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themrbook's review
4.0
Sean Hemmingway has done great work with this, his debut novel, "The Tomb of Alexander." Since I read it all in a day and a half, that should tell you I couldn't put the book down. It was a quick, enjoyable, realistic story, that I will probably be rereading down the road.
It is said that a writer can find great material in what he knows and what he does, and Mr. Hemmingway does just that with a vibrant narrative and overflowing knowledge on the subject matter. The main character, Tom Carr, is a curator of Greek artifacts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. His professional time is divided between archaeological digs, academic research, and Musuem work such as tours and collection acquisitions. Tom's character is very much like Dan Brown's Robert Langdon but is much more hands-on in actual field work.
The wealth of knowledge Carr has readily available in his mind is truly immense, as if he is a walking catalogue of all things in ancient art. If I were to highlight or bookmark every nugget of information on: Alexander the Great, Hellenistic art and religion, Greek art and religion, European art in general, ancient Mediterranean and Middle Eastern history and cultural studies, literature through the Middle Ages and Renaissance, philosophy, ancient mythologies, technology through the Renaissance, architecture, the history of Christianity--well, you get the idea--my book would be filled to capacity. "The Tomb of Alexander" is a much better way to garner a heavy history lesson than the old, stale textbooks from grade school and many college courses.
I would think that many people nowadays would not appreciate how the narrative flows: there is little violence, explosions, stuntmen-required scenes of action and suspense, chases, exaggerated evil corporations or groups, sultry sex scenes, conspiracies, etc. etc. etc. Well, not everything plays out that way, and if that's what you require in a "good read" well, I guess your field of literary appreciation is quite narrow indeed. In this sense, "The Tomb of Alexander" is a calmer read, though there's plenty of tension and suspense, and a more realistic approach to the archaeological field, as it seems Hemmingway plays out the plot as it would occur in real life in his/Carr's position--aside from the supernatural visions. This book is Indiana Jones minus all the James Bond wizardry. Or, put another way, it's Robert Langdon minus the massively intricate, exaggerated puzzles and save-the-world scenarios to solve.
I gave the book four stars only because the dialogue seemed very canned, there were some loose threads that weren't quite resolved, and I couldn't place several scenes in the general scheme of things, with my initial read. Otherwise, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Thank you for your impressive debut novel, Mr. Hemmingway, I hope to read much more from you in the future.
It is said that a writer can find great material in what he knows and what he does, and Mr. Hemmingway does just that with a vibrant narrative and overflowing knowledge on the subject matter. The main character, Tom Carr, is a curator of Greek artifacts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. His professional time is divided between archaeological digs, academic research, and Musuem work such as tours and collection acquisitions. Tom's character is very much like Dan Brown's Robert Langdon but is much more hands-on in actual field work.
The wealth of knowledge Carr has readily available in his mind is truly immense, as if he is a walking catalogue of all things in ancient art. If I were to highlight or bookmark every nugget of information on: Alexander the Great, Hellenistic art and religion, Greek art and religion, European art in general, ancient Mediterranean and Middle Eastern history and cultural studies, literature through the Middle Ages and Renaissance, philosophy, ancient mythologies, technology through the Renaissance, architecture, the history of Christianity--well, you get the idea--my book would be filled to capacity. "The Tomb of Alexander" is a much better way to garner a heavy history lesson than the old, stale textbooks from grade school and many college courses.
I would think that many people nowadays would not appreciate how the narrative flows: there is little violence, explosions, stuntmen-required scenes of action and suspense, chases, exaggerated evil corporations or groups, sultry sex scenes, conspiracies, etc. etc. etc. Well, not everything plays out that way, and if that's what you require in a "good read" well, I guess your field of literary appreciation is quite narrow indeed. In this sense, "The Tomb of Alexander" is a calmer read, though there's plenty of tension and suspense, and a more realistic approach to the archaeological field, as it seems Hemmingway plays out the plot as it would occur in real life in his/Carr's position--aside from the supernatural visions. This book is Indiana Jones minus all the James Bond wizardry. Or, put another way, it's Robert Langdon minus the massively intricate, exaggerated puzzles and save-the-world scenarios to solve.
I gave the book four stars only because the dialogue seemed very canned, there were some loose threads that weren't quite resolved, and I couldn't place several scenes in the general scheme of things, with my initial read. Otherwise, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Thank you for your impressive debut novel, Mr. Hemmingway, I hope to read much more from you in the future.
joanna_m's review
3.0
I received this book free through a Goodreads First Read giveaway, and I wasn't sure what to expect, but was very pleasantly surprised. I really wanted to give 3.5/5.
As a Classicist myself, I was fascinated by the huge amount of classical art mentioned in the novel, and I found Hemingway's descriptive and narrative skill when dealing with the artefacts and their historical context both easy and accessible, while at the same time very well researched and informative. His passion for the classical past is almost palpable, and I hope it will stir interest amongst his readership, as it reminded me why I love Classical art.
The plot and characters are rather secondary to all this, really just providing a framing device for his artistic expositions. As such, the players are not hugely original or complex, nor do they speak in a convincing manner, but enough time is spent with them to form a connection with them, and to wish good to end well and the bad to get their just desserts. There are a few missed opportunities, for example, the best speech of the main antagonist is a paragraph in the final section of the book, and I really felt that had been missing from the earlier sections. If he could have combined the plot with the art more successfully, the novel as a whole would have felt less disjointed.
However, overall it was good fun, if a little disjointed, and I would recommend it.
As a Classicist myself, I was fascinated by the huge amount of classical art mentioned in the novel, and I found Hemingway's descriptive and narrative skill when dealing with the artefacts and their historical context both easy and accessible, while at the same time very well researched and informative. His passion for the classical past is almost palpable, and I hope it will stir interest amongst his readership, as it reminded me why I love Classical art.
The plot and characters are rather secondary to all this, really just providing a framing device for his artistic expositions. As such, the players are not hugely original or complex, nor do they speak in a convincing manner, but enough time is spent with them to form a connection with them, and to wish good to end well and the bad to get their just desserts. There are a few missed opportunities, for example, the best speech of the main antagonist is a paragraph in the final section of the book, and I really felt that had been missing from the earlier sections. If he could have combined the plot with the art more successfully, the novel as a whole would have felt less disjointed.
However, overall it was good fun, if a little disjointed, and I would recommend it.
sarlytheplatypus's review
2.0
I didn't finish this book. The first half was questionably written and not particularly interesting, with fairly vapid characters. Other reviews suggest it gets better, but I had other books to read.
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