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The Golden Mean Kindle Edition

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Annabel Lyon (Author)
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Annabel Lyon (Author)
3.7 out of 5 stars 42 customer reviews
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Length: 306 pages Word Wise: Enabled Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled
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Product Details

  • File Size: 2608 KB
  • Print Length: 306 pages
  • Publisher: Random House Canada (August 11, 2009)
  • Publication Date: August 11, 2009
  • Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B0031TZ9RG
  • Text-to-Speech: Not enabled
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  • Word Wise: Enabled
  • Lending: Not Enabled
  • Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #458,971 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsSuperb, Sensational, Sublime -- A Golden Balance
By David Island on January 16, 2010
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
No holds barred, Annabel Lyon's triumphant "The Golden Mean" is an intelligent, savvy -- yet unflinching and parsimonious -- glimpse into the life and times of Aristotle (384 BC -322 BC). This book has to be the historical fiction coup of 2009. (Please read the media and other reviews above.) As a reader of Lyon's little masterpiece, you will be, as I was, struck by the grace and humor of her prose. The dialogue is stupendous. Aristotle becomes real, flawed and brilliant - an awesome human being.

Yes, Alexander (The Great), Aristotle's stellar, somewhat fawning, somewhat arrogant pupil, plays a prominent (though secondary) role in this well-researched story, which brings Aristotle, the father of Western science and philosophy to vivid characterization. Lyon's account of Alexander comports with other fictionalized portrayals of the greatest general of all times - here as a boy and youth. The resulting view of Alexander is indeed a "golden mean" achievement by Lyon.

The prose enfolds you into the book as you read. It is not a simple matter of being unable to put the book down; you actually feel a desire for the story. The characters live in your world.

The book, as one reviewer said, is "full of intellect, profound," and, as another states, "fully convincing." Well, no novel has to be "convincingly" accurate to the facts, and this one takes literary license frequently, through its lovely dialogue.

Page 188, (Aristotle speaking to Alexander) "...You must look for the mean between extremes, the point of balance. The point will differ from man to man. There is not a universal standard of virtue to cover all situations at all times. Context must be taken into account, specificity, what is best at a particular place and time...."

Page 264, "...Read more ›
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4.0 out of 5 starsEducation
By Roger Brunyate TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE VOICE on June 3, 2010
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
In 343 BCE, King Philip II of Macedon engaged the philosopher Aristotle as tutor for his 13-year-old son Alexander. Philip, who was well on his way to taking control of the entire Greek peninsula, and had his eyes on the Persian Empire, had already taken care to have Alexander schooled in the arts of war. But wishing to temper the warrior passions with the influence of philosophy and the arts, he turned to the celebrated philosopher, a former playmate from his own boyhood. The three or four years that Aristotle spent with the young man is thus both a treatise on education and the story of the formation of Alexander the Great.

Mary Renault told this story from Alexander's point of view in her 1969 novel FIRE FROM HEAVEN. By looking at the relationship through Aristotle's eyes, Annabel Lyon downplays romantic and swashbuckling elements in favor of philosophy and psychology. Aristotle himself comes over as a fascinating character, interested not only in ideas but in every aspect of the world around him, studying the organs of his wife Pythias to better understand the physiology of desire, or dissecting the body of a warrior on the battlefield of Chaeronea to discover how the various parts connect. His appetite for knowledge is so modern in its empiricism that his occasional reversions to received opinion come as a shock. He greatly loves Pythias, for example, but it is only after her death that he has cause to question the old teaching that sexual pleasure is not accessible to women.

