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The Charioteer

4.05 of 5 stars 4.05 · rating details · 1,345 ratings · 105 reviews

After enduring an injury at Dunkirk during World War II, Laurie Odell is sent to a rural veterans’ hospital in England to convalesce. There he befriends the young, bright Andrew, a conscientious objector serving as an orderly. As they find solace and companionship together in the idyllic surroundings of the hospital, their friendship blooms into a discreet, chaste romance....more

Paperback, 352 pages

Published May 13th 2003 by Vintage (first published 1953)

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Feb 07, 2013 Kate rated it 5 of 5 stars

Wow. Can I just write a series of adjectives for my review? Beautiful, evocative, thought provoking, powerful, tense, understated....

No that isn't actually helping, is it?

Review later. When I can mash all this down into a few paragraphs, or maybe when my mind can stop circling around seeing something different in this book on each cycle.

Easy 5 stars.

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Actual review:

Awesome book. It deserves a better cover than that weird Star Trekky one. Who on earth came up with that awful thing?

I don...more

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Jul 17, 2007 David rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: top-20

Mary Renault is one of those authors for whom I was tempted to give 5 stars to all of her books, because I enjoyed them so much. But in the interests of maintaining standards (Hi Betsy!), I will give 5 stars to "The Charioteer", a book probably 50 years ahead of its time, but go ahead and recommend all of her historical fiction anyway. With perhaps "The Mask of Apollo" and "The King must Die" being my favorites among her remaining books.

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Dec 30, 2010 Whitaker rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: gay, recommended-unreservedly, 2010-read, united-kingdom

Shame on me! When I first heard of Mary Renault and her gay novels, I immediately assumed that because they were written in the 1950’s and by a woman that they were bound to be bad. Shame, shame, shame!

I stand duly chastised. And somewhat in awe of Mary Renault. She really gets the whole living in fear and shame thing, the way it distorts your life, causes you to doubt yourself, the overly sensitive panic that “They” somehow know. She never comes out to hit us on the head with this. She just de...more

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Nov 27, 2009 Jessica rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: hagging-out, favorites, love-and-other-indoor-sports

My least favorite thing about this book reporting business is choosing the star rating. I seriously get ulcers trying to quantify my personal, subjective response to each book I've read. Was it just "okay"? Did I "like it" or "really like it"? Part of my problem is that I've resolved from the beginning to be incredibly stingy with my five-star ratings. I've only given five stars to books that I feel have affected my sense of self and relation to the world on some profound and fundamental level,...more My least favorite thing about this book reporting business is choosing the star rating. I seriously get ulcers trying to quantify my personal, subjective response to each book I've read. Was it just "okay"? Did I "like it" or "really like it"? Part of my problem is that I've resolved from the beginning to be incredibly stingy with my five-star ratings. I've only given five stars to books that I feel have affected my sense of self and relation to the world on some profound and fundamental level, which has created the problem that my four-star category now is the broadest and least meaningful. My rule in distinguishing between a three-star and four-star book is how urgently I feel the need to return to reading it while I am not. Anything I actively crave earns the fourth star: four-star books make me look forward to subway rides, cause me to resent social obligations.... But The Charioteer made me rethink my commitment to the four star system. This was a book that I flung down at midnight on a Tuesday, beating my breast, cursing my fate, and crying out to the gods, "Why must I work?" because it broke my heart that I couldn't stay up all night long finishing it. I did debate postponing Thanksgiving, and there were times while reading that I actually had to stop, put the book down in my lap, and just freak out for a minute about how good it was. This was a book I found myself reading while walking down a crowded street at midday in Chinatown, a childhood behavior to which I rarely revert... Anyway, all of this did, for me, emphasize the limitations of the four-star rating. Shouldn't I just give books five stars if I think they're "amazing"? I guess I will try it, and see how I feel.

