Raphael's School of Athens

A detail from Raphael's School of Athens, featuring Plato and Aristotle. Painted in 1510-11, it's a fresco in one of the rooms known as the Stanze di Raffaello, in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican.

From Wikipedia: "In the center of the fresco, at its architecture's central vanishing point, are the two undisputed main subjects: Plato on the left and Aristotle, his student, on the right. Both figures hold modern (of the time), bound copies of their books in their left hands, while gesturing with their right. Plato holds Timaeus, Aristotle his Nicomachean Ethics. Plato is depicted as old, grey, wise-looking, bare-foot. By contrast Aristotle, slightly ahead of him, is in mature manhood, handsome, well-shod and dressed, with gold, and the youth about them seem to look his way. In addition, these two central figures gesture along different dimensions: Plato vertically, upward along the picture-plane, into the beautiful vault above; Aristotle on the horizontal plan at right-angles to the picture-plane (hence in strong foreshortening), initiating a powerful flow of space toward viewers. It is popularly thought that their gestures indicate central aspects of their philosophies, Plato's his Theory of Forms, Aristotle's his empiricist views, with an emphasis on concrete particulars. However Plato's Timaeus was, even in the Renaissance, a very influential treatise on the cosmos, whereas Aristotle insisted that the purpose of ethics is "practical" rather than "theoretical" or "speculative": not knowledge for its own sake, as he considered cosmology to be."

Word of the Day

Macédoine is the French word for Macedonia (birthplace of both Aristotle and Alexander the Great). It's also used to refer to a salad of mixed fruits or vegetables. According to the Merriam-Webster on-line dictionary, "Historically, this area [Macedonia] has been home to a richly varied population encompassing many ethnic groups. Etymologists believe that the cultural heterogeneity of the region may have inspired people to use its name as a generic term for any kind of wildly jumbled mixture. English speakers borrowed "macédoine" early in the 19th century. The word took on its more specific "salad" sense later in the century."

Food writer Renée Kaplan writes at thefoodsection.com, "So where the hell is Macedonia? And how it is that chopped carrots and peas and pears and peaches can all somehow claim to be Macedonian? It turns out Macedonia is actually wedged way down in Southeastern Europe between Serbia, Albania and Greece, that the national diet tends massively toward barbecued meat, and that there wasn’t a single Macedonian salad on any of the menus in the many restaurants I sampled there." She concludes that a Macedonian salad is simply a mixed salad, and offers a recipe for Macédoine de Légumes.

Alexander Romances

The tradition of the Alexander Romance, stories of the mythical adventures of Alexander the Great, dates from the late 3rd to the 16th centuries, with variations in virtually every European language as well as Arabic, Persian, Ethiopic, Hebrew, Turkish, and Mongol. Chaucer makes reference to the tradition in The Canterbury Tales. Early versions were attributed to Aristotle's nephew and Alexander's historian, Callisthenes (more on him in a future post). But, since Callisthenes died well before Alexander, this author was later referred to as Pseudo-Callisthenes.

The stories were largely fantastical, featuring magical creatures, superhuman powers, prophecies, and a tryst with the Queen of the Amazons. (Told of this last story, Alexander's general Lysimachus, who accompanied him on his campaigns, is supposed to have said, "I wonder where I was at the time.")



This image shows Alexander being lowered into the sea in a glass barrel to observe marine life (Aristotle's influence, perhaps?) From the old French prose Alexander Romance manuscript, Rouen, 1445
London, British Library.

Globe and Mail Arts Person of the Year: And The Runner-Up Is....

"Lyon is no mouse, and her roar will not soon subside."

The Globe and Mail names me a runner-up for Arts Person of the Year (books)! Though a more deserving literary lioness would be Random House's editor extraordinaire Anne Collins, who edited both The Golden Mean and Linden MacIntyre's Giller-winning The Bishop's Man.

Other runners-up are Jason Reitman (film), Guy Laliberte (performance), and Christopher Plummer (film). The winner is hip-hop artist Drake. Congratulations!

To read John Barber's article, please click here.

Horrible Histories - Alexander the Great

Thanks to Euan O'Leary for this one:

Hello, Edmonton!

"Canada's newest literary star comes to Edmonton on Thursday riding the sort of high that only comes from being pulled into the spotlight by all three of the nation's major book awards."

To read Richard Helm's full article for the Edmonton Journal, please click here.

Mieza

Philip gave Aristotle the Temple of the Nymphs at Mieza to tutor his son, Alexander. Here's a photo of the archeological site:



Mieza was supposedly cooler than Pella, the capital of Macedon, in the summer; it had shady walks and caves and (historians speculate) less to distract the teenaged prince than the big city.

The Artery Literary Saloon

I'm so pleased to be taking part in The Artery Literary Saloon this coming Thursday, December 10 at 7:00PM with Ted Bishop, Greg Hollingshead, Lynn Coady, and Marina Endicott. They're also promising something called the ALS Inaugural Book Smelling Contest. Come to the Artery, 9535 Jasper Avenue, Edmonton to learn more.

Support the Food Bank / Win the Author!

Join BC Almanac's 23rd annual Food Bank Day broadcast on Friday, December 4 from noon to 3:00PM on CBC Radio One. You can bid on a Golden Mean book club package, amongst other swag, and support a worthy cause.

From the BC Almanac website:

"Annabel Lyon's novel The Golden Mean has been showered with critical acclaim and awards. Now, you can have a chance at a Book Club meeting to remember with the author in attendance. Annabel Lyon will come to a Book Club meeting in the Lower Mainland to help discuss and dissect the book.

This one-of-a-kind prize package includes ten copies of the The Golden Mean.

The Donation Value: $800"

Join host Mark Forsythe on Friday, December 4th from noon to 3:00PM on CBC Radio One.

2009 Globe Books 100

The Golden Mean is on the 2009 Globe Books 100, the "best-reviewed, buzziest books of 2009". To see the full list, please click here.

2009 Rogers Writers Trust Fiction Prize

"Annabel Lyon's Aristotle is the most fully-realized historical character in contemporary fiction. The Golden Mean engenders in the reader the same helpless sensitivity to the ferocious beauty of the world that is Aristotle’s disease. In this alarmingly confident and transporting debut novel, Lyon offers us that rarest of treats: a book about philosophy, about the power of ideas, that chortles and sings like an earthy romance."

Citation from the 2009 Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize Jury:
Marina Endicott, Miriam Toews and R.M. Vaughan

The Golden Mean wins the Rogers Writers Trust Fiction Prize! For more details on all the winners and nominees, please click here.

Word of the Day

The sarissa was invented by Philip of Macedon, Alexander's father. It was a pike, considerably longer than its predecessor, used in phalanx formations. The advantages were comparable to a boxer with an extra-long reach; the disadvantages included its considerable weight. A soldier needed both hands for the sarissa, entailing only a small shield hung from the neck.

Sarissa is also a girl's name, supposedly a derivative of Sarah, meaning "princess" or "lady" (see photos.)

Congratulations Kate!

Congratulations to Kate Pullinger! She's the winner of the 2009 Governor General's Award for Fiction for her novel The Mistress of Nothing.

Scenes from a Giller

Margaret Atwood (with a big smile on her face): "Aristotle was a shit, wasn't he?" (Yes, ma'am.)

Michael Ondaatje (in response to my "You're Michael Ondaatje!"): "Yes, I am."

Rex Murphy : "Well, I know what you're doing here."

Clayton Ruby (on being told Victoria Glendinning had the envelope with the winner's name in her pocket): "I know some people who could get that. Want me to make a call?"

My mom: "There's Stuart McLean!"

Giller Pics

Kim Echlin, me, and Linden MacIntyre at the 2009 Scotiabank Giller Prize Gala. And then me looking somewhat crazed.




From left to right: me, Kim Echlin, Linden MacIntyre, Anne Michaels, and Colin McAdam.

Huffington Post

To read Marissa Bronfman's coverage of the 2009 Scotiabank Giller Prize for the Huffington Post, including interviews about the future of literature in a digital age, please click here.

Congratulations Linden!

Congratulations to Linden MacIntyre for winning the 2009 Scotiabank Giller Prize for The Bishop's Man. Linden and I share a wonderful editor in Anne Collins of Random House. Kudos!

Walrus Interview

"Depicting Aristotle’s tutelage of a young Alexander the Great, The Golden Mean is a gripping, thoughtful dramatization of one of the most intriguing relationships in ancient history."

To read my interview with Nav Purewal, please click here.

Indie Booksellers Pick The Golden Mean

"If indie booksellers could pick the winner of the Scotiabank Giller Prize, it would be Annabel Lyon stepping up to the podium Tuesday night. Of the dozen or so booksellers contacted by Q&Q this week, most said they would prefer to see Lyon’s The Golden Mean take the prize."

To read Scott MacDonald's article in Quill and Quire, please click here.

Monty Python - Argument Clinic

Q: What has this got to do with The Golden Mean?
A: The author of The Golden Mean thinks it's funny, that's what!

Toronto Star Picks The Golden Mean!

"Of all the finalists, Lyon's novel is the most accomplished, sure, compelling and arrestingly its own. If the award considers not only what has been accomplished by an author, but what is promised in that author's future, this would seem to be the most deserving candidate."

The Toronto Star's Geoff Pevere picks The Golden Mean to win the 2009 Scotiabank Giller Prize! To read more, please click here.

The Globe and Mail does not pick The Golden Mean to win the 2009 Scotiabank Giller Prize! To read John Barber, Sandra Martin, and Alison Gzowski's takes, please click here.

Michael Enright Interview

To hear my interview with The Sunday Edition's Michael Enright, on CBC Radio One, please tune in on Sunday, November 8 at 9:11AM. For more information, please click here.

To hear a replay of the interview, please click here.

CTV Giller Coverage

For a full round-up of CTV's coverage of all things Giller (including a round table discussion with all nominees and a "what will you wear?" segment on Fashion Television), please click here.

Toronto Star Interview

To read my interview with Vit Wagner for the Toronto Star, please click here.