vallath@ucbesvax.UUCP (02/28/84)
To those of you interested in historical novels, Mary Renault, who died recently, has written excellent novels based on the lives of Greek heroes and Alexander. They are not merely legends retold, since she has attempted to make the more fantastic parts of the legend credible, maintaining at the same time much of the original legend's details. Her writing, in fact, lends an everyday quality to the strange life she describes. I would like to have some suggestions for similar historical novels and writers thereof from notes readers. You could mail to me or better, write a note. Vallath Nandakumar esvax.vallath@berkeley
pector@ihuxw.UUCP (Scott W. Pector) (02/28/84)
I would recommend Gore Vidal's "Creation," which autobiography of a fictional Persian ambassador in the 510-430 B.C. time period. He was the grandson of Zoroaster and he traveled all over the Persian Empire and adjacent areas (China, India, Greece), meeting several philosophers along the way (some Buddhists, Confucius, Socrates). His side interest was in theories of Creation held by other peoples and religions. This was a very interesting book and can be obtained in paperback almost anywhere. Two very humorous and entertaining books are "The Prince and the Pauper" and "A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court" by Mark Twain. The former is a fictionalized account of the Edward, son of King Henry VIII of England, who meets Tom Canty, a pauper in London. They are look-alikes, and Edward swaps places with Tom to see what the world is really like. This is a great kids' and adults' story. The latter Twain book is a burlesque of the King Arthur legend originally told by Mallory. It attacks British conceptions of the worth of royalty and the glorification of knights in shining armor. The Yankee is a Jack-of-all-trades named Hank Morgan who gets into a fight in the 1880s, gets knocked over the head, and wakes up near Camelot in the sixth century. He, after escaping execution, sets himself up as the deadliest sorcerer in the realm and attempts to bring the sixth century Anglo-Saxons up to the 19th century. The illustrator for the book was Dan Beard, a socialist who went on to found the Boy Scouts of America. Great fun! That's all I can think of for now. Good Luck! Scott Pector