Takes place generally from (-00000431-04-04 Beginning of Peloponnesian War) to the (-00000404-04-25) End of Peloponnesian War.

Reading Notes

Genuinely made me laugh that I'm having a far easier time understanding the Greeks than I did the English folk in The Charioteer thus far.

I'm a pretty decent ways into Last of the Wine. In general, things feel so much simpler than in Charioteer. Which is to be expected given the vast differences in society between the two time periods. Obviously the novels aren't connected or anything, other than playing in similar spaces. But I can't help but compare the two. Given they're the first two novels of Mary Renault I've read (I could definitely see myself reading more.) In general, I get less personality from Alexias and Lysis than I did from the folks in Charioteer. These Greeks feel more archetypal and less like real people. I've found it interesting how well-fleshed out the day-to-day is though. It feels like I'm getting a good glimpse into how life was for them. How accurate everything is, I can't say myself. But it feels well-researched in either case.

And again I must state, the Greeks are so much easier to understand than the British bastards with their triple speak.

Gettin real depressing as we drink up all this wine and get to the last of it. Maybe the siege is over now possibly maybe. But Alexias' mother is dead, her baby's spirited away. Lysis super seems to be dying. Also I really fucking hate that he married a child. It was so nasty. I see what we are doing. Lysis happily waits until Alexias is older because he respects him and wants him to become an actual person. But with women, he happily snatches them right out of the crib. The past was doin' it's best... It's the fact that we constantly refer to her as "the child". I squeaks me out and is made all the worse by everyone and their mother stopping by to say "smart match!" and then walking away. Why can't Lysis and Alexias just be married? Also, hate the Spartans. No good.

I hate the oligarchs and I hate the Spartans. How goddamn dare they outlaw Logic. What the fuck is this, Alice in Wonderland? I do not like being conquered by wretches. The City is dead.

I feel a great sense of inevitability. I do not foresee a happy ending to this novel. And in particular, I am reminded of the novel's very beginning. Where we see what happened with Alexias' namesake. I'm just sayin', history rhyming would feel appropriate in this instance. Also very Greek tragedy. Why else would we open there if it would not later be relevant?

Yeah, I figured Lysis was doomed. Unfortunate, but not unexpected. I enjoyed seeing a slice of history. Well-written and interesting. It was nice how normal Alexias and Lysis' relationship is. I would've appreciated a little more romance, though.