From the Bookshelf of Q&A with Josh Lanyon…

The Charioteer

Mary Renault

Start date: December 1, 2012

Finish date: January 31, 2013

Discussion: Book of the Month Club

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Book of the Month Club

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What Members Thought

Jan 30, 2008 Josh rated it it was amazing

Shelves: influential-books

Probably the single most influential book I ever read. Beautifully written, evocative, haunting, powerful.

88 likes · Like · see review

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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Nov 16, 2011 Ruth Sims rated it it was amazing

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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Nov 12, 2011 Caroline rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

This book ought to be much better known and read. I feel as if I've stumbled upon a cult classic which should just be a classic. Mary Renault was a nurse during the second world war and so she will have been familiar with the hospital and wartime settings for this novel. The revelation is that she seems to know all about what it must have been like being a gay man in that era - the the pretending and the need for secrecy. It is beautiful understated writing and often you have to read in between ...more

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