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The Golden Mean

3.43 of 5 stars 3.43 · rating details · 1,442 ratings · 239 reviews

On the orders of his boyhood friend, now King Philip of Macedon, Aristotle postpones his dreams of succeeding Plato as leader of the Academy in Athens and reluctantly arrives in the Macedonian capital of Pella to tutor the king’s adolescent sons. An early illness has left one son with the intellect of a child; the other is destined for greatness but struggles between a kee...more On the orders of his boyhood friend, now King Philip of Macedon, Aristotle postpones his dreams of succeeding Plato as leader of the Academy in Athens and reluctantly arrives in the Macedonian capital of Pella to tutor the king’s adolescent sons. An early illness has left one son with the intellect of a child; the other is destined for greatness but struggles between a keen mind that craves instruction and the pressures of a society that demands his prowess as a soldier.

Initially Aristotle hopes for a short stay in what he considers the brutal backwater of his childhood. But, as a man of relentless curiosity and reason, Aristotle warms to the challenge of instructing his young charges, particularly Alexander, in whom he recognizes a kindred spirit, an engaged, questioning mind coupled with a unique sense of position and destiny.

Aristotle struggles to match his ideas against the warrior culture that is Alexander’s birthright. He feels that teaching this startling, charming, sometimes horrifying boy is a desperate necessity. And that what the boy – thrown before his time onto his father’s battlefields – needs most is to learn the golden mean, that elusive balance between extremes that Aristotle hopes will mitigate the boy’s will to conquer.

Aristotle struggles to inspire balance in Alexander, and he finds he must also play a cat-and-mouse game of power and influence with Philip in order to manage his own ambitions.

As Alexander’s position as Philip’s heir strengthens and his victories on the battlefield mount, Aristotle’s attempts to instruct him are honoured, but increasingly unheeded. And despite several troubling incidents on the field of battle, Alexander remains steadfast in his desire to further the reach of his empire to all known and unknown corners of the world, rendering the intellectual pursuits Aristotle offers increasingly irrelevant.

Exploring this fabled time and place, Annabel Lyon tells her story in the earthy, frank, and perceptive voice of Aristotle himself. With sensual and muscular prose, she explores how Aristotle’s genius touched the boy who would conquer the known world. And she reveals how we still live with the ghosts of both men.(less)

Hardcover, 304 pages

Published August 11th 2009 by Random House Canada

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Feb 22, 2013 Roberta rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

A chronicle of Aristotle's seven years as Alexander of Macedonis's tutor. The wild and warlike world of Macedon was not one Aristotle appreciated, even though he grew up there. He was more at home with the philosophers and debaters in Athens, although even there he kept his distance. When the opportunity presented, he couldn't pass up the chance to teach the young Alexander and ended up in the court at Macedonia.

What struck me the most about the story is how similar Aristotle and Alexander were....more

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May 23, 2013 Sienna rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013, kindle

Let's start with The Golden Mean's strengths: its characters — that is, Lyon's ability to bring historical figures to life. She gives us bipolar Aristotle and his sharp-eyed, ambitious, haunted pupil, Alexander; she reminds us that the Greeks had little respect for women and then introduces a handful of strong female characters (and one fairly interesting caricature). She holds our interest with sex and swearing aplenty but ensures that they fit in with the meandering narrative, this version of...more

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Apr 01, 2013 Hilary Green rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book deals with one of the most influential teacher/pupil relationships in history and it reconstructs it very vividly.My problem with it is that I found Aristotle, as portrayed here,hard to like. He clearly suffers from bi-polar syndrome, which is obviously not a reason to dislike him, but he also comes across to me as being semi-autistic. He has difficulty in making close relationships. He loves intensely for a short while but as soon as the relationship requires intimacy - physical or em...more

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Nov 11, 2012 Amy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favourite-books

Try as I might, my words cannot do justice to this fantastic novel. Set in ancient Greece, The Golden Mean gives a fictional-historical account of the life of the philosopher Aristotle and his tutelage of the young Prince Alexander of Macedon (later, Alexander the Great). Out of all of the historical novels I have read, The Golden Mean is the best proof that historical novels can be just as engaging, alive and colourful as a novel with fictional characters and settings. Here, ancient Greece is n...more Try as I might, my words cannot do justice to this fantastic novel. Set in ancient Greece, The Golden Mean gives a fictional-historical account of the life of the philosopher Aristotle and his tutelage of the young Prince Alexander of Macedon (later, Alexander the Great). Out of all of the historical novels I have read, The Golden Mean is the best proof that historical novels can be just as engaging, alive and colourful as a novel with fictional characters and settings. Here, ancient Greece is not romanticized, but feels rough and visceral, and the characters are set upon a background that is bursting with evidence of Lyon's research. I learned so much about the culture of ancient Greece from this novel, but without feeling like I was in a classroom, taking notes.

