The Last of the Wine

by Mary Renault

In The Last of the Wine, two young Athenians, Alexias and Lysis, compete in the palaestra, journey to the Olympic games, fight in the wars against Sparta, and study under Socrates. As their relationship develops, Renault expertly conveys Greek culture, showing the impact of this supreme philosopher whose influence spans epochs.

• ISBN10: 0375726810
• ISBN13: 9780375726811
• Publish Date: 10 July 2001 (first published 12 August 1975)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 4 March 2003
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Random House USA Inc
• Imprint: Vintage Books
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 400
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780375726811

Reviews

[jamiereadthis]

So very good. Here I was thinking the writing style kept me at a remove from the story and I wasn’t as invested as I could be, and then the last two chapters walloped me in the gut and I realized it had me at the emotional level after all. Enough that I already have more Mary Renault queued up to read.

Also, apropos of almost nothing, every time I picked up this book I heard Billy Collins in my head:

You are the bread and the knife,
the crystal goblet and the wine…