I have read a few of David Malouf's books now and in the past I found that his novels got off to an incredibly compelling start but weren't completely able to live up to that with their endings. I still enjoyed them (I am referring primarily to The Great World and Remembering Babylon) but there was nonetheless a nagging sensation of disappointment that they hadn't been "as" good as they had originally promised to be. It was his short stories that I found to be perfectly developed, two of which still stick in my memory as among the best I've ever read (Closer and Dream Stuff). Ransom is almost the opposite, a story which was slow to develop but resolved into an unforgettable narrative. It is a re-telling of a brief episode from the Iliad, when Achilles kills the Trojan Hector as revenge for the death of Patroclus and then dishonors Hector's body by dragging it behind his chariot each day for eleven days (it is restored by the gods to perfect condition before the morning). Eventually, Hector's father Priam, the King of Troy, journeys to the Greek camp to ask that Achilles give him back his son's body. One of the things I liked best about the book is the way it makes no effort to take on a high or classical tone or to mimic the language and style of the Iliad. The language is simple and poetic and the focus of the second half of the book is less on the meeting with Achilles, strangely, than on Priam's developing relationship with the wagon-driver he has hired to replace his courtly herald for the journey, down to using the herald's name for its duration. Along those lines, the emotional climax of the book comes at its very end, long after the events that motivated the novel, in the brief pages describing the wagon-driver as an old man and how those around him view his story. Even though this was a much gentler and in that way somewhat less strikingly written than the previous novels mentioned above, I found its resolution more profoundly satisfying. I read this book after visiting Turkey and learning bits and pieces about the city of Troy. This is quite a good yarn, based on real events (I'm guessing) - gruesome in parts. It's a very short read in comparison to some of Malouf's other works, which have never kept by attention to the end. He kept me entranced by the individual characters and wonderful imagery as this sad story progresses. The story remains focussed on the individuals, but Malouf also slowly reveals the brutal surrounding context of the story, where it is relevant to the thoughts and actions of the individuals. A highlight of the book for me was the quirky, respectful relationship also builds up between the poor mule owner and the king as they go to the city the retrieve Hector's body. I think this book gave me a good appreciation of this author, so I might try to read some of his other works.Quote "[Achilles] is struck, in a breath and in all his limbs, by such a coldness as he has never known, even on the deepest winter nights on the Trojan plain. Ice ribs around him with an iron grip. It is the coldness of that distant star that is the body's isolation in death".
What do You think about Ransom (2009)?
Beautifully written account of Priam's recovery of Hector's body after Patroculus' death...
—maggie
Very nicely done and deeply moving. Moments of the ordinary elevated to the extraordinary.
—Nitnit
Wonderful wonderful writing. Dreamy feel. A short and simple tale.
—Ngwatson
The writing is very lyrical and descriptive.
—Kiek