As a character, Aristotle is fascinating. From all that has been written about him, he seems like a very daunting choice for a main character--especially one that tells the story in first person--but Lyon does a wonderful job of peeling back the layer of mystery that will always proceed Aristotle (and Alexander) and examining the mind behind the name. Part philosopher, part scientist, Aristotle seems to simultaneously transcend his own time and be entrenched in it. Like his tutor Plato, he has an imagination that extends beyond the physical realm, but also focuses a lot of his energy on revealing the secrets of physical bodies and minds. The many depictions of early medicine and surgical practices in this book were particularly interesting to me (though fairly gruesome) as well as discussions of mental illness. I should note that this novel doesn't focus so much on the work of Aristotle, but rather the mindset and circumstances that may have led to his writings and his influence on the court of Macedonia. However, it has inspired me to read more historical texts about the lives and achievements of both Aristotle and Alexander the Great.

Overall, The Golden Mean is a beautiful and haunting novel that is at times poignant and bitterly humorous. I highly recommend it, and will be on the look out for any upcoming novels from Lyon.(less)

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Aug 13, 2012 Graham rated it 2 of 5 stars

I just finished reading The Golden Mean by Annabel Lyon, an historical novel about Aristotle torturing a young Alexander the Great. My overall impression was simply that it was a trite retelling of the same story. The dialogue at least is natural and believable, as much as anyone can suppose. It is strangely vulgar for no apparent effect. The characters curse awkwardly much like I would imagine the author to do: just to show that it can be done. In fact I would argue that among the characters in...more

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Nov 06, 2011 Patricia rated it 3 of 5 stars

While this book isn't totally compelling reading, having just read Cleopatra by Schiff and Ransom by Malouf, I am in a totally curious frame of mind about the ancients, and I was drawn back to it easily enough. Unlike much American fiction, the author actually puts together sentences in a very readable and classic way, which is a thrill for me somewhat reminiscent of reading the classics themselves. Refer to "A Reader's Manifesto" if you wonder what I mean. There are lots of celebrated and well-...more

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Aug 09, 2011 Brett rated it 4 of 5 stars

Well, after trying to decide whether or not I wanted to read this book, I finally took the plunge after a bookstore owner highly recommended it. I had feared that the book - which tells of the relationship between Aristotle and Alexander (soon to be the Great) from Aristotle's point of view - might be dry and academic. That certainly was not the case. In very contemporary, muscular (there really isn't another word for it) prose, Annabel Lyon gives us a fascinating fictionalization of Alexander's...more

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Aug 06, 2011 Louise Graham rated it 3 of 5 stars

The Golden Mean is the first novel by Annabel Lyon is a story set in 367BC. The story starts with Philip II at war with Persia the time has come for his young son Alexander (soon to turn into Alexander the Great) to take up his inheritance of blood and obedience to the sword.

Aristotle is his teacher and he soon realises that Alexander has a lot to learn before he can attend his father battlefields, this is the lesson of the golden mean.

This is a story with a huge amount of historical fact with...more

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Mar 03, 2011 Kate rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: book-club-books

This novel sounded exciting to me at first, because I was sure a story about such prominent and powerful historical figures would be interesting. I felt the book was less focused on history and characters, and more on some of the philosophies Aristotle promoted. The novel focuses greatly on family relationships, that of Aristotle and his own father, of Alexander and his father Philip or his mother Olympias. The relationship of tutor to student was explored, but not as much as I felt was needed....more

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Jan 28, 2011 Nathan rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: history, other-fiction

I have read entirely too many ponderous and self-aware books lately, books written to please the author first and the reader second, books whose construction is as much the point of writing the book as its contents. I only realised that when I read "Golden Mean", because it is not such a book. It's like the first time you have a really good steak and realise that all the others, those artistic meat arrangements, were too focused on visual taste and not enough on gustatory taste. "Golden Mean" wa...more I have read entirely too many ponderous and self-aware books lately, books written to please the author first and the reader second, books whose construction is as much the point of writing the book as its contents. I only realised that when I read "Golden Mean", because it is not such a book. It's like the first time you have a really good steak and realise that all the others, those artistic meat arrangements, were too focused on visual taste and not enough on gustatory taste. "Golden Mean" was that great steak to me.

