In turn, King Priam resolves to travel alone to Achilles, on a wagon loaded with Troy's remaining treasure as ransom for the desecrated body of his son. Achilles then goes further, dragging the corpse behind his chariot, while Priam looks on from the city walls and mourns. The storyline at first feels simple but remote: The great Greek warrior Achilles vengefully slaughters Hector, the beloved son of the Trojan King Priam.

He inserts such visceral immediacy into the retelling of the final days of the Trojan War, you are stunned by how relevant, how strangely and intimately resonant this ancient tale feels to your own life. In Ransom, Malouf re-dreams the climax of Homer's Iliad. I bought David Malouf's ninth novel, Ransom, when it was released last year, then had to buy a second copy this past winter because I had so hopelessly dog-eared and underlined the first - my notes in the margin responding to passages that broke off pieces of my heart. Your purchase helps support NPR programming. It is a most ironic note to this brief but important scene in the Iliad when two enemies find the courage to hold a short truce which allows them to share a moment of common humanity.Close overlay Buy Featured Book Title Ransom Author David Malouf The only detail which rescues this from a total loss is that the author has included the part of the Iliou Persis where the murderous Neoptolemus, son of Achilles, murders Priam even though Priam has sought refuge at the altar of Zeus. The role of the gods is almost completely omitted. Instead, the muleteer and the mules, who drive the cart carrying the treasure Priam brings to ransom his son and to carry his body back to the citadel of Troy, are elevated to a place of importance. Briseis, who plays a part in these scenes in the Iliad, and who serves as a reminder for the sequence of actions which brings these two men together in the camp of Achilles, makes no appearance here. However, many details of the story told so beautifully and movingly in the Iliad are omitted in this retelling while others are invented. While Simon Vance has a great deal of talent as a narrator, this was a poor choice for this novel where a more sympathetic, kindly voice would have been a better fit.

The narration is ponderous, heavy and clunky. This novel fails at every level to capture the drama of Priam's ransom of the body of his son, Hector, from Achilles as told in Homer's Iliad.

Ransom david malouf audio book