Thursday, November 18, 2010
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
a blog about a novel about Aristotle's daughter ~ by Annabel Lyon
US Cover
Search This Blog
Advance praise
The harsh light of the classical world is prone to bleach away all humanity and leave only the bare outline of myth. Not so in Annabel Lyon's The Golden Mean, in which Aristotle is haunted by agonies of the flesh and spirit, and Alexander, his most famous pupil, struggles to be Olympian despite a murderous nature and merely human powers. We witness their brilliance emerging through their pain and ignorance.
--Zachary Mason, author of The Lost Books of the Odyssey
Few writers would dare to employ Aristotle as their narrator but Annabel Lyon has done exactly this in her extraodinary novel The Golden Mean. In thoughtful and controlled prose that never fails to grip, Lyon presents an unexpected portrait of the young Alexander the Great, a fascinating recreation of Plato's Academy and brings the ancient world back to life with a splendour I haven't seen since I, Claudius. A triumph of erudition and story-telling.
--John Boyne, author of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
Lyon's singular gifts for description, character development, and plotting are on full display here, informing her unique and creative story. The novel is deep and rich in thought and accomplishment, yet it reads with the calming ease and influence of a cool summer breeze.
--Quill and Quire starred review
I absolutely loved The Golden Mean. Annabel Lyon brings the philosophers and warriors, artists and whores, princes and slaves of ancient Macedonia alive, with warmth, wit and poignancy. Impeccably researched and brilliantly told, this novel is utterly convincing.
--Marie Phillips, author of Gods Behaving Badly
The Golden Mean, so full of intellect, is a pleasure to read. If excellence is our standard, then this novel will certainly flourish.
--David Bergen, Giller-winning author of The Retreat and The Time In Between
--Fred Stenson, author of The Great Karoo
--Zachary Mason, author of The Lost Books of the Odyssey
Few writers would dare to employ Aristotle as their narrator but Annabel Lyon has done exactly this in her extraodinary novel The Golden Mean. In thoughtful and controlled prose that never fails to grip, Lyon presents an unexpected portrait of the young Alexander the Great, a fascinating recreation of Plato's Academy and brings the ancient world back to life with a splendour I haven't seen since I, Claudius. A triumph of erudition and story-telling.
--John Boyne, author of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
Lyon's singular gifts for description, character development, and plotting are on full display here, informing her unique and creative story. The novel is deep and rich in thought and accomplishment, yet it reads with the calming ease and influence of a cool summer breeze.
--Quill and Quire starred review
I absolutely loved The Golden Mean. Annabel Lyon brings the philosophers and warriors, artists and whores, princes and slaves of ancient Macedonia alive, with warmth, wit and poignancy. Impeccably researched and brilliantly told, this novel is utterly convincing.
--Marie Phillips, author of Gods Behaving Badly
The Golden Mean, so full of intellect, is a pleasure to read. If excellence is our standard, then this novel will certainly flourish.
--David Bergen, Giller-winning author of The Retreat and The Time In Between
An exhilarating book, both brilliant and profound. Annabel Lyon’s spare, fluid, utterly convincing prose pulls us headlong into Aristotle’s original mind. Only Lyon’s great-hearted intelligence could have imagined and achieved the brave ambition of this book. Vital, ferocious and true, The Golden Mean is an oracular vision of the past made present.
--Marina Endicott, author of Good to a Fault
In Lyon’s clever hands, more than two thousand years of difference are made to disappear and Aristotle feels as real and accessible as the man next door. With this powerful, readable act of the imagination, Annabel Lyon proves that she can go anywhere it pleases her to go.
