Ransom

Ransom focuses on the moment in the Iliad when King Priam retrieves his son Hector’s body from Achilles. In twenty years of teaching that part of the epic, I never survived a class without having to wipe away tears. For me, it is the single most revealing moment in literature about what it means to be human. Nothing tops it. To choose that moment for a book’s primary subject! —audacious and, it turns out, wise.

As far as plot or story goes, it’s as simple a book as could be. A grieving father ignores the legitimate concerns of his aged wife and remaining sons and insists on going on a mad journey into the heart of the Greek camp to beseech the killer of his many sons, and most particularly his dearest son Hector, to give back show more Hector’s body, even though Achilles has shown nothing but a burning desire to wreak his continuing revenge on the corpse by dragging it daily behind his chariot. Hector, after all, had killed his friend Patroclus, the man who was as necessary to Achilles’s well-being as breath or water. In a moment of transformation, Achilles agrees, and Priam returns with the body. That’s the story, unchanged from Homer. But that’s not the book, or not more than the structure upon which he suspends the essentials; the insights and epiphanies of his telling rise like the smell of fresh bread coming from the oven: earthy, embracing, bracing, and beautiful.

Malouf captures both physical place and inner worlds with extraordinary precision and grace—sometimes all in the same group of spare words. For example, in the opening pages Malouf portrays the complex being that is Achilles, part mortal, part son of the sea goddess Thetis:

“As a child he had his own names for the sea. He would repeat them over and over under his breath as a way of calling to her till the syllables shone and became her presence. In the brimming moonlight of his sleeping chamber, at midday in his father’s garden, among oakwoods when summer gales bullied and the full swing of afternoon came crashing, he felt himself caught up and tenderly enfolded as her low voice whispered on his skin.”

“When summer gales bullied”—that sort of word choice, unexpected and perfect, is a reflection that Malouf is not only an award winning novelist, but also a first rate poet.

It is to Priam that Malouf brings the most startling understandings. In building his version of Priam, he borrows from a mythological tradition outside Homer about Priam’s early life—a near miss with slavery—and he gives Priam a most unlikely companion on his crazy journey, a rough workman, a carter who sits in the marketplace each day with his mules and wagon for hire. He portrays Priam struggling to understand what being a father, a husband, a man means. Malouf’s Priam tugs off the restraining mantel of kingship to discover the simple joys of being human, partly with the help of his humble companion. This is fascinating to me since it is from Priam’s visit that Achilles finds his way back to the human race. I had never imagined a Priam who, for different reasons than Achilles, is also struggling to find his humanity. Malouf has often written about what the inner world of being a man is, and this book continues that theme. The subtlety of his findings on this subject are hard to analyze—the atmospheric, osmotic understanding has to grow into you from Malouf’s words.

I’m not sure how this book would feel to someone who has never read the Iliad. I honestly can’t say if it would be as rich an experience, though I’d love to hear from anyone who reads Ransom but hasn’t experienced the ancient epic. Given the depth of Malouf’s ideas about male feelings, I think it’d be a great read. But for all you lovers of Homer, I am certain this is a book you’ll savor. show less

'Ransom' is a story inspired by an event from 'The Iliad', King Priam’s decision to beg the dreaded Achilles to return his son, exchanging the treasures of Troy for Hector’s body. It’s a meeting of two legends so its perhaps slightly surprisingly that the meeting itself doesn’t take up much more space. Rather 'Ransom' is really more a character study of Priam, showing us the man behind the royal mask. He knows full well that his is merely a ceremonial role but he realises that only by doing what has never been done before can he hope to succeed.

Perhaps the most pleasing aspect of this book is the wonderful (invented) character of Somax the carter, the only escort Priam will allow on his quest. This short journey outside the show more walls of Troy allows the king to experience another side of life. Priam discovers the simple joys of the wider world that he usually simply ignores. Malouf’ elegant prose builds up a picture of a man who knows the end is not too far away, musing on the nature of mortality:

“Only we humans can know, endowed as we are with mortality, but also with consciousness, what it is to be aware each day of the fading in us of freshness and youth;"

Even if the book is based on "The Iliad", I don't believe that its neccessay to have read Homer’s classic to enjoy this one. This is my first book by Malouf and I must say that I really enjoyed his simple yet elegant prose, but perhaps the only thing I felt was missing from the story was a little more of Achilles, who very much plays a supporting role here. All the same the meeting is a touching moment in the midst of a great war. The two men are able, for a brief moment, to shed their public roles and embrace their own private grief only too aware of their own death is merely a matter of time. show less

This slim book is a lyrically written story that zooms in on one small portion of The Iliad. It focuses on the episode in which Achilles kills Hector in battle after Hector has killed Achilles’ beloved friend Patroclus. Malouf has constructed a detailed story around King Priam’s journey from Troy to Achilles’ camp to retrieve Hector’s body, which is only mentioned in a few lines of The Iliad. It illuminates storytelling – the way stories are told, repeated, and linger in memory. I particularly enjoyed the characterization of the carter and his mules. It emphasizes our common humanity no matter our differences. To fully appreciate it, the reader may want to be at least familiar with the story of Achilles. I found it a beautiful show more story of grief and redemption, and will be checking out Malouf’s catalogue. show less

