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Paperback The Charioteer Book

ISBN: 0394714806

ISBN13: 9780394714806

The Charioteer

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Format: Paperback

Condition: Like New

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Book Overview

After enduring an injury at Dunkirk during World War II, Laurie Odell is sent to a rural veterans' hospital in England to convalesce. There he befriends the young, bright Andrew, a conscientious objector serving as an orderly. As they find solace and companionship together in the idyllic surroundings of the hospital, their friendship blooms into a discreet, chaste romance. Then one day, Ralph Lanyon, a mentor from Laurie's schoolboy days, suddenly reappears in Laurie's life, and draws him into a tight-knit social circle of world-weary gay men. Laurie is forced to choose between the sweet ideals of innocence and the distinct pleasures of experience. Originally published in the United States in 1959, The Charioteer is a bold, unapologetic portrayal of male homosexuality during World War II that stands with Gore Vidal's The City and the Pillar and Christopher Isherwood's Berlin Stories as a monumental work in gay literature.

Customer Reviews

6 customer ratings | 5 reviews

Rated 2 stars
Dated

The prose style is way too florid and you have to wade through it.

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Rated 5 stars
A timeless love story

Reading this book as a heterosexual female, I can't say that I identified with any of the characters; but Mary Renault has written a remarkable book that explores the issue of love from various sides and gives us an in-depth view of a people coming to terms with their own sexuality and what it will mean for them in the world at large. The time is 1940 and the place is England just after the retreat from Dunkirk; in the memorable...

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Rated 5 stars
Unusual, Thought-Provoking, and Unique

The complicated romances of closeted gay men in England at the height of World War II seems an unlikely subject, but Renault endows The Charioteer with such depth of perception that virtually any reader will be fascinated by her story of three young men who strive to reconcile the frequently opposing forces of sex, love, and personal integrity in their lives and relationships. Considerably more than just a "gay love story,"...

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Rated 5 stars
Intense emotions for an unforgettable story

"The Charioteer" is one of the most beautiful love stories I have ever read, I hadn't felt such intense emotions reading a book since my adolescence. Before and much more than being a gay story, this is first of all a novel about love, showing in a most powerful way how all life is a struggle to love and to be loved, because only by giving and receving love one can feel alive and life is meaningful and worth being lived.The...

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Rated 5 stars
A departure

I read this book before ever indulging in Mary Renault's ancient Greek fiction, although this story is every bit as entertaining, even set in World War II.The two main characters, Laurie and Ralph, struggle with their love for one another as well as their devotion and dedication to their relationship, and their friendship as well.This book is every bit as timeless as the ancient Greece novels, yet a bit dated of a read amidst...

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