--Fred Stenson, author of The Great Karoo
Links to my Books
My Blog List
-
-
-
The Talking West Virginia Blues2 weeks ago
-
Briefly Noted Book Reviews7 months ago
-
Herman Hesse – Steppenwolf1 year ago
-
-
-
New Website4 years ago
-
Just how to Write a Personal Reflection5 years ago
-
-
Cuddly book stand.12 years ago
-
Labels
- 2009 Globe Books 100 (1)
- Acropolis (1)
- Aegeae (2)
- Agence France Presse (1)
- Alan Cheuse (1)
- Alan Cumming (1)
- Alexander (11)
- Alexandre (1)
- Alice Munro (1)
- Alison Flood (1)
- All Things Considered (1)
- All Things Said and Done (1)
- Amazon.ca First Novel Award (1)
- Amazon.com Best of the Month (1)
- American Library Association (2)
- anachronism (1)
- ancient Greek food (1)
- ancient Greek music (1)
- Andrea L. Purvis (1)
- Anna Mundow (1)
- Annabel Lyon (108)
- Anne Collins (3)
- Anne Lagace Dowson (1)
- Anne Michaels (2)
- Antoine Tanguay (1)
- aquamanile (1)
- Aristote (1)
- Aristotle (28)
- Aristotle's daughter (1)
- Aristotle's Lantern (1)
- Arrhidaeus (1)
- Assos (1)
- Athens (1)
- audio book (1)
- Bad Sex in Fiction Award 2010 (1)
- Banned Book Bummer (1)
- BC Almanac (1)
- BC Book Prizes (1)
- BC Book Prizes Soiree (1)
- BC Ferries (7)
- Beer and Books (1)
- Bellingham (1)
- Better Book Titles (2)
- Black Bond Books (1)
- Bobbi Macdonald (1)
- Book Ends: A Year Between The Covers (1)
- bookbuffet.com (1)
- Booklist (1)
- BookPleasures.com (1)
- Books of the Year for Christmas (1)
- Boston Globe (3)
- CAA (1)
- Calgary Herald (1)
- Canadian Booksellers Association (1)
- Canadian Notes and Queries (1)
- Canadian Press (1)
- Carleton University (1)
- Catherine Taylor (1)
- Cathleen With (2)
- CBC (1)
- Chris Ewart (1)
- CJAD (1)
- CKRY (1)
- Claire Hopley (1)
- Claire Mulligan (1)
- Clatyon Ruby (1)
- Colin McAdam (1)
- Commonwealth Writers' Prize (1)
- Connie Gault (1)
- Coppertone Girl (1)
- CTV (1)
- Damian Inwood (1)
- Damian Tarnopolsky (2)
- Dan Wilbur (2)
- Daniel O'Thunder (1)
- David Malouf (1)
- David Thewlis (1)
- Deborah Willis (1)
- Devon Shepherd (1)
- Diana Coglianese (1)
- Diana Fitzgerald Bryden (1)
- Douglas College (1)
- Dragan Todorovic (1)
- Drake (1)
- Edinburgh International Book Festival (1)
- Editions Alto (2)
- Editions La Table Ronde (1)
- Edmonton Journal (1)
- Eh List Authors Series (1)
- Eileen Reynolds (1)
- El Maestro de Alejandro (1)
- Elaine Kalman Naves (1)
- Elliott Bay Book Company (1)
- Emily Wilson (1)
- Eric Volmer (1)
- eudaimonia (1)
- Euripides (2)
- Fall for the Book Festival (1)
- Fashion Television (1)
- fiction (8)
- Finding the Words (1)
- Fire from Heaven (2)
- Food Bank Day (1)
- France Perras (1)
- Frye Festival (1)
- Galiano Literary Festival (1)
- Galore (1)
- Ganymede Jewelry (1)
- Gary Freeman (1)
- Geoff Pevere (2)
- George Mason University (1)
- George Whiteside (1)
- GG (1)
- Giller longlist (1)
- Giller Prize (1)
- Globe and Mail (2)
- Governor General's Literary Awards (2)
- Grant Buday (1)
- Greg Hollingshead (1)
- Grimsby Authors Series (1)
- HBO (1)
- Helen Potrebenko (1)