This book was amazing! Remember how great and romantic Farewell to Arms was, except that the female character was sort of a misogynistically drawn 2D fuckdoll, and the protagonist was a bit of an inarticulate, hypermasculine alcoholic brute? Well, imagine that book only British, not American, with a sensitive refined young wounded soldier and adorable cute boy orderlies instead of Hemingway's somewhat ridiculous female characters... Okay, this really wasn't anything like Farewell to Arms, and the comparison doesn't do justice to either book. They just both had romances in hospitals between wounded soldiers and hospital staff: I guess it's a genre, and not just those two... it's very romantic, all this wounding and nursing! Well, it is in the books. I don't know about real life.

The Charioteer was like some kind of dream birthday dinner of all my favorite foods. Instead of stuffed tomatoes and coffee ice cream, it had England during World War II, gay romance, and some of the most stunningly skillful writing I think I've ever read. I can't remember many books that more successfully conveyed private emotional states, a description of the physical world, complex and convincingly human characters and their interactions, and all the rest of that stuff that contributes to making up a really class-A, five-star novel. While reading this, I remembered that novels are an art form. As I personally read just for pleasure and judge books exclusively on their merits as entertainment, when I'm forced to confront this artwork thing it feels like a revelation. The Charioteer accomplishes so much of what it is I believe successful literature should do: that is, it conveys the fine and subtle specificity of a certain time, place, and character, while tying this individual story to the broad human experience. Anyone who can hang her novel on some Plato, as Renault does, and make it work so beautifully that a girl like me actually spends time poking at the Phaedrus online, deserves some sort of prize -- perhaps an extra star!

I couldn't stop wondering, as I read this, why I tend so often to love novels about mid-twentieth-century gay men so much. I think I must enjoy the inherent romance and painfully secret subtlety surrounding homosexual relationships in the pre-Stonewall era: there are few things as romantic as a forbidden, secret love that persists amidst strong social prohibitions, plus these books often avoid the tired cliches of heterosexual romances, and therefore seem more fresh. I also really enjoy the unsaid, unspelled-out nature of these relationships. There were so many conversations in this book that I had to read a few times before I caught the meaning implicit between the lines. A lot of that is probably its being British, on top of being gay, but the kind of careful and cryptic, thickly-coded social interaction which is what makes earlier, nineteenth-century novels about upper-crusty types so fascinating, survives longer in gay fiction. I love reading this stuff. It's like doing a crossword puzzle, trying to figure out what it means, only a crossword puzzle with a payoff beyond just the process.

I think another reason I like reading older books about gay men is that I'm so exhausted by depictions of women as objects of desire and of female sexuality, that it's a huge relief to get the romance without having to think about that stuff. There's something so relaxing about it, to me, dodging all those feminist issues, yet still getting the kind of novel I want. There are actually quite a few well-drawn female characters in The Charioteer, and this was one area where it seemed unsurprising that the author was a woman. I am really interested now in Mary Renault. I want to read everything else she wrote, and though I'm not sure how I feel about historical fiction set in Ancient Greece, if it's anything like this, I am sure I will love it.

I really can't say I'd recommend this unreservedly to everyone, though if you're interested in historical fiction about gays in the military, it's hard to imagine that you could do better. I also recommend this to people who love the Novel, especially the life-during-wartime British Novel, which I have to say, I should think would be a lot of you.(less)

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Aug 14, 2007 Falkor rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Fans of romance, esp. male/male romance; people interested in pre-Stonewall gay life

Shelves: fiction, 20th-century

Laurie O'Dell is seriously wounded during the early days of World War II. While recuperating in an English hospital, he is entangled in a love triangle. On one side is Andrew, a pious, naive young conscientious objector who works in the hospital as an orderly; on the other is Ralph, an old school friend who, despite having many affairs with men and women while traveling the world in the navy, still harbors strong feelings for Laurie. Laurie is paralyzed with indecision. He can have a passionate...more

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Nov 28, 2007 Ollie rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everyone

Nobody has written better about gay love than Mary Renault. This novel is her masterpiece. It tells the story of Laurie, a young soldier who finds himself confined in a hospital during the 2nd World War, after nearly dying in battle. While convalescing, he meets and falls in love with a young man, Andrew, who refused to fight because of his faith; but he also runs into a man from his past - someone he looked up to when he went to boarding school. The novel explores the division that occurs in La...more

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Sep 17, 2011 Christy B rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, historical-romance, wwii, lgbt, favorites

My heart. Is it still there? Because I feel like someone tore it out and stomped on it.

