Lindsay Clarke

PART ONE OF THE TROY QUARTET Bringing ancient myth to life with passion, humour, and humanity, Lindsay Clarke vividly retells the story of Troy and of the heroes who fought there. When the mortal Paris settles a contest between the gods, he is promised the love of Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world. But Helen is already married, to the powerful Menelaus of Sparta, and the kings of many cities have sworn to defend their union. Paris's divine gift threatens to set his world aflame. 'An engaging retelling of the whole story, neatly blending mythic archaism with modern psychodrama and satire' Mary Beard 1 - A PRINCE OF TROY 2 - THE WAR AT TROY 3 - THE SPOILS OF TROY 4 - THE RETURN FROM TROY

A Prince of Troy (the Troy Quartet, Book 1)

In a dazzling weave of story and character, The Chymical Wedding tells two parallel and interconnected tales--one set in the late 1840's, one in the 1980's, both played out in the same English village.

The Chymical Wedding

In this sequel to The War at Troy, the trademark lyricism, lucidity, and mythic power is present in this novel that offers a timely interpretation of one of the world's great stories. After ten years of war, Troy has fallen, yet the gods have turned against the victorious Argives—and their ordeals have only just begun. Agamemnon sails back to Mycenae, where Clytaemnestra has nursed a vengeful fury over his sacrifice of their daughter Iphigenaia. Meanwhile, Menelaus must decide the fate of Helen, over whose incomparable beauty the war was fought. Odysseus, traumatized by the slaughter his own ingenuity unleashed, no longer believes himself fit to return to his wife and son. Driven both by tempests and torment, he embarks on a voyage that will take him to the margins of the world and deep into the shadows of his own heart.

The Return from Troy

Clarke

The Water Theatre

Alice's Masque

A retelling of the legend of Parzifal, or Perceval, attempts to keep true to the spirit of the original while emphasizing the modern relevance of its themes to those embarking on their own personal quests for meaning.

A Holy Grail Romance Retold for Our Time

Parzival and the Stone from Heaven

Vigorous new life is breathed into the myth's of Homer's Iliad in Lindsay Clarke's new dramatic retelling of the wars fought for the Bronze Age City of Troy. Paris and Helen, Agamemnon and Clytaemnestra, Achilles, Odysseus and Hector are skilfully rejuvenated in this startlingly contemporary drama of the passions. The people who lived in those days were closer to gods than we are, and great deeds and marvels were commoner then, which is why the stories we have from them are nobler and richer than our own. So that those stories should not pass from the earth, I have decided to set down everything I know of the stories of the war at Troy -- of the way it began, of the way it was fought, and of the way in which it was ended. With these words, Phemius the bard of Ithaca and friend to Odysseus, opens Lindsay Clarke's compelling new retelling of the myths and legends that grew up around the war that was fought for the Bronze Age city of Troy and have magnetized the imagination of the world ever since. their destinies in the timeless zone where myth and history intersect and where the conflicts of the human heart are mirrored by quarrels among immortal gods. Peleus and Thetis, Paris and Helen, Agamemnon and Clytaemnestra, Achilles, Odysseus and Hector -- all are given vigorous new life in a version of their stories which remains faithful to the mythic form in which they first appeared yet engages the reader in a startlingly contemporary drama of the passions. THE WAR AT TROY speaks to a world still racked by violent conflict in ways which address important aspects of our own experience while at the same time providing imaginative access to the rich store of mythology which is our heritage from the ancient world.

The War at Troy

What do we mean by the word imagination? Does it just refer to our powers of invention and ingenuity, or might it have a larger visionary scope and purpose? Might it be vital to a vital life? What about the creative process itself: how does it work, in what circumstances does it flourish, and what conditions hinder or repress its activity? These and related themes are explored, often in unexpected and provocative ways, in this inspirational collection of essays, poems and reflections.The book takes its title from the opening essay, The Gist of Arvon, in which John Moat reflects with characteristic humanity, vigour and wit on the wider implications of the original vision and sense of purpose, which he shared with his close friend, the late John Fairfax, when they set up the Arvon Foundation together more than forty years ago.John's piece is followed by those of the contributing authors, who approach the issues from a stimulating variety of perspectives. Thus, amongst other lively contributions, Seamus Heaney writes about the inspirational nature of haunting encounters, Alice Oswald reveals a poet's imagination in full flight across pages from her work-book, Carol Ann Duffy contributes poems she wrote while tutoring at Arvon Centres, and there are freshly written pieces by novelists such as Andrew Miller, Adam Thorpe and Maggie Gee, while Jules Cashford, Linda Proud and Patrick Harpur offer mythological and philosophical insights on the book's themes. The book has a Foreword by Andrew Motion, and reprints a fascinating essay in which Ted Hughes gave thought to the important educational significance of the work done at Arvon's Centres.Through its celebration of the imagination, The Gist seeks to bring encouragement and inspiration to anyone whose pulses are quickened by the urge to live a creative life.

Gist

PART FOUR OF THE TROY QUARTET Bringing ancient myth to life with passion, humour, and humanity, Lindsay Clarke vividly retells the story of Troy and of the heroes who fought there.

The Return from Troy (The Troy Quartet, Book 4)

PART ONE OF THE TROY QUARTET Bringing ancient myth to life with passion, humour, and humanity, Lindsay Clarke vividly retells the story of Troy and of the heroes who fought there.

