Ransom was published by Alfred A. Knopf in 2009. The novel retells a single episode from Book XXIV of Homer’s Iliad: the night journey of King Priam of Troy to the Greek camp to ask Achilles for the return of his son Hector’s body, which Achilles has been dragging behind his chariot for eleven days in rage and grief over the death of Patroclus.
Malouf’s retelling strips the story of its divine machinery — no gods appear to arrange events — and focuses on the human psychology of two men in extreme states: Achilles, paralyzed by a grief that has become indistinguishable from madness, and Priam, an old man who decides to do something no king has ever done — humble himself before an enemy, go as a father rather than a monarch, and appeal to the humanity buried beneath Achilles’ rage.
The novel’s most original element is Somax, the mule-cart driver who accompanies Priam — a common man, unaware of the cosmic significance of the journey he’s on, who talks about his grandchildren, his figs, the quality of the road. His presence introduces the ordinary into the heroic, reminding both Priam and the reader that the world continues its daily business even at moments of legendary intensity.
Malouf’s prose is at its most refined here: each sentence is weighted and musical, achieving effects that prose rarely manages. The novel is brief — under two hundred pages — and its compression gives it the density of poetry.
Collecting Ransom
First edition (Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2009): Cloth binding, dust jacket.
Market values:
- First edition, fine/fine: $20–$50
- Very good/very good: $8–$20