Alexander, by contrast, is drawn less in the accumulation of detail than in the gaps between his flashes of brilliance or bursts of petulance.Read more ›
2 Comments 39 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
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4.0 out of 5 starsWas Aristotle manic depressive?
By Cynthia on September 14, 2010
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
The Golden Mean is an account of the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle and his student Alexander of Macedon. The best part of the book is Aristotle's back story including his marriage and his possibly being mildly bipolar. His relationships pulled him out of his depression. When he tapped into the love he had for and from others he was able to get the energy to start working again. Lyon does a great job of portraying day to day life and concerns of the period. She touches on politics, contemporary philosophy, food, clothes, religion, gardening, relationships between the classes and sexes, etc. As interesting I found the book it never quite took off for me which is why I gave it four rather than five stars.
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4.0 out of 5 stars"My famous tutor"
By Gary Schroeder on July 18, 2011
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
Aristotle. Philip of Macedonia. Alexander the Great. You've heard of these men, but what do you know about them? Not much? Well, that's okay; you don't need a prerequisite in ancient history to thoroughly enjoy Annabel Lyon's solid novel "The Golden Mean."

This is the tale of the philosopher Aristotle who is asked by his old friend King Philip to tutor his son Alexander and develop his mind as an intellectual in the same way that military training has developed him as a soldier. After all, every future king needs to be as wise as he is fearless.

How does one teach a young, head-strong heir to the throne in the ways of contemplative thought? This is one interesting aspect of Lyon's imagined tale, but it turns out not to be the most interesting one. No, of more interest is Aristotle himself: his relationships with his family, his wife, his friends and the ancient world around him. Aristotle has his own problems, not the least of which is what we in the modern world would most likely describe as a bi-polar disorder. His moodiness colors his thoughts, his speech and the tone of the entire novel. Fortunately for the reader, this works.

Through Aristotle, we modern readers are able to see the world through primitive eyes. One in which house slaves are the norm, death is swift and common, and life is altogether more dramatic and challenging. And this is perhaps where the novel succeeds best. Lyon's word paintings of ancient Greece, like her dialogue, are sparse, economical and effective. I was amused by Aristotle's explanations for natural phenomena that are completely wrong but were the starting point for rational inquiry that would eventually lead to modern science.

Thankfully, Aristotle's relationship to Alexander is a complex one.Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 starsA very interesting main character

This book is a prime example of historical fiction. Real characters, actual happenings and a little imagination to create a story around it all. Read more

Published 1 month ago by Shirley Schwartz
5.0 out of 5 starsGreat introductory book about Aristotle.

After watching Alexander the movie, his relation with Aristotle as a teacher made me more interested into learning Aristotle's point of view and his role in Alexander the Great's... Read more

Published 4 months ago by Charles Nathan
3.0 out of 5 starsNope

I had high hopes for this, but was disappointed. Part of it was writing style, part of it was character choices. Read more

Published 20 months ago by Sally D. Bailey
3.0 out of 5 starsFun

I recommend this book if you really like ancient historical costume dramas with a historical basis. I do. This was a decent one.

Published 22 months ago by J. F. Bridges
5.0 out of 5 starsAristotle & young Alexander

Very alive, well researched. modern language ... Fun to read... Great big thoughts. So appreciate a good read like this.

Published 22 months ago by Sandy
5.0 out of 5 starsA Great Historical Novel

This is Aristotle's description of his pupil, Alexander the Great. It provides a wonderful insight into Aristotle, who life isn't all that well known, and a very interesting take... Read more

Published 23 months ago by Paul Harmon, Editor, Business Process Trends
2.0 out of 5 starsDidn't really develop the characters, used the corder aspects ...

Didn't really develop the characters, used the corder aspects of life then to try to make the book interesting but I don't think our modern words translated well into the time of... Read more

Published 23 months ago by William J
1.0 out of 5 starsA difficult read.

I read this book for a book club. There was no flow to it and it did not keep my interest for more than 5 minutes at a time, it felt like being in school again (50 years ago), but... Read more

Published on February 1, 2014 by Neets
5.0 out of 5 starsAristotle

This novel is nearly perfect--like a hard gem, with all the elegance of a genuine Greek statue. My only (very small) problem is that I would have liked to see more scenes that took... Read more

Published on January 31, 2014 by Kyle Muntz
4.0 out of 5 starsA beautiful and immensely sad novel

This is a very different novel than what one might expect. If you are looking for a sweeping epic about a great philosopher and the achievements of his student, Alexander the... Read more

Published on August 15, 2013 by A.Haviaras

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