"Golden Mean" reminds me of a Roman statue. When you encounter one, you're taken by the subject of the statue: how beautiful and serene they look. Then you realize they're made of marble, incredibly hard, and it was chipped away, and all this smooth serenity is the byproduct of hard work. But you don't think "gosh that must have been difficult" or "what a work of sculpture!" first, you appreciate the subject that shines through.

There's no challenging construction or postmodern self-awareness here. "Golden Mean" is written simply, with the occasional rare word thrown in for good effect. It doesn't aim to boggle you with the research that Lyon did, but rather gently guides you through the history and nature of the times without making you feel like you should be taking notes to keep up. The one paragraph of dialogue that did make me blink, full of military tactics and political strategy involving alliances and borders and generals with unpronounceable names, turns out to have been the one that made the lead character doze off. Lyon wrote perfectly for my ability to enjoy and to keep up.

The book follows Aristotle as he becomes tutor to Macedonian prince Alexander (the boy who will famously weep when he runs out of lands to conquer), and gives emotional context to Aristotle's relationship with Alexander, Aristotle's wife, slaves, Alexander's father, and more. The writing is simple, the story is straightforward (there's no mystery or surprise twist), but the relationships are deep and layered. Men and boys, fathers and sons, all connect, misunderstand, heal, and reflect on their relationships with each other, but never to the point where it feels like an episode of Dr Phil in togas.

The delight, though, is Aristotle. He is the sort of person you'd love to have dinner with. He's depressed, he pays great attention to the world around him, he's wise and thoughtful. My dimly-remembered bits of Aristotle make me suspect that this is a generous and anachronistic portrayal, but it brings him to life with the bustling energy and keen intellect of an 18th century natural philosopher. Lyon has created the Aristotle you wish had been, and to meet him is reason enough to read this book.(less)

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Jan 28, 2011 Danna rated it 3 of 5 stars

Since this is not the sort of story I typically read, I wasn't sure that I should get it from the library. However, the first sentence clinched me: "The rain falls in black cords, lashing my animals, my men, and my wife, Pythias, who last night lay with her legs spread while I took notes on the mouth of her sex..." Any book that opens with oral sex is fine by me! This is a somewhat historical, somewhat fantastical novel of Aristotle and Alexander the Great. Overall, I enjoyed it. I did have trou...more

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Nov 13, 2010 Miz Moffatt rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: canadian, literary-fiction, historical, giller-prize-longlist, giller-prize-shortlist

The Golden Mean offers a sensual, frank depiction of the ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle, and his complex connections with the boy who would become Alexander the Great. As the novel opens, King Philip presses Aristotle into service as a teacher of the young princes of Macedon, forcing Aristotle to postpone his dreams of succeeding Plato as the leader of the Academy in Athens. One son, Arridaeus, possesses the intellect of a child in the aftermath of a serious illness; the other son, Alexand...more

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Oct 03, 2010 Felice rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In my opinion the most famous teacher-student relationships are Aristotle and Alexander the Great and Annie Sullivan and Helen Keller. They had exceptional starting material but you have to give Ari and Annie a chunk of credit for helping to get two such powerful conquerors into the world. A+ for them.

The new novel The Golden Mean written by Annabel Lyon recreates the teacher student relationship of Aristotle and Alexander. The what happens of it all is already known. In 342 BC Aristotle reluct...more In my opinion the most famous teacher-student relationships are Aristotle and Alexander the Great and Annie Sullivan and Helen Keller. They had exceptional starting material but you have to give Ari and Annie a chunk of credit for helping to get two such powerful conquerors into the world. A+ for them.

The new novel The Golden Mean written by Annabel Lyon recreates the teacher student relationship of Aristotle and Alexander. The what happens of it all is already known. In 342 BC Aristotle reluctantly becomes tutor to Alexander the son of his childhood friend Philip of Macedon. First impressions were not impressive between the teacher and the future King but soon each comes to respect and revere the other. Then? Both go on to live forever in memory and influence.

There are two fabulous strengths in The Golden Mean. The first is the total immersion into this world that Lyon builds for you in the everyday details of life in 342 BC. Through exquisite writing you can indulge in 304 pages of the fascinating nitty-gritty of ancient living. There is no sense of the author stacking up all the facts that she unearthed in her research in every spare corner of the novel so that you know all the work she did on the book as so often happens in historical fiction. The story is paramount and the knowledge of life in 342 BC is presented as the delicious icing on the cake.