I stayed up way later than I usually do, last night, to finish this, because I couldn't wait any longer. The intense and emotional turmoil inside of me started with Andrew's letter and followed through to the end.

It wasn't until I finished, and turned off the lights to go to sleep, that I realized what I had been holding in. And I cried for a few minutes: for the story, for the beautiful writing, for the chara...more

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Dec 26, 2012 Sergey rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, fiction, read_in_english

at the start, an overwhelming sadness cloaked over me as i settled (and as i ponder it thereafter, it hovers still) to endeavor this voyage; pacing the movement, letting the words paint the picture; so many words unspoken . . . . . and wasn’t it better of it in the end? a relentless melancholy of what was to be, like wet wool, enveloped me in misery. i wished it never end; to go on and on but never come to finish, for never want to learn more of what fate must, surely, bring to be for these soul...more

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Dec 27, 2009 Surreysmum rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 1992, homoerotic-fiction-by-women, owned

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. [These notes were made in 1992:]. This is the first Mary Renault with a modern setting that I've read. Among other things (to put a crude label on it) it betrays her as a genuine fruit fly, who knows her gay - or rather, queer - community inside out. Yet she recoils from that community (as it existed in the '50s, and doubtless she would be even more appalled at today's politicized version). This is also a novel about a kind of innocence, and about the protection of that innocence, which would sc...more [These notes were made in 1992:]. This is the first Mary Renault with a modern setting that I've read. Among other things (to put a crude label on it) it betrays her as a genuine fruit fly, who knows her gay - or rather, queer - community inside out. Yet she recoils from that community (as it existed in the '50s, and doubtless she would be even more appalled at today's politicized version). This is also a novel about a kind of innocence, and about the protection of that innocence, which would scarcely be possible except in the remotest places today. I am speaking of a lack of self-knowledge as to sexual orientation. Renault sets up a triangle of men; the eldest, Ralph, Head of his school House, is expelled because of the allegations of a younger boy. He goes into the Merchant Marine. The central character, Laurie ("Spud"), comes passionately to his defence, not realizing that the allegations are true and that he himself is gay, and in an act of renunciation Ralph allows him to continue in his innocence. We re-encounter both these men after Dunkirk; Laurie has since discovered who and what he is (though he has done precious little about it), and he reluctantly allows himself to be dragged along to a "queer" party, where he meets Ralph, and it emerges that Ralph saved his life at Dunkirk (only to be rewarded by a semi-conscious smart remark). Meanwhile, in hospital, where Laurie is struggling to deal with the fact that he is permanently crippled, he falls badly for a young orderly named Andrew. Things are complicated by the fact that Andrew is a Quaker, and a conscientious objector, therefore despised by Ralph and all the military men around Laurie. It becomes clear to Laurie that Andrew is also gay, but has completely repressed any knowledge of it, and it becomes of paramount importance to Laurie to keep that innocence intact, so as not to bring Andrew in contact with a reality he probably cannot reconcile with his beliefs. In something of a bow to cliché, Laurie has been raised by a single mother to whom he is very much attached, and who now gets remarried to an objectionable man. (Indeed, the similarity of this scene to the wedding in the film Another Country is very striking indeed). The aftermath of this wedding is a solitariness and uprootedness in which Laurie turns to Ralph, and they finally get it together (greatly to the relief of this reader, who was begining to think they were going to talk nobly all the way to the end of the novel!) Laurie is still hung up on Andrew, however, and has managed as well to attach to Andrew his own lack of self-acceptance, and desire for some sort of "cleaner" Platonic relationship. This all falls to pieces when Andrew withdraws suddenly, telling Laurie in a letter that a Ralph Lanyon had visited him, and brought it cruelly home to him exactly what he is. Laurie, who has been keeping Ralph waiting for a decision on whether they can make a life together, taxes him angrily with this and rejects him. Later it emerges that the visit was actually made by Ralph's malicious ex-lover, Bunny(!). Laurie rushes over to Ralph, just in time, it is strongly hinted, to prevent him from suicide. That précis sounds very crude compared with the actual book, for Renault proceeds by ellipsis, by indirection, by implication. Once or twice, I had to reread a passage to be sure that I had followed exactly what was actually happening. Yet this over-delicacy is of its time, and characteristic of the main characters, so one cannot possibly jib at it. I did not get nearly as impatient as I thought I would, because in fact there's relatively little self-deception or hypocrisy among the main characters. It is frustrating, of course, that there is no political awareness, and a sort of rueful acceptance of being second-class citizens, but the solution that Renault proposes, of living one's personal life (in compensation, as it were) with a degree of decency, honour and unselfishness that most people do not attain, is attractive if unrealistic. It is linked both with the ancient Greek ideals in Renault's other work and with the romantic friendship ethos of other novelists, contemporary with Renault, like D.K. Broster; the obvious difference is that Renault's characters have a very much tougher and more realistic notion of honour than Broster's. There are a few passages of emotional/sexual tension which are absolutely exquisite, notably a long encounter between Laurie and Andrew out in the country, and a scene near the end where Laurie comes to tell Ralph it's all off and ends up - well, in the dark with him. I am as sensitive nowadays as most readers to the issue of appropriation of voice, but if we leave that aside for the moment and consider women's homoerotic writings about men to be simply a subgenre with its own rules and special characteristics, then this is absolutely the best of the kind I have ever read. (less)

