Best historical fiction

[whitebelly]

Txs, mundanemies, I've been ogling Dunnet's books in the library, but haven't read any yet. Mithfânion, please keep me informed on Sunne in Splendour - I'm terribly interested in the War of the Roses. BTW, there's useful info (genealogies) on the following site:

http://www.ehistory.com/middleages/w....cfm#lancaster

Another nominee which I forgot is Iain Pears' excellent "An Instance at the Fingerpost" - I thought I saw the end coming, but boy, was I mistaken!

Books which are highly acclaimed, but which I haven't read myself yet are those by Lawrence Norfolk: "The Pope's Rhinoceros", "Lemprière's Dictionary" and esp. "In the Shape of a Boar".

I hope to find the time to read Matthew Kneale's "English Passengers" soon, which I hear from friends is absolutely superb

wb


[This message has been edited by whitebelly (edited January 02, 2002).]

[This message has been edited by whitebelly (edited January 02, 2002).]

[Mithfânion]

I will, of course

[Llama]

Re Lawrence Norfolk, LEMPRIERE's DICTIONARY I thought was superb. I haven't read his two more recent books, yet.

A US author who writes in a similar vein is Allen Kurzweil, who wrote a very good novel called A CASE OF CURIOSITIES about an automata maker during the French revolution. It's sort of a modern picaresque. His most recent novel, THE GRAND COMPLICATION, I thought was forgettable, however.

Also shouldn't forget AS Byatt's POSSESSION, which was a fabulous historical detecting story. Although her other novels have been rather blah....

[whitebelly]

hear hear !!!

I've read Kurzweil's "Case of Curiosities" some years back, and I agree, but I agree even more on A.S. Byatt's "Possession"

I've started 2 new books by A.S. Byatt recently, but due to Harry Potter barging in and blowing me off course, I am not too far in yet, though both seem promising so far:

"On Histories and Stories: Selected Essays"
"The Biographer's Tale"

also read "Angels & Insects" ... they made quite a good film out of that, with the magnificent Kristin Scott Thomas.

wb

[Mithfânion]

What about Jeff Shaara, has anyone read any of his?

[Llama]

I forgot about ANGELS & INSECTS, that actually was very good as well.

Let us know what you think of BIOGRAPHER'S TALE. It got mixed reviews here in the US but the negative ones were VERY negative and I sort of lost interest in buying it.

You might want to try Kurzweil's GRAND COMPLICATION seeing as you've read CASE OF CURIOSITIES, some people haven't had the same negative reaction I did. I basically thought he took an interesting premise but combined it with some paper-thin, uninteresting characters whose motivations never became clear. It was very disappointing, particularly as I'd been waiting some eight years for him to write a second book.

Part of the problem might also have been that I read it after ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER AND CLAY and CARTER BEATS THE DEVIL, two superb recent twentieth century historical novels that were everything GRAND COMPLICATION was not.

[whitebelly]

Llama, I've got Kavalier & Clay in my to-read pile ... (yes, it's huge, my bed is surrounded by cathedrals made exclusively out of books), together with Neil Stephenson's "Cryptonomicum". The latter is compared to Pynchon, which is a bit of a challenge to me, as I find Pynchon hellishly difficult (I've only read "The Crying of Lot 49" but that was a really tough nut for someone who's not a native English speaker).

[This message has been edited by whitebelly (edited January 02, 2002).]

[Mithfânion]

On reading a lot of reviews, Game of Kings seems irrestible. Must have it!

EDIT

On second thought, after reading some preview pages, the books seem incredibly dense. The prose is too much for me, I think.

[This message has been edited by Mithfânion (edited January 02, 2002).]

[Llama]

No Flashman fans here...?

[mundanemies]

I tried but I just couldn't stand the man. I'm afraid I also had too much of that hideous film in my mind when I read Flashman &...? I can't say what book it was, my guess would be the first one, since it was the first - and only! - translation of the series into Finnish.

Many good suggestions here people! I have Instance at Fingerpost (back home) and after loaning few of his art-mysteries, I'm eagerly waiting to get back and read it.
Lawrence Norfolk was tough reading. Couldn't finish Pope's Rhino. Same with Charles Pallisar's Quinqunx ("or something he says apoletigally, thus exposing his terrible ignorance of French language")

[whitebelly]

French?? Palliser's a Scot & he writes in English, or are you referring to someone else, perhaps

His last book, "The Unburied", appears to be very good & it's not such a fatty (I like fatties though, if they're well written).

[This message has been edited by whitebelly (edited January 03, 2002).]

[whitebelly]

Just heard from a friend that Suetonius' "Twelve Caesars" is absolutely great.

Ayone here read Gibbons "History o/t Decline & Fall o/t Roman Empire"? Should I go for an abridged version, or is the unabridged one more enjoyable?

wb

[lior]

I would highly recommend Mists Of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley. it deals with the legend of King Arthur, so it has fantasy elements, but those are supported by a fascinating and thoroughly researched historical background focusing on the rise of christianity in Britain, and its battle against the celtic beliefs.

[This message has been edited by lior (edited January 04, 2002).]

[Cadfael]

WhiteBelly... is you are passionate about Roman History, and are obsessed with every nuance of the period... go for the un-abridged version.

However, if you just want to 'understand' what happened, the abridged version is a very good read... and it covers all the salient points.

As mentioned above, I, Claudius and Claudius The God... by Robert Graves are totally phenominal books... and accurately cover the reign's of the 'great' Ceasars

[Mithfânion]

Whitebelly, I've got some good books on Rome, the majority unread , but nevertheless highly recommended. Although I'm primarily an anglophile (sounds like some bad sex habit), I'm interested in Rome as well.

I have the abridged, Dutch version of E. Gibbon's "the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" . It's a humongous book already and covers the most interesting parts of Roman history. I like his style as well, humorous and interesting. It's the sort of book you read parts of, read another book, and then come back to it. The abridged version, Dutch or English, will do fine. Mine btw, was already incredibly costly and it's "just" a 1200 page abridged version.

Aside from I claudius, I'm told that "First man in Rome" by Colleen Mc Cullough is a fantastic book. As well as her "Caesar". Check them out or compare them with I claudius.

Mists of Avalon was awful though, couldn't finish it, hated the slant she gave on Arthurian legend.
For a good picture of sub-roman Britain, the Merlin trilogy by Mary Stewart is the best out there.

[This message has been edited by Mithfânion (edited January 05, 2002).]