Sophrosyne By Marianne Apostolides

Sophrosyne

characters Sophrosyne

Because fear can transform into confidence, recklessness, the kind of power you can't imagine until you're inside it. And then, once you've felt it, you can't feel alive when it's gone. Sophrosyne. You understood this feeling. I know you did, though you never said it. I saw it, instead, on your face when you danced.

Sophrosyne is one of only four virtues identified by Socrates - four traits which, if lived deeply, define who we are as human beings. But sophrosyne is a concept our culture has long forgotten. Self-restraint,' 'self-control,' 'modesty,' 'temperance' - none of these terms expresses the essence of the word.

In this provocative new novel about desire and restraint in a digital age by acclaimed author Marianne Apostolides, 21-year-old Alex is consumed by the elusive problem of sophrosyne for reasons he cannot share with others. While Alex's philosophy professor believes studying it will help shed light on the malaise of our era, Alex hopes it will release him from his darkly disturbing relationship with his mother. As he attempts to uncover his mother's truth, Alex is drawn inside an amorphous, indefinable undercurrent of love and violation. Only through his lover, Meiko, does Alex open into a new understanding of sophrosyne, with all its implications.

Reminiscent of Anne Carson's Autobiography of Red, Sophrosyne asks readers to surrender themselves to the book's logic and language. Infused with a sensuality balanced by its intellect, Sophrosyne reads like the music's rhythm... soft like wax and supple, warm, pulsing through your veins.

Sophrosyne

This book was so strange to me! It wasn’t a feel good story. It’s dark, and it delves into the mind and trauma of the character’s odd Socratic relationship with his mother. The whole time I wanted to intervene with the character, tell him to breath, and go to a therapist, talk to someone about the running ruminations in his mind. It’s intense, short read, something about this writing pulls you in without sometimes wanting to. Marianne Apostolides A thing of beauty. Head and heart. A pulsing rhythm to the writing, which gives room for you to exist and live between the words. Marianne Apostolides