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Oct 06, 2008 Rachel rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: lgbt, historical-fiction, hubris-and-arete

In this novel, Mary Renault departs from her usual setting of Classical Greece to tell the story of a young gay British soldier on medical leave during World War II. I was at first skeptical about Renault writing a novel in a more modern setting, but the straightforward prose and austere beauty that has leant so much to her Greek novels works to her advantage here, giving true voices to her soldiers. It's a quiet book, with the characters' sexuality given an important but subtle place, unlike wh...more

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Aug 05, 2012 Alexis Muirhead rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: queer-lit, historical-fiction

The Charioteer is a sympathetic portrait of the love triangle between three men who meet and fall in love in post-war London. The protagonist, Laurie Odell, was severely wounded during the battle of Dunkirk, and the novel explores his journey towards recovery. While in hospital north of London, Laurie meets Andrew, a Quaker indentured to the hospital due to his status as a conscientious objector. (Tell me you've read this, secretlybronte). The two men strike up a sweetly innocent and sexless rom...more

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Dec 29, 2011 K.Z. Snow added it

I can't possibly rate this book, which I found tedious and intriguing, incomprehensible and brilliant. And not altogether satisfying. Leaves me in kind of a bind, eh?

The early mid-century British colloquialisms tripped me up in virtually every paragraph. I barely had time to recover from one before another two or three came rolling along. They weren't conducive to a smooth read. Characters' nicknames were somewhat easier to digest; I've heard a few of them before. But when Laurie, Spuddy, Binky,...more

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Dec 05, 2011 Jorrie Spencer rated it 5 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I read The Charioteer a number of years ago and thought it was wonderful. I always meant to read more Mary Renault, but instead I've read The Charioteer again—when I'm not much of a rereader.

I think there's a couple of things going on. First off, Renault is not available in digital. I can of course buy print books, but it takes more effort, and I'm less likely to get around to it. Also, the other Renaults that get significant attention seem to be set in ancient Greece. I'm not against such a se...more

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Apr 19, 2010 Sophie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: lgbt, fiction, favorites

Oh dear god. I spent the last hour tearing frantically through the last 50 pages of Mary Renault's The Charioteer and now I'm so endlessly relieved, I have no words. I was actually sobbing just now because, god. This book.