- Hello Canada (1)
- Hermias of Atarneus (1)
- Herodotus (1)
- Herpyllis (1)
- Hilary Mantel (3)
- Hippocrates (1)
- historical fiction (2)
- Homer (1)
- Huffington Post (1)
- I Claudius (1)
- Ian Weir (3)
- ImagiNation (1)
- Imagining Ancient Women (1)
- IMPAC Dublin longlist (1)
- In The Footsteps of Alexander (2)
- indiatimes.com (1)
- Iranian Book News Agency (1)
- Ivan E. Coyote (1)
- Jake Wallis Simons (1)
- James Joyce (1)
- Jared Bland (1)
- Jeffrey Henderson (1)
- Jeremy Hainsworth (1)
- Jerrad Peters (1)
- Jessica Grant (1)
- Jim Deva (1)
- Johannesburg Star (1)
- John Barber (1)
- John McFarland (1)
- John Tiffany (1)
- Jonathan Barnes (1)
- Jose Mourinho (1)
- Kalash (1)
- Kandahar (1)
- Kari Moran (1)
- Kate Pullinger (1)
- Kathryn Lang (1)
- KFWB Los Angeles (1)
- Kim Echlin (1)
- Kirkus Reviews (1)
- Knopf (2)
- Largehearted Boy (1)
- Le juste milieu (3)
- Lee Henderson (1)
- Lee Kvern (1)
- Leya (1)
- Linden MacIntyre (4)
- Lisa Moore (1)
- Literary Review (1)
- literature (3)
- Lost Booker (1)
- Lost Man Booker (1)
- Louisville Courier-Journal (1)
- Lynn Coady (1)
- Lysippus (1)
- Madrid (1)
- Magazine (1)
- Manolis Andronikos (1)
- map (1)
- Margaret Atwood (1)
- Margaret Flanagan (1)
- Marina Endicott (2)
- Marissa Bronfman (1)
- Marita Dachsel (1)
- Marsha Lederman (1)
- Martha Nussbaum (2)
- Mary Renault (3)
- Mary Simmons (1)
- Melismos (2)
- Metropolitan Museum of Art (2)
- Michael Atherton (1)
- Michael Crummey (3)
- Michael Ondaatje (1)
- Michael Turner (1)
- Michael Wood (2)
- Mieza (2)
- Mina Kanaridis (1)
- Miriam Toews (1)
- Miss Lamp (1)
- Montreal Gazette (1)
- Monty Python (3)
- MostlyFiction Book Reviews (1)
- Nadia Anjuman (1)
- Naomi Beth Wakan (1)
- National Post (1)
- National Theatre of Scotland (1)
- Nav Purewal (1)
- New Westminster News Leader (1)
- New Westminster Public Library (1)
- Nicomachus (1)
- Nino Ricci (1)
- Noah Richler (1)
- North by Northwest (1)
- North Island College (1)
- North Shore Writers Festival (1)
- Northwords Writers Festival (1)
- NPR (1)
- NXNW (1)
- O Filosofo + O Imperador (1)
- OED (1)
- Pasolini (1)
- Patricia Robertson (1)
- Paul Grant (1)
- Pedro Vallín (1)
- Pella (2)
- PEN Authors Series (1)
- PEN Canada (1)
- Philip (3)
- Philip South (1)
- Philip Womack (1)
- philosophy (2)
- Phyllis (1)
- Plato (2)
- Plutarch (1)
- PTSD (1)
- Pythias (5)
- Quebec (1)
- Quebec City (1)
- Quill and Quire (1)
- R.M. Vaughan (1)
- Random House (1)
- Raphael (1)
- religion (1)
- Rembrandt (1)
- Renée Kaplan (1)
- Rex Murphy (1)
- Richard Helm (1)
- Richard Van Camp (1)
- Richmond Public Library (1)
- Robert B. Strassler (1)
- Robert Colbeck (1)
- Robert Graves (1)
- Roberta Silman (1)
- Robson Reading Series (2)
- Rogers Writers Trust Fiction Prize (2)
- Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize (1)
- Rome (1)
- Rose Maguire Lecture (1)
- Roselawn Reading Series (1)
- RUSA (1)
- Russell Banks (1)
- salade macédoine (1)
- sarissa (1)
- satrap (1)
- School of Athens (1)
- Scotiabank Giller Prize (8)