The second strength is the dialog. How do you design conversations between two of the most significant figures in human history so that they sound real and believable? The death of this novel would have been if Lyon had only been able to parrot the historical lessons of Aristotle and Alexander in their speech and not been able to make their talk come off as improvised and fresh. How did she do it? Gigantic skills. Impressive.

If you don't know much about Aristotle and Alexander the Great, The Golden Mean will teach you as it stimulates you. If you do know the nuts and bolts of these events and teachings you will be absorbed in the human side of this history.
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Aug 05, 2010 Cindy rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book has just been scooping up Canadian book award nominations this year, so I decided to check it out. It talks about seven years of Aristotle’s life -- told from his perspective -- specifically the period he spent in Macedon teaching Alexander the Great, and gives insight into, among other things, the conflict of his intellect with the Macedonian military tradition. He is a man neither Athenian nor Macedonian, and with his temperaments at times a very lonely figure.

I really enjoyed this b...more

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Jul 13, 2010 Leila rated it 4 of 5 stars

I'm enthralled by the idea of the emotional, believable fictional recreation of historical relationships. Some may balk at the presumptuousness of such speculation, but I find--if handled delicately-- it has the potential to produce a compelling story. And The Golden Mean is certainly that.

Lyon clearly has a comfortable knowledge of Aristotle's philosophy and the norms of ancient Greece, but above that she weaves a story that feels real and vivid despite the antiquity of its setting. I worried...more

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Jun 09, 2010 Lilian rated it 4 of 5 stars

The Golden Mean by Annabel Lyon is terrific. I'll start with that and recommend that you go out and buy it.

This is a novel about Aristotle before he became Aristotle. He isn't a young man when the book begins. He is 37 years old and is inspecting his wife's vulva and vagina out of intellectual curiosity. His curiosity is great and he covets knowledge of all things.

The story follows his experiences for the next 7 years or so, while he is the tutor of Alexander the Great before he became the Gre...more The Golden Mean by Annabel Lyon is terrific. I'll start with that and recommend that you go out and buy it.

This is a novel about Aristotle before he became Aristotle. He isn't a young man when the book begins. He is 37 years old and is inspecting his wife's vulva and vagina out of intellectual curiosity. His curiosity is great and he covets knowledge of all things.

The story follows his experiences for the next 7 years or so, while he is the tutor of Alexander the Great before he became the Great, still just the kid of King Philip of Macedon. The capital city, Pella, is a rough and tumble backwater. Aristotle longs for Athens, where he will, beginning in middle-age, found an academy and write the works that will influence science and thought for the next 1500 years or more.

The story is told in the first person and it's very much an interior journey. There is no overarching narrative, no through line of plot, but it held my interest throughout because it's so very well done. The voice of Aristotle, his thoughts, his feelings, his perspective and reminiscences are compelling. I know that this is one of the buzz words of blurbs (along with tour de force), but in this case the word is the right one. The historical period is brought vividly to life, not in external details, but through this perspective.

Aristotle is a nerd in a world of jocks, an intellectual among uncultured warriors whose king wants to put some shine on his court. Aristotle is both respected and mocked, seen as effeminate, and yet oddly valued. A king's friend, he is aware of his precarious position. He is a man of great mental powers and at the same time, a man of his period, shocked when his wife experiences sexual pleasure, not especially kind to women or slaves, but more considerate than some.

Of necessity, since ancient Greece restricted women's movements, especially upper class women, the story is mostly about men, but Lyon conveys the poignancy of this restriction effectively. One moment stands out for me especially, when Alexander's mother comes to visit him at school, and pays dearly for it because she is not supposed to leave her quarters. I also enjoyed the character and voice of the slave/midwife Athea.

(As an aside, I liked her so much I was thinking that if I was writing the book she would be my main character and then laughed at myself, because of course I did that in The River Midnight, albeit set in a later historical period.)

This must have been a hard book to bring to a conclusion because there isn't a narrative arc. There is no resolution, just another stage in the journey. I say this because my only quibble with this book, and it's a small one, is at the end. The last few pages are, like the rest, terrific. But just before that there is a conversation between Aristotle and Alexander that sums up their relationship, and I just couldn't picture it as real. But then it's over, the author returns to Aristotle's voice, which has been so--yes I'll say it again--compelling throughout. Aristotle leaves for Athens. He is about to become Aristotle.

