The Walled Orchard - Tom Holt

Ancient Athens without the rose tint!

Amalgamating both the military and literary events of the Peloponnesian war period of Classical Athens this witty and surprising novel is a very satisfying read. The playwrite Eupolis, the books narrator, has experience of the politics of both war and drama and pointedly exposes the all to human falibility of the Athenians in both. 'Democracy' in its birth place is far from eulogised but on the contrary is savaged and portrayed as a ravenous beast devouring its own creators.
A long book, two in one almost, but nicely structured with enough pace and variety to keep the reader interested.

A wonderfull tour of Ancient Athens and its great and disasterous Democratic system

There are many ways to understand in detail the history and everyday life in classical ancient Athens. Tom Holt provides one of the best , through wit, sarcasm and intrigue . Classical history of the 5th century becomes alive and easily understood through the life and adventures of Evpolis, a historical figure of a successful comedy writer, whose plays unfortunately are lost - much the delight , one can assume, of Aristophanes, his bitter theatrical rival .Highly recommended not only to anyone interested in that period, but anyone curious on how our strange and wondrous political system of Democracy worked in its birthplace of Athens and in our modern societies. A description not idealized as we were taught about it in school, but complete with all of its disastrous shortcomings that plague Democracy to our days and contributed to the fall of Athens.

Interesting experiment that nearly works

Tom Holt has written a series of books based around historical Greece. They are humourous "docu-dramas" - basing the story on an extrapolation of a few facts to give an author's insight into a world gone by. Tom tries to give an insight into the thought processes and the society of the Greeks through a life story of a playwright and his battle with maintaining his position in the regimented Athenian society.

The reason I suggest that the books nearly work is that Tom Holt has a quirky, slapstic approach to his leading character. I have a lot of sympathy with the idea of the lead being a flawed character, but the first person narrative of this character does grate after a while. It is not something he does in his mainstream books, but his historical novels all use this approach and all are the less satisfying for it.

It is also difficult to know whether you have been educated or mislead. From reading Tom's mainstream humorous fantasy, (which I love), I can see he is a widely-read, intelligent author, but I am not sure what I have gained from reading this.

I think Robert Harris's Pompeii works far better in this respect. Both stories are imaginary, but with Pompeii you feel you could read around and find the background to the story, whereas after this, you have been entertained, but you don't really feel that you are any more confident that you have a sound idea of what life was like.

To give a recommendation, I'd say this is a worthwhile read if the Greek world intrigues you. Pick it up with reasonable expectations and you may be pleasantly surprised.

Drama in the wings

I have read a lot of Tom Holt, and this book is a departure from his usual style. His normal comedic works are quirky, and full of strange ideas that sometimes work, and sometimes don't.
The Walled Orchard is another beast altogether. It starts out as a interesting dialogue with the principal character, and turns into one of the most personal narratives I have ever read. The main character, Eupolis, narrates his life and times to you without pretensions. He rambles at some points, jokes at others, but at all times has you enthralled at his description of Athenian life.

I feel that in reading this book, I came to make a friend of Eupolis. His life has not been a happy one, but as one of the great comic playwrights, he has the ability to the humout in the deepest tragedies a person could endure. If you want to see a weekend fly by as you live through the eyes of one of Athens' greatest comics, this is the book for you.

One of the best historical novels ever written

Holt seems to have a very real talent as an historical novelist - his academic background makes it seem likely that he will continue to set his works in Greece, but he certainly does its people and its civilization justice. Rather than the noble, upstanding ideal worshipped by the early Victorians, Holt paints a picture of what it was probably really like, especially for a struggling comic poet trying to make a name against rivals like the ubiquitous Aristophanes.

Holt makes the men of the moment, like Pericles and Socrates, really come alive, complete with all their flaws and idiosyncracies. The political corruption and self-serving nature of the Athenian polis really jumps out at the reader. The comic wit of the narrator, Eupolis, keeps the plot motoring along, to the extent that the reader wants to know less about the great drama of the Peloponnesian War being waged outside the protection of the Long Walls, and more about the gossip and scandals of the Athens Eupolis and Aristophanes write about in their plays.

The great tragedy of the war, and the foolishness of an imperial power that fails to recognise its own limitations, are handled admirably, including the confusion and herd mentality still seen in international politics today.

With writers like Holt around, Ancient Greece can rest assured that it will continue to be well-represented in the historical fiction market for some time to come.