The praise singer

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The praise singer
Mary Renault
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Last edited by OCLC Bot
June 8, 2011 | History

The praise singer

  • 0 Ratings
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  • 0 Currently reading
  • 0 Have read

'Mary Renault's portraits of the ancient world are fierce, complex and eloquent, infused at every turn with her life-long passion for the Classics. Her characters live vividly both in their own time, and in ours' MADELINE MILLER

Mary Renault is a shining light to both historical novelists and their readers. She does not pretend the past is like the present, or that the people of ancient Greece were just like us. She shows us their strangeness; discerning, sure-footed, challenging our values, piquing our curiosity, she leads us through an alien landscape that moves and delights us' HILARY MANTEL

In the story of the great lyric poet Simonides, Mary Renault brings alive a time in Greece when tyrants kept an unsteady rule and poetry, music, and royal patronage combined to produce a flowering of the arts.

Born into a stern farming family on the island of Keos, Simonides escapes his harsh childhood through a lucky apprenticeship with a renowned Ionian singer. As they travel through 5th century B.C. Greece, Simonides learns not only how to play the kithara and compose poetry, but also how to navigate the shifting alliances surrounding his rich patrons. He is witness to the Persian invasion of Ionia, to the decadent reign of the Samian pirate king Polykrates, and to the fall of the Pisistratids in the Athenian court. Along the way, he encounters artists, statesmen, athletes, thinkers, and lovers, including the likes of Pythagoras and Aischylos. Using the singer's unique perspective, Renault combines her vibrant imagination and her formidable knowledge of history to establish a sweeping, resilient vision of a golden century.

Publish Date
Publisher
Corgi
Language
English
Pages
276

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Previews available in: English

Edition Availability
Cover of: The praise singer
The praise singer
2004, Arrow
Paperback in English
Cover of: The Praise Singer
The Praise Singer
April 8, 2003, Vintage
in English
Cover of: The praise singer
The praise singer
1990, Penguin
in English
Cover of: The praise singer
The praise singer
1988, Vintage Books
in English - 1st Vintage Books ed.
Cover of: Praise Singer
Praise Singer
May 1984, Bantam Books (Mm)
Paperback in English
Cover of: The praise singer
The praise singer
1980, Corgi
in English
Cover of: The praise singer
The praise singer
1979, Book Club Associates
in English
Cover of: The praise singer
The praise singer
1978, Pantheon
Hardcover in English - 1st ed.

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Book Details


Edition Notes

Originally published: New York : Pantheon Books, 1978 ; London : J. Murray, 1979.

Published in
London

Classifications

Dewey Decimal Class
823/.9/1F

The Physical Object

Pagination
(9),276p. ;
Number of pages
276

ID Numbers

Open Library
OL15061285M
ISBN 10
0552113034
OCLC/WorldCat
15586938
Library Thing
30929

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History

Download catalog record: RDF / JSON / OPDS | Wikipedia citation
June 8, 2011 Edited by OCLC Bot Added OCLC numbers.
May 4, 2011 Edited by WorkBot merge works
September 21, 2010 Edited by WorkBot merge works
September 21, 2010 Edited by Brant Gibbard merge authors
September 17, 2008 Created by ImportBot Imported from Talis record