Interior, first person stories are not my favourite form. It has to be well executed indeed to hold my interest, to impress and stay with me. The Golden Mean did. (less)

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May 01, 2010 Aaron rated it 2 of 5 stars

This book is my exposure to historical fiction. I read Jack Whyte ‘The Arthurian Legend’ as a teenager, but its historical accuracy or inaccuracy is fuzzy, as is the general arc of the narrative beyond the first novel. What makes for good historical fiction? I read in the Globe and Mail that it is a genre that garners more accolades than science fiction. Evidence: Whereas Atwood’s Alias Grace won the Booker, Oryx and Crake did not. Pithily, history provides the frame, or the form, and then it is...more This book is my exposure to historical fiction. I read Jack Whyte ‘The Arthurian Legend’ as a teenager, but its historical accuracy or inaccuracy is fuzzy, as is the general arc of the narrative beyond the first novel. What makes for good historical fiction? I read in the Globe and Mail that it is a genre that garners more accolades than science fiction. Evidence: Whereas Atwood’s Alias Grace won the Booker, Oryx and Crake did not. Pithily, history provides the frame, or the form, and then it is left up to the author to give definition, to provide the details of the story. The author must work within the confines of the historical evidence. No major alterations to the historical record may occur. In the present book, Lyon admits of two minor historical inaccuracies.
The ideal reader of historical fiction then is probably someone who is only slightly informed. In other words, someone who neither approaches the text barren of the relevant history nor someone too well versed in the history so as to question the definition added. This is a fine line (a golden mean?) because it is, after all, only the informed reader who will truly appreciate the blithe allusions. Sometimes such illusions can be terribly rewarding, but other times as is often the case in the present novel, they come off amateurish and self-serving. Evidence: Aristotle brings Alexander’s older half-brother to a cave for instruction and remarks how his old teacher was terribly fascinated by the metaphorical potential of caves. Unforgiveable. These sorts of unfortunate flourishes crop up time and again in The Golden Mean. Another example of this is when Lyon sets Aristotle to mimic Plato by holding a banquet. Lo! A drunk person arrives late to the party! Lyon has read the Symposium – is the reader supposed to get pleasure from realizing this? So, then, the first complaint I have is that Lyon seems dead set upon her crass allusions. As though we are supposed to imagine Wittgenstein never making a moral assertion in his whole adult life?
Second, and this is perhaps to be expected in a novel, but there is a tremendous move to psychologize Aristotle’s philosophy. Of course, we ought to take it as axiomatic that a person’s life will figure into their convictions, and philosophical convictions ought not be exempt from this. We have Alexander, in the final section of the novel, criticize Aristotle’s philosophy for being self-serving, for setting up the contemplative life as the good life full stop. Aristotle needs to distinguish the world according to means/ends and he needs to think that achieving a balance is how best men can flourish. This is so because Aristotle himself, it seems, is prone to massive mood swings. Some days productivity is as simple as breathing, but the man has moods. He is melancholic. Aside: I don’t know of any historical evidence that links Aristotle with depression. In The Golden Mean, it is made out to be the formative element in determining Aristotle’s personal and professional life.
The main strength of the book, to my mind, is Lyon’s use of medicine. Aristotle’s father was a respected doctor and the expertise has fallen imperfectly to Aristotle. In the most rewarding section of the novel, we find Aristotle finally acquiescing to Alexander’s demand to join him at war. How can you know anything about the human condition if you’ve never been to war? Aeschylus was at Marathon; even Socrates served as a soldier. This we are blithely of whilst Alexander makes his case. The result is Aristotle serving as a medic in one of the battles. The pragmatism, the gore, the 10,000 yard stare, the PTS syndrome – Lyon has got this right. She could have written it with Homer in mind, but even the most taciturn scholar ought to have realized, even then, the brutal realities close combat entailed.
The book is written in accessible prose. It has received much critical attention, but there is nothing here that I find exemplary. – December 2009
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Jan 09, 2010 Caitlin Elizabeth rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2010, fiction

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Nov 04, 2009 Chuck Erion rated it 4 of 5 stars

