It is often remarked upon that the sixth century B.C. contained an overflow of major figures in the history of world religion and philosophy. But what if these disparate persons were all linked by one figure, like an ancient six degrees of Kevin Bacon? In his sumptuous historical novel Creation, Gore Vidal proposes a character: Cyrus Spitama, the grandson of the prophet Zoroaster, who becomes familiar not only with legendary Persians (Darius, Xerxes) or Greek(Democritus, Socrates, Herodotus), but also all three of the "vinegar tasters:" the Buddha, Laozi (referred to as Master Li) and Master K'ung, better known to those us in the distant present as Confucius. Vidal is a devastatingly witty writer, and also goes to great pains to fill out his vision ancient world with character and detail. The narrator has a plethora of pithy remarks throughout the book, which make it easy to breeze through this rather lengthy book. Although Vidal himself considers this his one of his top few great novels, maybe his greatest of all, it has its share of flaws. For one: for all learn about Cyrus Spitama, Vidal's invented narrator, he does seem, witty comments and elegant phrase-turning aside, somewhat flat and enigmatic, even after almost six-hundred pages, while at the same time appearing just a little too intelligent. Another problem is the excessive inquiries into the intrigue of the various political systems of Persia, Greece, India, and Cathay, or, as we now know it, China. While some of these scenes are compelling, often one gets lost amidst too many similar sounding ancient names; and I think I speak for many people when I say that the politics of obscure ancient Chinese lords is not as interesting as the philosophical investigations with Master Li and Confucius, although one could argue that political intrigue and Confucianism go hand in hand. Finally, the ending chapters to drag a bit, and the novel has no real conclusion, so there is a slight drop-off in quality at the end, although it's interesting to note that Vidal continues introducing new characters and producing detailed descriptions right up to the end, when, for example, we hear of Sophocles for the first time.As for the praiseworthy aspects of the book, Vidal does much more good than bad in this vast book. His prose is elegant and highly readable, a significant accomplishment when spread over so many pages without much of a dip in quality. Putting aside the narrator for a moment, most of the principle characters are well constructed and interesting, and the dialogue between them, philosophical or otherwise, crackles. Actually, the discussions with the Eastern sages, except perhaps Confucius, are briefer than I expected, but still highlights. The Buddha, Laozi, and Confucius become three-dimensional figures before us, not just names in history books, enigmatic figures people quote to sound mysterious or mystical, but "real" human beings. That in itself is a significant accomplishment. Indeed, there is much to love about Creation, and I highly recommend this "crash course in philosophy," as Vidal called it.
Наричат го "Оскар Уайлд" на XX-век, при това съвсем заслужено. Известен със скандалните си бисексуални връзки, светкавичния си ум и писателска умелост, Гор Видал може да прави каквото си поиска. Може да напише съвременна критика на американското общество, да разгледа наболели социални проблеми или да изгради един съвсем точен образ на древния свят."Сътворението" е крайъгълен камък за всеки, който се интересува от история. В романа са разбъркани имената на Питагор, Сократ, Перикъл, Буда, Дарий, Ксеркс и много др., които си взаимодействат като нормални човешки същества. Ще имате възможността да се потопите в техния свят, с всичките му битовизми и нелепи религиозни вярвания. Ще се впуснете в едно главозамайващо търсене на Началото, което всеки разбира различно и има своя теория по въпроса. Бих предупредил, че по средата на романа има 2 глави за Индия и Китай, които лично на мен ми бяха скучни, но за сметка на това всичкото действие в Персия и Гърция беше превъзходно.
What do You think about Creation (2002)?
Interesting book, life of the fictional Cyrus Spitama, grandson of Zoroaster, the religious teacher, as told to his grandson. Set in Persia right before, during and after the Greco-Persian War. Cyrus gives a completely different version of that war than we're used to and describes his boyhood years growing up with Xerxes, who later becomes Great King. Then Cyrus is appointed ambassador to several countries, most notably India and Cathay. Darius, then king, wants to invade India. Much of the book recounts Cyrus' travels, customs of people he meets and always the religious Cyrus is searching for alternate theories of Creation and the problem of evil. We get a quick overview of Eastern religions, of course, through Cyrus' eyes, always comparing with Zoroastrianism. Cyrus meets such figures as Socrates, Buddha, Confucius, famous Greeks of that period. Cyrus finally dies, but his grandson, after many years of travel and living in many countries, finally figures out what he feels must be the answer to Cyrus' questions. The book was quite witty, sometimes even 'snarky'. The politics bored me.
—Jane
The problem with Gore Vidal and his 'historical' novels is that you can be sun dazzled by his erudition whilst failing to recognise what he said himself about his historical novels - nobody knew what it was really like so my 'interpretation' is as good as any other. Interpretation yes. Elaboration? Hmmmmm. There is of course the sense that if a story is worth telling, it's worth elaborating, but then that takes us away from the 'Historical' and puts us completely into the world of the 'Novel'.This Vidalesque historical novel 'brick' comes in at over 650 pages and its scope is vast taking in Periclean Greece, Persia, Zoroastrianism, India, Buddhism, Confucius and China (did I leave something out....probably). The book demonstrates perfectly how an epic of this standard can be both engrossing and tedious. There are parts that I just couldn't get through and had to skip several pages. But there are also parts that are fascinating and brilliantly written. But how do you deal with it? As history...... well hardly. As a novel.... well not really is it, though the character development is worthy of a novel and the narrative runs on (and on and on and on.And essentially the problem still remains - is this HISTORY or is this a NOVEL. How much is this a product of Vidal's very fertile and fevered imagination and how much is studied and researched (one might say GLOSSED given the enormous range covered by the book) before putting t into his novel context. I found it hard to jump between the two positions and one position mitigated against the other so that in the end it became a task to get through the complete book to the bitter end and the death of Cyrus Spitama.This is not to say that Gore Vidal's writing is two star just that this book left me with a two start feeling. I find his novels of which Duluth and Kalki stand as excellent examples wonderfully written and expounded. I' not too sure about this book though and would urge people to find other examples of his work first.
—Kevin Tole
Под небе с хиляди богове – “Сътворението” на Гор ВидалЗабравете. И за нелепия филм “300″, и за всички мъдротии, които сте чували за тази книга, заклеймяващи я като трудна за четене. