I won´t be able to start my Booklikes-opoly read before tomorrow (I don´t have my physical copy of that book with me), so I decided to pick up another book. And since I´m in the mood for historical fiction, I picked up the first novel about Alexander the Great by Mary Renault.
I´m about a hundred pages into the story and it´s not an easy read. This book is incredibly fact heavy and since I don´t know a lot about Alexander the Great and his parents and the political and historical circumstances of Macedonia at the time, I have to do some additional reading on the internet. I like to do this, but this certainly makes this novel a challenging read. And it does help to know a thing or two about greek myths and legends.
It took me some time to getting used to Renaults writing style. There is a huge cast of characters and at times it is not clear from whose point of view the story gets told. And it doesn´t help that she refers to the characters only be calling them he, she, the boy, the young man. Renaults writing reminds me of Hilary Mantel, now that I think of it.
And I feel iffy about some plot points, especially Alexanders mother Olympias (that woman is crazy) and the homosexual allusions concerning the 6-10 year old Alexander. Basically every man is lusting for him and I feel like this:
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 - Mary Renault)