Annabel Lyon’s The Golden Mean is a novel about the life of Aristotle during the period in which he became tutor to the youth Alexander (the Great). Lyon is the only author to appear on all three of the this fall’s literary prize shortlists (the Giller, the G-Gs, and the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize).
Annabel Lyon is a BC writer with two previous short story collections. She was also published early on by Waterloo’s The New Quarterly. The Golden Mean took seven years to research and wri...more Annabel Lyon’s The Golden Mean is a novel about the life of Aristotle during the period in which he became tutor to the youth Alexander (the Great). Lyon is the only author to appear on all three of the this fall’s literary prize shortlists (the Giller, the G-Gs, and the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize).
Annabel Lyon is a BC writer with two previous short story collections. She was also published early on by Waterloo’s The New Quarterly. The Golden Mean took seven years to research and write, during which time she also raised two young children in a tiny apartment. She was inspired by the events of Sept. 11, 2001, to reread Aristotle and try to reconnect with the philosophical issues she’d studied as an undergrad.
Aristotle’s father was Nicomachus, physician to Alexander the Great’s grandfather. In Lyon’s telling of Aristotle’s life, he recalls being mentored in medicine by his father as part of a lifelong fascination with “science” – collecting biological and botanical samples. When Phillip (Alexander’s father and Aristotle’s childhood friend) asks him to tutor his son, it is the mentally-challenged Arrhidaeus, Alexander’s half-brother that he begins with. Both boys show promise, though Alexander is more eager to test his prowess on the battlefield than in the academy.
The narrative includes many aspects of domestic life: Aristotle’s wife Pythias hosts a dinner party, he buys and sells household slaves; meals, books, architecture are all detailed. The teacher becomes a medic at the battle in Phocis, where Alexander will lead a battalion under the watchful eye of Phillip.
All of this is told in the first person by Aristotle. Initially I found the liberal use of foul language jarring but soon realized that course language fits the male environments among students, slaves or soldiers. Lyon’s book is not about hero worship. We get to share in the details of daily life, some 2300 years ago. I’ll be rooting for her at the Giller Gala on Nov. 10th.
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Jul 29, 2011 Mike Smith rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

This is the story of the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, who was a student of Plato and a tutor of Alexander the Great when Alexander was a teenager. It is told by Aristotle himself in the first person and in the present tense. The style is clipped and direct, more like speech than normal literature. The dialogue between characters is even more sparse than Aristotle's narration, but then he claims at one point not to be very good at writing dialogue.

The title refers to Aristotle's search fo...more

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Mar 26, 2011 Genevieve rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, historical, ancient-greece

File this one under 'books that are as awesome as their awesome covers.' I loved this. I think Lyon is doing something that is, if not exactly radical, certainly unusual and unexpected in a historical novel about Aristotle and Alexander the Great. This is a very domestic novel, which is not to say that it is safe, quiet, or lacking in incident--rather the opposite--but simply that its domain is personalities, not politics. We see--albeit through Aristotle's eyes--the people who go unmentioned in...more

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Nov 04, 2012 Luís Castilho rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Annabel Lyon's "The Golden Mean" is an historic novel set in Macedon 342 BC about Aristotle's childhood spent helping his father in his very rudimentary medical practice and, later, as Plato's disciple. Aristotle's childhood story is interconnected with the account of his rise to fame as the tutor of the young macedonian prince Alexander (later known as Alexander the great). What could be a very interesting and schooling historic novel is, sadly, told in a very americanized fashion, filling the...more

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Aug 25, 2011 Lett' rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Vous connaissez Aristote ? Eh bien moi, depuis la lecture de ce livre je le connais très bien de sa naissance à sa mort ! Voilà l’avantage d’une livre historique qui nous en apprend beaucoup sur Aristote, Alexandre le Grand et Arrhidée. Je voudrais remercier très chaleureusement les éditons de la Table Ronde pour m’avoir offert ce super livre et le site internet Newsbook.

Tout d’abord, j’aimerais dire que j’ai beaucoup aimé la lecture de ce livre qui m’a permis de connaitre une personne très impo...more Vous connaissez Aristote ? Eh bien moi, depuis la lecture de ce livre je le connais très bien de sa naissance à sa mort ! Voilà l’avantage d’une livre historique qui nous en apprend beaucoup sur Aristote, Alexandre le Grand et Arrhidée. Je voudrais remercier très chaleureusement les éditons de la Table Ronde pour m’avoir offert ce super livre et le site internet Newsbook.

Tout d’abord, j’aimerais dire que j’ai beaucoup aimé la lecture de ce livre qui m’a permis de connaitre une personne très importante qui est Aristote et Alexandre le Grand que je ne connaissais pas beaucoup. J’ai vu dans une vidéo de l’auteur qu’elle avait mis environ sept ans à écrire ce livre, je peut dire que ça en valait la peine car ce livre a été un réel COUP de COUER malgré quelques bémols qui correspondait à mes attentes personnelles.Globalement je ne me suis pas ennuyée à lire ce livre.

