www.annemoore.net

 

 

 

 

 

Books: Ransom

My 17 -year-old son read Virgil’s “Aeneid” this year at school. I couldn’t hide my envy: to be so advanced in the study of Latin that he and his classmates could read that ancient tale of arms and men. What a gift their hard work brought them!

During the year, two works of fiction were published, each offering fresh takes on characters from Troy. I read and loved “The Lost Books of the Odyssey” by Zachary Mason. Now I’ve gotten to “Ransom” by David Malouf.

At first I wondered why I was reading, again, about Achilles’ wrath, his love and grief for Patroclus, Hector’s death and the gruesome dragging of his body around the walls of Troy.

But once Malouf introduces Priam, and the ransom he dares to deliver, the story takes off and unfolds in surprising ways. We learn of a nightmarish event in Priam’s childhood, when he was plucked by his sister from certain slavery. We find Patroclus as a murderous boy, taken in by Achilles’ father. Cassandra quiet, numbed by the deaths she foretold. We discover the everyday life, and worries, of a Trojan carter. We see Achilles with the body of Hector, which remains fresh.

It has been eleven days since Hector was slain. Priam is King of Troy and Hector’s father. He goes to Hector’s mother, Hecuba, and describes his plan to travel to the Greek camp, appeal to Achilles as a man, and offer treasure — a ransom — for the return of their son. Priam will travel unadorned, on a hard cart pulled by mules. Priam will present himself as father instead of king.

The journey reveals the man. Priam arrives — with the help of the gods — in the Greek camp. Achilles mistakes Priam for his own aged father and, undone by that ghostly vision, treats Priam kindly, feeding him and setting him in a soft bed. These scenes are tender, and heartbreaking: a father fed and cared for by his son’s slayer.

In the original text, this ransom is mentioned in a few lines. Malouf takes that moment and opens it up, creating a character who discovers his humanity in the enemy’s embrace. This is a lovely read.

Also in the blog

Books: One Day

Quite a ways into this story, someone at a party asks Emma how she met Dex. “We grew up together.” Their growing up and getting old (er) after university is the story of this charming book, which is laugh-out-loud funny and, at times, gut-wrenchingly sad. It’s not so much chick lit as Jane Austen on

(...)

Food: Early eats in Lincoln Park and Old Town

My artist-writer-foodie niece Lucy is back living in Chicago (hooray!) and understandably made it to one of the first of the year open-air days at Green City Market in Lincoln Park. It opens this year May 2. Her sole complaint: where to eat afterwards. There’s crepes, smoothies and other fare at the market. She wanted

(...)

Black Lives Matter, recent reads

Black lives matter. These are among my favorite reads — novels, plays, poetry, nonfiction — about Black lives in America and overseas. Each is illuminating, infuriating, heartbreaking.  Native Son, by Richard Wrignt (1940) Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison (1952) The Street, by Ann Petry (1946)   Random Family, by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc (2003)  A Raisin

(...)

14 thoughts on "Books: Ransom"