A Prince of Troy (The Troy Quartet, Book 1)

PART TWO OF THE TROY QUARTET Bringing ancient myth to life with passion, humour, and humanity, Lindsay Clarke vividly retells the story of Troy and of the heroes who fought there.

The War at Troy (The Troy Quartet, Book 2)

Beautifully descriptive and thrillingly captivating, this novel, by Whitbread Prize-winning author Lindsay Clarke, is the story of duty and desire, and of the man who is torn by and trapped between them. Haunted by memories and visions of both his professional past and a love gone awry, war reporter Martin Crowther arrives in the small village Fontalba, in Italy's Umbrian Hills. He is there to search for the adult children of his mentor, Hal Brigshaw. Living in England, Brigshaw is nearing the end of a turbulent life and wants to summon his children home. The children, Marina and Adam, are living in familial exile and estrangement, hidden from their pasts in what was originally meant to be an Italian vacation home. But the pasts from which Marina and Adam have run are more present than anyone knows. The Water Theatre interweaves the past and the present, travelling from the raw Pennine moors to equatorial Africa and the hill country of Umbria. An extraordinary reading experience that--in its depiction of an innocent drawn into a fascinating circle, its decades-long will-they-won't-they-end-up-together romance, its exploration of weighty issues of loyalty and loss, betrayal and reconciliation and the nature of choice—evokes John Fowles's two most brilliant novels, The Magus and Daniel Martin.

Sunday Whiteman

Transformers That Rise Above Change

The Metamorph Phenomena

Julian Abel

'It could... be one of the most dramatic medical breakthroughs of recent decades. It could transform treatment regimes, save lives, and save health services a fortune. Is it a drug? A device? A surgical procedure? No, it's a newfangled intervention called community.' George Monbiot, The Guardian Across the country, general hospital admissions are on the rise. But in a small town in rural England, thanks to the simple introduction of kindness and compassion, that trend has been reversed. And what this town achieved, we can all adopt in our own lives to powerful effect. Through daily mindful acts of care we are capable of changing things for the better, both inside ourselves and for the world around us. Frome in Somerset isn't special. It could be any town; it could be your town. And yet the people who live there have a story to tell about the simple, ground-shaking power of compassion. If it came in tablet form, it would be hailed as a wonder of modern medicine. By contrast, it's entirely free but offers heartening evidence that when human beings make time for each other, the beneficial effects go far beyond the reach of naïve optimism. 'A culture in which compassion is a prevailing value allows individuals to flourish and bring their talents and gifts to the communities in which they live. Unanticipated possibilities emerge, presenting fresh ways of addressing what previously appeared to be insoluble problems. Hearts are lifted. The case for hope is more strongly made. And as the people who work in this way begin to change the world immediately around them, so too, the wider world beyond begins to change.' Dr Julian Abel & Lindsay Clarke

A Case for Hope & Humankindness from the Town That Beat Loneliness

The Compassion Project

Definitive collection of Lindsay Clarke's essays, talks, and reflections on the transformative power of the imagination, the dream world of the unconscious, our changing relationship to nature, the enduring presence of myth, and other aspects of the evolution of consciousness in these transitional times.

Reflections on Imagination, Myth, and Memory

Green Man Dreaming

Soon after moving to the secluded Norfolk village of Munding, Alex Darken has a disturbing encounter with the ageing poet Edward Nesbit and his young lover Laura. They are obsessively researching the lives of Sir Henry Agnew and his daughter Louisa who lived in Munding in the nineteenth century and were deeply engaged in alchemical practices. By recovering the lost secret of the hermetic mysteries, Edward and Laura hope to find an alternative to the destructive materialism of the post-industrial world. Once drawn into their fervent quest for knowledge, Alex finds himself entangled in a passionate and intense intrigue that reaches across two centuries. A beautifully written, ambitious and captivating novel, which takes a profound look at issues of nature, human existence and forgotten knowledge, The Chymical Wedding, which won the 1989 Whitbread Prize for Best Novel, is already considered a classic for its stylistic prowess and philosophical resonances.

Chymical Wedding

"Highly convincing" - Daily Express "Pioneering" - The Telegraph Across the country, general hospital admissions are on the rise. But in a small town in rural England, thanks to the simple introduction of kindness and compassion, that trend has been reversed. And what this town achieved, we can all adopt in our own lives to powerful effect. Through daily mindful acts of care we are capable of changing things for the better, both inside ourselves and for the world around us. Frome in Somerset isn't special. It could be any town; it could be your town. And yet the people who live there have a story to tell about the simple, ground-shaking power of compassion. If it came in tablet form, it would be hailed as a wonder of modern medicine. By contrast, it's entirely free but offers heartening evidence that when human beings make time for each other, the beneficial effects go far beyond the reach of naïve optimism. 'A culture in which compassion is a prevailing value allows individuals to flourish and bring their talents and gifts to the communities in which they live. Unanticipated possibilities emerge, presenting fresh ways of addressing what previously appeared to be insoluble problems. Hearts are lifted. The case for hope is more strongly made. And as the people who work in this way begin to change the world immediately around them, so too, the wider world beyond begins to change.' Dr Julian Abel & Lindsay Clarke

Lindsay Clarke

About

Books

Join the club