J’ai trouvé très fascinant l’écriture d’Annabel Lyon qui a utilisé une écriture contemporaine qui fait beaucoup de contrastes avec le thème de l’écriture qui est l’antiquité, j’ai trouvé cela vraiment super, de plus cela est une première fois pour moi, une découverte livresques très surprenante. Ce point m’a donc beaucoup plus. Un autre point très réussi de l’auteur est qu’elle a su écrire de l’Histoire (même si c’était de la fiction) sans ennuyer le lecteur, et cela n’est pas vraiment une chose facile, je remercie beaucoup d’avoir écrit ce livre.

Les détails, voilà le phénomène du livre, c’est la qualité première du livre, il contient des détails troublant, parfois on croirait même qu’elle y a vit. Par exemple, les détails très précis de la médecine antique ou bien le quotidien sont tellement intéressant qu’il nous empêche de s’ennuyer. On voit réellement le travail derrière tout cet écrit, on peut voir qu’elle a fait des recherches très approfondies.

Parlons encore d’un bon point, le point de vue de l’histoire choisi, puisque l’auteur a davantage insisté sur le point humain et le préceptorat du personnage, donc on a pas la présentation des théories d’Aristote même s’il y a quelque touches qui font bien sur l’âme du personnage. On aperçoit aussi le pluralisme des travaux d’Aristote qui est davantage mis en avant.

Pendant toute la lecture, on aperçoit toujours les extrêmes qui sont Philippe, le personnage façonné pour se battre qui ne conçoit pas la philosophie, et le personnage d’Aristote, philosophe, médecin axé sur la philosophie et qui ne veut pas de guerre. Malgré les différences des personnages, ils sont amis, mais parmi les extrêmes, il y a le “juste milieu” que vous connaitrait après la lecture.

Parlons de la relation de préceptorat entre Alexandre et Aristote, ils sont fascinés l’un de l’autre,ils sont à la pointe dans leur domaine, ils ont des faiblesses, ils sont complètement différents, mais chacun changera l’autre pour le transformer complètement ce qui est vraiment très bien ressenti pendant tout le roman, il y a un changement dans chacun. Ce livre présente donc bien que l’humain peut bien changer de ses convictions.

J'ai beaucoup aimé ce livre pour en faire mon coup de cœur, mais rien n’est parfait, donc il y a quelque bémol, car, je m’attendais beaucoup à un dialogue entre les deux protagonistes, qui reflèterait beaucoup les pensées des autres, car ici, on ne sent pas vraiment les longues conversations, mais je pense désormais qu’elle a su aussi faire bien comme ça. Le second bémol correspond au temps que l’on ne sent pas passer, il reste en place, on dirait, mais quand l’auteur nous dit “il y a six ans”, nous somme profondément surpris, donc le temps passe sans que l’on sache.

Pour conclure, c’est mon coup de cœur mais comme rien n’est parfait, il y a quelques (deux) bémols qui font quand même que le roman est super agréable à lire et que je le conseille à tout le monde. Bonne lecture Sourire(less)

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Aug 07, 2011 Yvonne rated it 3 of 5 stars

This story takes the reader to ancient Greece where wars and philosophical debates rage. Where theatre is loved and performed, where politics were very dangerous and appeasing the gods was constant. There is an extrodinary sense of place and real insight into the culture and mores of the Greeks, Macedonians, Thesselians and other surrounding countries well over 2,000 years ago.

The story centres on Aristotle and his wife Pythias. Their journey to Athens is interrupted by King Phillip of Macedon...more

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Jan 08, 2013 Helen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, historical-fiction, gay-fiction

Among the books MS Lyon recommends is Mary Renault's "Fire From Heaven" for Alexander's viewpoint of these years and, having read that I can see that she paid attention to that earlier novel. The characters are clear, the narration is spare, and yet there are years omitted due to the simplicity of the life at Phillip's court. We are seeing it from Aristotle's viewpoint, of course, so all the over-heated action in Olympia's quarters is invisible, as is the international conniving by Phillip himse...more

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Aug 11, 2010 Simmonsmry rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: bookpleasures-reviews

Told in the voice of Aristotle during the time when he became tutor to the Macedonian prince who would become Alexander the Great, The Golden Mean gives readers an intimate glimpse into the well-respected philosopher’s thoughts and experiences. This historical figure, considered to have one of the greatest minds in history, comes off as an ordinary, unsure human being, with flaws, doubts and a tendency towards depression.