This was so, so beautiful.

To think I might never have read it - I don't care how melodramatic it sounds, but I discovered this book by pure accident, because I was looking for stuff on Alexander the Great because I have been interested in Ancient Greek lately because I liked t...more Oh dear god. I spent the last hour tearing frantically through the last 50 pages of Mary Renault's The Charioteer and now I'm so endlessly relieved, I have no words. I was actually sobbing just now because, god. This book.

This was so, so beautiful.

To think I might never have read it - I don't care how melodramatic it sounds, but I discovered this book by pure accident, because I was looking for stuff on Alexander the Great because I have been interested in Ancient Greek lately because I liked that Achilles/ Patrick Cleese moment in Wonder Woman so much - I was just killing time at work, looking for books at random, remembering Mary Renault's name from way back. There was only a very short description of it in our database - something like A homosexual love story set in WW II or something, but together with a biographical note on the author it was enough to make me curious, so I ordered a cheap used copy online.

I don't think I've ever been this surprised by a book. This is such a piece of beauty - I was in a bit of a daze at work today because I couldn't stop thinking about it, couldn't stop wanting to read more (and trust me when I say there is no crueler place to work than at a bookstore when all you want to do is finish your book). It's a story set at a hospital for the wounded during WW II, and the main character, Laurie, is torn between two very different men. The book was first published in 1959, something I kept having to remind myself about because it didn't feel like it at all. I really do have to catch up on my queer history, because I didn't realize a book like this was possible, then.

Did I mention it's beautiful? Because it is. Even though in some parts homosexuality is discussed rather openly, a lot of it is hidden in this - you can't quite call it subtext, I don't think, it's more like - you always know there is a hidden meaning, and although I was able to decode parts of it, I was left bewildered by others. Even so, the language was beautiful. And the love story was so full of longing and desire and just pure feeling it just about took my breath away.

And it wasn't just that, there were those passages, sentences that make reading the best thing ever - the kind of sentences in which you recognize yourself and it's such great comfort to know you're not the only one, and you're given words and it's just such a treasure.

This book. It's really wonderful. (less)

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Aug 13, 2009 Jenre rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: classics

I bought this book after reading The Dark Horse by Josh Lanyon. In that story the main character is an actor who is hoping to be chosen for the role of Laurie in a film adaptation of "The Charioteer". The story draws some parallels between the characters of Sean and Dan in The Dark horse and Laurie and Ralph in The Charioteer. I thought that perhaps I ought to read The Charioteer, especially after Josh Lanyon has mentioned it quite a few times since as being a great book.

The book is set in the 2...more I bought this book after reading The Dark Horse by Josh Lanyon. In that story the main character is an actor who is hoping to be chosen for the role of Laurie in a film adaptation of "The Charioteer". The story draws some parallels between the characters of Sean and Dan in The Dark horse and Laurie and Ralph in The Charioteer. I thought that perhaps I ought to read The Charioteer, especially after Josh Lanyon has mentioned it quite a few times since as being a great book.

The book is set in the 2nd World war and revolves around our hero, Laurie, who is injured during Dunkirk and is now recuperating in an army hospital in England. Whilst there he meets Andrew, a conscientious objector, who is working as an orderly. Laurie falls in love with Andrew, but doesn't want to tell him as he views Andrew as being in some way 'pure' and doesn't want to sully this idealistic love with carnality - which he feels would happen if he confesses to being gay and attracted to him. Into this mix comes Ralph, an old school acquaintance who awakened Laurie to his own sexuality when he was 16. Ralph is the complete opposite to Andrew. He is practical, likes to take charge and is unashamed of being gay. Laurie also loves Ralph but in a earthy, sexual way. Laurie has to make a choice: Does he choose the idealised love of Andrew or the sensual love of Ralph?

