Fighting over a dead man

My uncle lent me a book to read. Funeral Games, by Mary Renault. Difficult. Mostly because of the names. One might think that names aren't THAT important, but these are all Greek.

I think that many of the people in this historical novel snuff it throughout the latter half of the book. Probably okay, as I am less vested in them than in their environment. This is like a whodunit in which one by one they go to the woodshed, and don't return.

The author doesn't like women - Alexander's wives Stateira and Roxanne are dull and conniving, vengefull and vicious. None of the other women in Alexander's life are pleasant either. They're bitches, bitches, just bitches.

At least his scheming generals and friends are fairly emotionally honest about their greed and their hunger for power, brutally honest. Their honesty destroys everything Alexander achieved.

The nicest and most likeable character is probably the one man who dominates the tale by not being there - he's been dead since the beginning. Because his friends, lovers, and soldiers have such intensity for him, they remain rather human, and the story stays gripping.


周小燕