- Scott MacDonald (1)
- Seattle (1)
- Sechelt Arts Centre (1)
- SFU Special Collections (1)
- Shannon Smart (1)
- Sharon Butala (1)
- Shelf Awareness (1)
- Sheryl MacKay (1)
- Sitka Books and Art (1)
- SJ Parris (1)
- Spencer Chandra Herbert (1)
- Stageira (2)
- Steven Galloway (1)
- Stuart McLean (1)
- Sunshine Coast Arts Council (1)
- Sunshine Coast Festival for the Written Arts (1)
- Sylvie St-Jacques (1)
- Symposium (1)
- Taiwan (1)
- Tatjana Soli (1)
- Taxi (1)
- Ted Bishop (1)
- Ten Uses for a Philosophy Degree (1)
- The Artery Literary Saloon (2)
- The Bacchae (2)
- The Daily Beast (1)
- The Financial Times (1)
- The Globe and Mail (2)
- The Golden Mean (121)
- The Guardian (3)
- The Holy Office (1)
- The Landmark Herodotus (1)
- The Maculate Muse (1)
- The Matter of Sylvie (1)
- The Mistress of Nothing (1)
- The New Republic (1)
- The New Yorker (2)
- The Philosophers' Drinking Song (1)
- The Province (1)
- The Scotsman (1)
- The Simpsons (1)
- The Sweet Girl (7)
- The Telegraph (1)
- The Toronto Star (1)
- The Tyee (1)
- The Walrus (1)
- The Westender (1)
- The Yorkshire Evening Post (1)
- Times (1)
- Tony Curran (1)
- Toro (1)
- Toronto Star (1)
- Treena Chambers (1)
- UBC Bookstore Videos (1)
- Une jeune fille sage (1)
- UNESCO (1)
- Upheavals of Thought (1)
- Vancouver Institute (1)
- Vancouver Public Library (3)
- Vancouver Sun (1)
- Vergina (1)
- Victoria Ahearn (1)
- Victoria Glendinning (2)
- Village Books (1)
- Washington Times (1)
- Whistler Readers and Writers Festival (2)
- Whistler Reads (2)
- Wolf Hall (1)
- Word on the Street (2)
- Words on the Water (1)
- Wordstock Festival (1)
- Xtra (1)
- Ye-Ren (1)
Followers
Quote of the Day
"The more lonely and isolated I am, the more I have come to love myths." attributed to Aristotle toward the end of his life in Demetrius, De Elocutione 144 (frag. 668, Rose)
5 comments:
Hi Annabel: I was at the Humber School of Writing Workshop this past summer when you spoke and picked up The Golden Mean at the Bookstore sale. I LOVE THIS BOOK! I love this book as a writer (I had to read it a couple of times to really capture your subtle and beautiful craft) and as an avid reader. AND I love this book so much that I recommended it to my bookclub who are reading it now in preparation for discussion next Sunday (Nov 28)! I've already received some feedback (language, sex) and have some questions for you in prep for next Sunday as I am facilitating the discussion. Is this the best forum to communicate with you? if not, can you please redirect me?
Thanks - look forward to hearing from you!
thanks!
Kathryn, are you on Facebook? Come find me there; a slightly less public forum for your questions! Thanks for your kind words -
Annabel
This is so awesome! You should be honoured - great list to be on.
On behalf of the Loveliest Book Group in Queens Park, let me congratulate you on this honour and your gracious response!! Fodder for future book group discussions, I hope! We're so proud to call you neighbour in our fair hamlet.
Post a Comment