Written by Annabel Lyon
Men are good with horses where I come from, where we’re returning now, and she knows it. I spent yesterday on the carts myself so I could write, though now I ride bareback, in the manner of my countrymen, a ball-busting proposition for someone who’s been sedentary as long as I have. You can’t stay on a cart while a woman rides, though; and it occurs to me now that this was her intention.
I’ve been wanting to get my hands on this book for ages. Awards and nominations for awards have made it almost impossible to find at bookstores, but I finally managed to get a hold of a copy…and it was worth the wait.
This is the story of the relationship between the famous philosopher & scientist Aristotle, and his star pupil: the young Alexander the Great. A fairly slim novel (less than 300 pages), yet it manages to tell its concise tale with amazing detail and astonishing passion.
But what I truly adore & appreciate about this book is how RAW everything seems to be. The language is raw, the emotions are raw, and the relationships are honest & blunt in their display: lust, sexuality, anger, and love. This is the Macedonia and Greece of history — a world of ambition, voracious appetites, and incredibly tight emotional bonds. Into this fray enters Aristotle, a man who long ago abandoned any desire for extremes. In response, the fates have granted him the opportunity to tutor a young man who will rule a world filled with nothing BUT extremes…and the story that follows tells an amazing tale of growing up in a world where superficial advancements can only barely conceal long-held, immutable beliefs.
Never have I seen so much lyrical detail & character development packed into such a relatively small package. The Golden Mean is a sublime piece of work: a pocket epic that manages to shine a revealing spotlight on two giants of history with the lightest of touches, and evoke an electrifying setting with only a few deft brush strokes. It’s a classical Greek play that debates with itself (and its characters) whether or not it’s a tragedy or a comedy…only to conclude that, as a reflection of life, it’s both. I think I’d be willing to say that this is my personal favourite book of the year…and that’s against very stiff competition.
