Bim's a complete liar--perhaps even a classics major--and knows the Odyssey like the back of his hand and Laurie nails him!
I totally agree with you that "the Party Scene" in The Charioteer is one of the best chapters in modern fiction. I love the citations you pull out as well, although that whole chapter is quotable! It is outstanding.
I have heard people complain about it for various reasons, although not from a literary perspective, most of them some form of sensitivity to what they consider non-PC elements contained therein. But seriously, it is absolutely a literary tour de force, one does not have to agree 100 percent with Mary Renault as a queer theorist or whatever one wants to call her personal analysis of concepts of gender and sexuality among these guys to appreciate the power of her observation of a unique environment at a very particular time and place in history.
no subject
I totally agree with you that "the Party Scene" in The Charioteer is one of the best chapters in modern fiction. I love the citations you pull out as well, although that whole chapter is quotable! It is outstanding.
I have heard people complain about it for various reasons, although not from a literary perspective, most of them some form of sensitivity to what they consider non-PC elements contained therein. But seriously, it is absolutely a literary tour de force, one does not have to agree 100 percent with Mary Renault as a queer theorist or whatever one wants to call her personal analysis of concepts of gender and sexuality among these guys to appreciate the power of her observation of a unique environment at a very particular time and place in history.