I have to admit straight off that I found Laurie infuriating at times. He was such a naive dreamer and had this completely unrealistic idea that being gay was somehow a higher state of being - mainly from reading too much Greek philosophy. He is repulsed by the gay lifestyle adopted by Ralph's friends, refusing to believe that the coarseness and overt sexuality he sees with them should be part of being gay. He has no idea how Andrew feels about him and yet he idolises their friendship, putting Andrew on a pedestal and pushing Ralph away time after time - even after Ralph admits his love for Laurie. I just wanted to give him a shake and say 'for goodness sake, pull yourself together! Look what you could have.'

We only ever see the other characters from Laurie's POV, so it's difficult to make judgements about them. Andrew seems very young, perhaps in awe of Laurie, but ultimately, lacking in any personality. I never actually could understand what Laurie saw in him, other than someone who has stuck to their principles despite the scorn and contempt it has brought. I liked the character of Ralph and could see that he has probably loved Laurie for a long time. He knows that he could probably influence Laurie in his choice, but chooses not to - an admirable quality.

In a way this book is very much of its time and this comes through clearest in its portrayal of certain ideas about homosexuality. Each one of the main characters has a 'reason' as to why they are gay and there is a pervasive theme of homosexuality being a choice rather than part of who a person is. Both these ideas seem very outdated now (or at least they should!). Also at the time it was written any sexual content in a mainstream novel would have lead to it being banned. This basically means that any reference to sex in the book is only alluded to, and alluded to so obliquely that I wasn't sure it had actually happened at first! There is a lot left to your imagination. Even references to the sexuality of Laurie and Ralph at the beginning are masked in such a way that if you didn't know they were gay then you might not even pick it up.

This was quite a difficult book to rate. The book is strongest in the portrayal of the various characters in the book. Each person has an individual 'voice' and Renault uses accent and dialect to accurately show how the different classes would have spoken. You can hear each accent clearly in your head as you are reading. The book is weakest in that you have to concentrate hard on the thoughts of Laurie which seem to flitter about and can sometimes be difficult to follow, especially when he makes constant reference to classical notions and texts which my Comprehensive School education never covered. All in all, I'm going to give this a grade of 'Very Good'. It might have been more, as the book was incredibly engrossing, were it not for my impatience with Laurie.(less)

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May 31, 2012 Podga Podga rated it 5 of 5 stars

It's impossible for me to rate certain books objectively, because of the life-changing impact they had on me.

I read The Charioteer in 1976, when I was 13. I knew I was different, but not in a way that bore mentioning or even secret acknowledgement in the ulta-macho Greece of that time. The only gay man I was aware of was a guy, who sold feather dusters around the centre of Athens; he was campy, outspoken, mocked, and it scared me that I might be like him.

Even though I didn't understand all the...more

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Apr 16, 2012 Donna rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: gay-fiction, gay-romance

Wow! This book was over my head at times. I wish I could have understood everything that was said, and all the things left unsaid. But I understood enough to know it was brilliant. It is the kind of book that must be read slowly and more than once to benefit from it.

It was like reading about the evolution of man with Andrew, Laurie, and Ralph representing the various stages of development, or for followers of Freud, they were representing the id, ego, and super-ego. At least, that is my take on...more

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Mar 23, 2011 Caroline rated it 5 of 5 stars

I've always loved Mary Renault's Ancient Greece novels, particularly her Alexander trilogy. She's such a wonderful writer - her portrayal of the relationship between Alexander and Hephaistion always particularly touches me - and now I have to add another masterpiece to that list.

