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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. The Persian Boy is a 1972 historical novel written by Mary Renault and narrated by Bagoas, a young Persian from an aristocratic family who is captured by his father's enemies, castrated, and sold as a slave to the king Darius III, who makes him his favorite. Eventually he becomes the lover and most faithful servant of Alexander the Great, who overthrew Darius and captured the Persian Empire. Bagoas' narration provides both a Persian view of the conquest and an intimate look at the personality of the conqueror. 1   QAHC_CCCL | Jul 12, 2009 |  A good historical work, that is rightly a classic. The issues, some of which are highly sensitive, are dealt with sympathetically and the story is a faithful reproduction of the life of Alexander the Great. Nevertheless, I personally found the focus on Alexander from a human perspective, whilst skirting over the battles and strategy (an area that would not be known by the protagonist, Bagoas) was a little tiresome. (  ) sirfurboy | Apr 23, 2009 | Beautiful prose; an enchanting portrayal of Bagoas's life with Alexander the Great. Adele_CB | Dec 12, 2008 | This is historical fiction that is engrossing on the scale of Robert Graves' masterpiece I, Claudius. It has, however, much less political intrigue than you might hope for, making it more of a historical romance than historical fiction. (  )1 mambo_taxi | Jul 3, 2008 | Dense story with fascinating historical perspectives on life of Alexander the Great, punctuated by sections of copius detail and confusing writing. I found this book hard to read as I never did click with the author's style of writing. At times, I had to re-read passages to fully understand her meaning. Finally, a rewarding read. (  ) dugmel | Apr 17, 2008 |  no reviews | add a review
Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0394751019, Paperback)“It takes skill to depict, as Miss Renault has done, this half-man, half Courtesan who is so deeply in love with the warrior.”–The Atlantic MonthlyThe Persian Boy traces the last years of Alexander’s life through the eyes of his lover, Bagoas. Abducted and gelded as a boy, Bagoas was sold as a courtesan to King Darius of Persia, but found freedom with Alexander after the Macedon army conquered his homeland. Their relationship sustains Alexander as he weathers assassination plots, the demands of two foreign wives, a sometimes-mutinous army, and his own ferocious temper. After Alexander’s mysterious death, we are left wondering if this Persian boy understood the great warrior and his ambitions better than anyone. (retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:57:55 -0400) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
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