Canadian literary author Annabel Lyon takes some dramatic license with the...more Told in the voice of Aristotle during the time when he became tutor to the Macedonian prince who would become Alexander the Great, The Golden Mean gives readers an intimate glimpse into the well-respected philosopher’s thoughts and experiences. This historical figure, considered to have one of the greatest minds in history, comes off as an ordinary, unsure human being, with flaws, doubts and a tendency towards depression.

Canadian literary author Annabel Lyon takes some dramatic license with the historical events, figures and circumstances; however, she succeeds in capturing the era and going deeper into the lives of these people who have shaped the history of the modern world. Rather than concentrating on the philosophical writings of Aristotle or the epic battles of Alexander the Great, this novel explores their everyday lives, taking us into Aristotle’s household, where we get to meet his wife, his children, and his servants. We are also treated to flashbacks in which the great thinker remembers his childhood when he accompanied his physician father to the homes of his patients.

The Golden Mean is at times erotic, violent and disturbing, in a refreshing way that brings the characters to life rather than depicting them weakly through the historical lens of all they accomplished. The language is curt and somewhat analytical, not tending towards poetic or beautifully descriptive passages. This seems appropriate as the narrator is a man who sometimes thinks without seeing and observes without immersing himself in his subjects. He is apart from the world rather than deeply ensconced in it. As a scientist and analyst, he is somewhat detached from that which he studies. His emotions, while often being close to the surface, are bewildering and troubling to him. He views them as an illness, a bothersome aspect of his makeup that he wishes to avoid and correct. While enlightened in many aspects of the world, he is rather naive in others. Since Lyon chose to write the novel from Aristotle’s viewpoint, all of the other characters are depicted through him and it is interesting to speculate on the accuracy of his judgements. There are times when Lyon hints that Aristotle’s views are arbitrary and mistaken, cleverly written in such a way that the character is not aware of them, although astute readers will make their own conclusions.

The title refers to Aristotle’s philosophy that goodness comes from a general point between two extremes, and much of the book falls into this category. Lyon suggests that Aristotle attempted to live his life in this manner and also expected it of those around him. Extreme behaviour is considered unpleasant and unnecessary, and yet it is in the extremes that true emotions and depths of feeling are experienced. By attempting to avoid the extremes, they become all the more obvious and inevitable. An intelligent and carefully written novel, I would recommend The Golden Mean and look forward to future works by Annabel Lyon.(less)

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Oct 21, 2011 Amardip rated it 2 of 5 stars

I have very mixed feelings about this book. I don't think it lives up to the hype of the awards that it has won / been nominated for. I found the first two-thirds of the book to be fairly flat and not compelling (I didn't look forward to reading it), while I really enjoyed the last third of the book and felt that the characters finally came to life and I felt something for them and I couldn't put the book down. The book interested me enough that I was inspired to learn more about Aristotle, Alex...more

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Jun 21, 2012 Rick (The Book-A-Week Project) rated it 4 of 5 stars

"I accept that the greatest happiness comes to those capable of the highest things ... That's where you and I walk away from the rest of the world. You and I can appreciate the glory of things. We walk to the very edge of things as everyone else knows and understands and experiences them, and then we walk the next step. We go places no one has ever been. That's who we are. That's who you've taught me to be." – Alexander, to Aristotle (pg. 275)

The Golden Mean is a graceful re-imagining of one of...more

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Mar 05, 2011 Danny rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book was unlike any I have read before. I would rate the writing itself as 4.5 stars, but the content a 3 and that is overall how I would say I liked the book. Now, that might just be an insight into my reading habits, but I found it bordering on opposite extremes not like the title suggests. Also, anyone who has read that this is mainly about Aristotle and Alexander, I would suggest that synopsis is incorrect: it is pretty much a biography on Aristotle with Alexander obviously having a par...more

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May 25, 2010 Tom rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction

This short novel focuses on the Greek philosopher, Aristotle, during the time that he was tutor to the future Alexander the Great. It is more novel than history, but entertaining. It brought home to me one of the differences between Aristotle and Plato in that the former taught that the desirable state was to search for the median between extremes. For example, if you have courage on one extreme and cowardice on the other, then one should seek an appropriate balance. Is it possible to have too m...more

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About Annabel Lyon

Annabel Lyon was born in 1971. Her first book of fiction, the short story collection Oxygen (Porcupine's Quill, 2000), was published to wide acclaim, and was nominated for the Danuta Gleed and ReLit awards.

Her short fiction has appeared in numerous publications, including Toronto Life, The Journey Prize Anthology, and Write Turns: New Directions in Canadian Fiction. Lyon is also a frequent contri...more

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