This novel is apparently quite a landmark in gay literature, published in the 1950s and being such an open and brave look at homosexual love in WW2. It's about Laurie, a wounded soldier, not quite at ease with his own ho...more

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Jan 02, 2011 Drianne rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical, fiction, gay, m-m, books-i-own

A novel about a gay British soldier recuperating in a hospital from a battle injury during WWII, and the Conscientious Objector he falls in love with. If only there hadn't been so much more to the story -- it seemed to be depicting a subculture of gay men in the 40s, and while that was very interesting historically, it was *really* hard to follow all the things in the story. In fact, I think this may be one of the only books I've ever read where I could re-read passages several times and still f...more

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Mar 10, 2013 Alicja rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: lgbt-fiction, early-20th-century, world-war-ii, to-re-read, classic, bookclub

Rating: 4.5/5

Summary: Laurie Odell, injured during World War II, is transferred to a veterans hospital. There he meets and falls in love with a Quaker Hospital attendant, Andrew Raynes, an innocent young man who hasn’t figured himself out yet. To complicate matters fate brings back into his life an old school friend, Ralph Lanyon, who is familiar with the pitfalls of being gay during that era and also develops feelings for him. Laurie, healing from his injury and at the crossroads of his life, m...more Rating: 4.5/5

Summary: Laurie Odell, injured during World War II, is transferred to a veterans hospital. There he meets and falls in love with a Quaker Hospital attendant, Andrew Raynes, an innocent young man who hasn’t figured himself out yet. To complicate matters fate brings back into his life an old school friend, Ralph Lanyon, who is familiar with the pitfalls of being gay during that era and also develops feelings for him. Laurie, healing from his injury and at the crossroads of his life, must now make choices that will have a profound impact on his future.

Review: Woven within this modern love story are references to Greek mythology and Plato’s Phaedrus showing that the human experience, especially the experience of love, transcends time and culture. Renault uses her lyrical style of writing to pack symbolism, hidden meanings, and innuendo into each page of the text. She reveals the hidden world of homosexual relationships during World War II filled with interpersonal drama. It is also a novel of self-discovery and finding ones place in the world, especially when the discovery leads to a moral dilemma and criminality (as it was at the time). The three main characters are at very different points in their lives at the start of the novel. Laurie is at a point right between discovery of why he feels different and acceptance of himself. Ralph is comfortable in, knowledgeable about, and has experience with different facets of homosexual relationships and community. Andrew is completely blind about his inclinations and is just beginning to realize he is different. Not only is Renault able to show a whole spectrum of experience through these three characters but the story takes on a life of its own as their three lives collide and intertwine. It is an amazing novel, don’t let the four stars fool you, but after reading the magnificence that are some of her other works, this one doesn’t seem as refined as her later novels. However, as I said, still completely and utterly brilliant. (less)

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Nov 16, 2011 Ruth Sims rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is my favorite of the great Renault's books, though I love them all with the exception of one called The Friendly Young Ladies (which, oddly enough, is about lesbians as Mary herself was). I'm not sure why I liked it less, but I did. It was many years ago and I should reread it.

One thing I especially liked about The Charioteer is one of the protagonists is a pacifist, who, looked upon as cowards, were brave enough to buck the system, the military, and society because of their beliefs. That...more

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Jun 20, 2010 Christin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: m-m, i-want-to-write-the-script, the-end-will-rip-your-heart-out, mary-renault

Ironic that I breeze through Mary Renault's Greek work with ease. I get the references and I know what a phalanx is, etc. When she's talking about British public school systems and, yanno, stuff that happened in the last century... WHAT? WHAT? I DON'T UNDERSTAND YOU!

I did make a pleased noise when I saw this was back on the shelf at Union Square. I had to special order my copy.

I don't know what to say, it's Mary Renault. Writing is wonderful as always and it's got the trademark bittersweetness....more

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May 10, 2011 Asylumescape33 rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is literally without a doubt the best book I have ever read. The writing style is flawless, and although the storyline is admittedly a bit slow at first, there's no doubt that it will eventually suck you in with such emotion that you won't be able to put it down.

I would have to agree with all the other reviewers with respect to the last 50-100 pages or so in that I was in tears for literally hours during and after I reached the conclusion, and I very rarely cry. I really can't emphasize eno...more

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Apr 11, 2012 Jaden rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: mm, historical

The very first book I read from Mary Renault and perhaps the first
one that introduced me to M/M romance.

