Recensione in italiano: QUI.
Hello everyone I’m Elena and thanks for being on Alessandro III di Macedonia- Alexander the Great and Hellenism! Today I’m telling you about my last good and italian reading:
Il generale di Alessandro Magno
by Soraya Tiezzi
Independently published, 2017
ISBN: 978-1521809518, 302 pp.
Macedonia.
Soraya Tiezzi é nata a Montepulciano il 9 dicembre del 1994. Ama i miti greci, leggere e la storia.
Efestione era solo un giovane paggio al servizio di Alessandro, quando i due in breve tempo divennero amici inseparabili e amanti.
Insieme in ogni guerra, in ogni conquista e uniti perfino nel dolore della perdita dei loro rispettivi padri. Compagni inseparabili, leali l’uno all’altro fino alla fine, come Patroclo e Achille prima di loro.
Il figlio del generale Amintore riuscì a raggiungere la carica più alta, ovvero quella di Chiliarca, soltanto un gradino sotto al re.
Un amore quello tra Alessandro ed Efestione che è stato cancellato dalla storia ma che è rimasto comunque immortale, come quello dell’antenato del giovane principe macedone.
«Dario si inchinerà ai tuoi piedi mio re.»
«E cosa dovrò fare, quando accadrà?»
«Dovrai essere Alessandro.»
‘Ermione di Sparta’ é il suo primo romanzo storico uscito nel mese di Gennaio 2016 e nel luglio dello stesso anno ‘Luminose stelle sul cielo di Kabul’ contemporaneo YoungAdult.
Reading time: from 16th to 21st February 2023.
This book is the perfect example of a beautiful but careless reading, where the content matters and not the presentation because it was exciting and each chapter pushed me to go further in the story but the author seems not to have made the slightest effort fix it a little better.
There are many typos and errors in general in the text, the layout leaves something to be desired, furthermore it is clearly seen that the author has copy-pasted the text from another file without wasting time fixing it. And it’s a real shame because that wouldn’t have been a waste of time but rather would have given more importance to the final product. I’m the first to believe that the important thing isn’t the presentation of a book, especially the cover, but here it’s clear that the file hasn’t even been re-read or checked before giving it to the press. I also found some repetitions and sentences that in my opinion should be fixed and in addition to a revision work a slight editing should be done to make the text optimal.
Despite all these flaws I liked it, it moved me.
The story is told from Hephaestion’s unique point of view who tells in the past tense as a spirit the story of his life and that of his beloved Alexander. The writing has an almost courtly, reverential tone, as if we were Hephaestion and we were fascinated by Alexander. The chapters are short, four or five pages at most but at the end of each one there is always the curiosity to go on reading.
This novel is classified in the gay fiction genre but the love scenes between the two are delicate, not explicit or forced, the author focuses more on the relationship between Hephaestion and Alexander rather than on the erotic parts, which I really liked! Soraya doesn’t even dwell on the battle scenes but she analyzes the thoughts and takes care of the psychology of the characters, she resorts many times to the image of the eyes of Alexander and Hephaestion, as if their souls could be seen through them. The characters are well characterized, even the secondary ones and the descriptions are well cared for. She has also made some changes to the story, some simplifications, but they are conscious choices, nothing that distorts the story and it is clear (and he also tells us at the end) that he knows the story of Alexander, that there is careful research behind it and I would add also a love.
For these reasons Il generale di Alessandro Magno is a female reading that ultimately moved me. It is a real pity that such a valid text has been edited so little and therefore I think it’s also expensive because it costs € 13.55 while in 2018 I paid € 15.65 for it. Despite everything I hope that the author will write again about Alexander because from how she gave life to Hephaestion we can see that she is a great fan and she must continue to write! To give the right importance to this book, a new edition would be needed because Soraya’s story doesn’t deserve such a low score and it’s a real shame that it got lost due to these final lightnesses.
Quotes:
Alessandro mantenne sempre le sue promesse, anche quella di raggiungermi nella casa della morte.
«Tu sogni la gloria, Alessandro, ma la gloria è pericolosa.»
Sei stato il dono più bello che gli Dei mi abbiano fatto, più di qualsiasi altro gioiello.
La tua luce mi ha guidato in questa vita, mi guiderà anche nell’Ade un giorno.
«L’amore è amore, non si può scegliere chi amare, ma si può scegliere come amare.»
«Dobbiamo lottare per ciò che amiamo.»
Alessandro III di Macedonia 
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