Gorgeous retelling of the poignant episode in the Iliad of Priam's seeking the body of his son, Hector, from Achilles. The plot device of a simple carter, Somax, who drives Priam to the Greek camp is added. This serves to make Priam a more human, accessible character. Novel explores simple joys, grief, sorrow and emotional pain in all classes of characters and shows these feelings are universal; on a rest stop, the carter reveals his family life and death of his own son while trying to help another. Priam, innocent of the joys of a commoner's life, responds to Somax's telling of his family and the carter's pain. Achilles suffers his own pain at the death of his dear friend and thinks of his son when he is speaking with Priam. Backstory show more of how Achilles and Patroclus meet and become friends; an incident in Priam's childhood in which he escapes slavery; and the death of Patroclus are also given. Written in beautiful prose. A modern classic. show less

David Malouf begins his retelling of the story with Achilles mourning the death of Patroclus during the Trojan War. Achilles, enraged at his friend's death, slays Hector, Patroclus' killer, and drags Hector's corpse behind a chariot around the walls of Troy. Rage as he does in Homer's original, Achilles terrifying aspect is amplified in comparison. Malouf tries to explain the psychology of Achilles, asking how a man capable of anything takes out his frustration. The narrative then shifts towards Priam, Hector's father and the King of Troy. Priam cannot stand the abuse of his beloved son's body. Malouf explores this parallel of loss between Priam and Achilles that Homer, in the original Iliad, left unsaid. Unlike the version told by show more Baricco a goddess intervenes and Priam then explains to Troy that he will make his way to the Greek camp with ransom treasure for Achilles. He hopes to stop his mistreatment of Hector’s body which Queen Hecuba points out is a suicide mission. Priam goes on the journey, despite warnings from his wife. He eventually meets Achilles at his tent, where the exchange is made. Priam appeals to Achilles' conscience, reminding him of his own father, in trying to persuade him to return Hector to Troy for a proper burial.
With the addition of Somax, the most successfully developed character in the entire narrative, Malouf makes certain changes to the original. Malouf takes liberties with the personalities of Priam and Achilles that are not entirely in consonant with their depictions in the Iliad. However, with Somax, Malouf manages to create a perfect character foil for Priam. Like many a royal figure before and after Priam has lived in a cocoon of safety for his entire life and is now forced to exit it to bury his son. Somax, who has by no means lived any life of luxury, unintentionally teaches Priam about the world outside of the palace: he is both ordinary and he is not the type of person that normally would have anything to do with the royal family, yet he is enthused with the opportunity. A delight to read as always, despite differences to the original, Malouf is successful in creating his own characters. show less

Reading the Iliad, one sees nothing out of place about Priam begging Achilles to release the body of his son, Hector. But in Malouf's hands, this episode expands into a tale of its own, partly built upon the realization that what Priam does is something totally new in this culture - a king (nearly a god in the eyes of his people) becoming quite human in a desperate gambit to regain his son's body from the near-mad Achilles. Malouf observes that, had Priam followed tradition, he would have earned hardly a word in Homer's epic.

Malouf uses his efficient but beautiful language, along with a few invented characters of his own, to pull the reader into this alien world during a most human moment. Ransom reads like a long prose-poem. Read this show more in one or two long sittings, where you can let the world of the Trojans and Greeks, and their gods, carry you along. An enthralling read.

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This one was a bit of a struggle to get - I got it out from the library, and then didn't get a chance to read it, then it was requested by another reader (go 'way! mine!) so I couldn't renew it. I then hovered around the 'M' shelf over the next few visits until it was returned and happily snaffled it again. And guess what? Yep, when I went to renew it, it had been requested. Again. At least this time I attempted to renew it early, so I had a week to read it before it was properly due back at the library.

Didn't take me a week. The only reason why it took longer than a several-hour reading session is because things like parenting, sleep, and work got in the way. I was completely absorbed in this lyrical retelling of one small - but very show more important - incident from The Iliad, when Priam goes to ransom Hector's body from Achilles who in a fit of grief-tinged pique has dragged it from behind his chariot away from the battleground.

It's a beautifully written meditation on majesty, fathers and sons, death, life, war. It was wonderful seeing Priam both in the centre of his court as a revered and conscientious king and as one old man, trying to do what is right by his dead son. And Achilles, who I've never particularly liked because of this incident with Hector, comes across as human, consumed by grief at the death of his lover, Patroclus. Instead of the spoiled brat of a hero I always felt he was.

And, much like Wolf Hall, I especially appreciated that these characters are not modernised with anachronistic thoughts and behaviours. They are part of their world, which is many centuries apart from ours, and that gives the whole story a wonderful otherworldliness to it.

I was hoping to read this with The Iliad as a companion piece, but time was an issue, obviously. But I am hoping to get to The Iliad as an independent read sometime really soon now. Really. And maybe when I get this out again from the library, I'll be able to renew it and keep it for a while! show less