I bought this book without even reading the summary. The cover and
the title, were just that good. Thinking it'll be another ancient
Greece book, I was shocked to find out that it actually referred to
World War II.

But then the characters begin unfolding their lives and feelings,
and it was impossible for me to stop. I think that even though all
the events and the relationships are described in a ve...more

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Mar 31, 2012 Richard Kramer rated it 5 of 5 stars

An astonishment. This is contemporary, not one of her Greek Alexander novels, which are astonishing on
their own terms. But the writing! I kept putting this down and running to the computer, to try to BE her, to think
like that, and write like that. I tried to wedge some of this Renaultness into my own novel, which seemed like a great idea at the time and
then of course didn't. But I think reading this made me a better writer. It made me want to see things more clearly,
bring them to the page with g...more

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Jan 31, 2010 Joseph-Daniel Peter Paul Abondius rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-2009

As always this author Mary Renault places all the expression possible in her writing. Her books always seem to be moving and the characters are so real. I cant wait to read another book

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Aug 27, 2007 Nick rated it 5 of 5 stars

WWII. British. Gay. Judge me all you want. The book is actually filled with so much strain and longing that it is at once tense and dream-like.

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Jan 31, 2013 Martin Walsh rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is one Mary Renault novel that isn't set in classical Greece. The story unfolds in England during World War II, when the love that dare not speak its name rarely, if ever, did in fact speak its name, and then only in extenuating circumstances. The circumspection makes for some elegant, insightful, and pleasurable writing. Laurie, the androgynously named and likable protagonist, sorts out aesthetic and ethical (are they the same thing?) quandaries while coping with a war injury (his leg). Af...more

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Feb 24, 2012 Adam rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites, scan

wow, what a find... being a fan of somerset maugham and oscar wilde, I found a lot of similarities, perhaps because of relationships that need to be read between the lines

this is a WWII gay love story triangle of three protagonists, laurie odell, ralph lanyon, and andrew raynes
in prep school laurie is given Plato's Phaedrus by his superior, ralph, 3 years his senior, as a gift upon ralph's departure
mr. lanyon is being expelled because of an indiscretion with a younger student
by chapter three we...more

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Mar 18, 2013 Pao Scott rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: all-time-fave, glbt-ish, re-readable

The first thing I'd like to say is: this book is not for everyone. I've lent it to my two best male friends (one gay and one straight) and got it back with an unenthusiastic "it was okay" from both.

However, this 33-year old female has (re)read it countless times in the last 15 years. Knows paragraphs by heart. And still feels moved by it every time.

So... I cannot really tell if you'll love it or hate it. So, I'll just give you a hint: the power of the book lies not on what is described, but on w...more

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About Mary Renault

Mary Renault
AKA Eileen Mary Challans

Born: 4-Sep-1905
Birthplace: London, England
Died: 13-Dec-1983
Location of death: Cape Town, South Africa

Father: Frank Challans (physician)
Mother: Clementine Newsome Baxter
Sister: Joyce
Girlfriend: Julie Mullard (life-long companion)

High School: Clifton Girls School, Bristol, England
University: BA, St. Hugh's College, Oxford University (1928)
Medical School: Radcl...more

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Books by Mary Renault

The Persian Boy (Alexander the Great, #2)

Fire from Heaven (Alexander the Great, #1)

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Quotes from The Charioteer

“You mustn't get so upset about what you feel, Spud. No one's a hundred per cent consistent all the time. We might like to be. We can plan our lives along certain lines. But you know, there's no future in screwing down all the pressure valves and smashing in the gauge. You can do it for a bit and then something goes. Sometimes it gets s that the only thing is just to say, 'That's what I'd like to feel twenty-four hours a day; but, the hell with it, this is how I feel now.” — 15 people liked it

“He kept telling me I was queer, and I didn't like it. The word, I mean. Shutting you away, somehow; roping you off with a lot of people you don't feel much in common with, half of whom hate the other half anyway, and just keep together so that they can lean up against each other for support.” — 8 people liked it

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