Mary Renault: An Inspiration

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010 | Reviews, The Writing Life

My favorite author of all time is Mary Renault. For those of you who have yet to discover her, during the mid 20th century, she wrote historical novels about ancient Greece. My favorite of her novels is THE PERSIAN BOY and THE MASK OF APOLLO, but I have never read one of her books that did not teach me more about being a writer, and about what it means to be a human being.

I have been re-reading THE LAST OF THE WINE and THE PRAISE SINGER this week…I re-read at least one of her novels every year…her work is an old friend that always welcomes me. Always, she manages to transport me to the world she created, and always, I am grateful to be there.

It is difficult to explain why I love her. She is why I am writing today, which I suppose is reason enough. Mary Renault has shown me what fiction can be, that even within the confines of a genre, it is possible to reach beautiful heights. She inspires me to keep reaching.

The lyricism of her prose is unmatched. Here is a quote from THE MASK OF APOLLO, in which she writes from an Athenian actor’s point of view about EuripIdes’ THE BACCHAE:

"Take that play anywhere, even to men unborn, who worship other gods or none, and it will teach them to know themseleves."

Perhaps that is why I love her: with each reading, she teaches me to know myself. She died in 1983, but wherever she is now, I hope whatever gods may be have blessed her.

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