close reading of *The Persian Boy* reveals more than Mary Renault's own understanding of the nature of Alexander. Although portrayed through the eyes of Bagoas himself, the story's creative power and tension as much concerns Hephaistion's relationship with Alexander as it does that of Bagoas. The infatuated (and, at times, potentially murderous) youth must learn to grow up, to surrender his selfishness if he is to retain what has been real. At the last, Bagoas is depicted as rising to the challenge his declared love has set him: to allow his beloved the freedom to love another more. The vengeful possessiveness of the mythical Achilles for Patroklos, juxtaposed with the unresolved ambiguities of Alexander's love for Hephaistion, find a counterpoint in Bagoas' selfless care of the dying Alexander. Even a final kiss is given as Hephaistion would have offered it, wanting Alexander to receive it from whomever his heart wishes, steady in the knowledge that the love which matters is that which is given unreservedly. All lovers come to this place; Bagoas' love has travelled far to become worthy of the name. There will be many views of *The Persian Boy*, some more unfavourable than others. But there are also older readers who say of her books that they comforted them at a time when little comfort else was to be found. When the necessary critical analysis of Mary Renault's work is accomplished, perhaps this too should not be forgotten.
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Summary: The Persian Boy by Mary Renault
Review: The Persian Boy is one of the best books I've ever read. I loved Fire From Heaven but The Persian Boy is even better. It is a very compelling book by a master storyteller. I didn't know much about Greek,Macedonian,or Persian culture before I read these books but Mary Renault makes you feel as if you are an eyewitness at Alexanders conquests. I loved the character of Bagoas and was surprised to find that he was a real person. I fully recommend this book to anyone who loves great books. It is thrilling, beautiful, heartbreaking, and just plain wonderful.
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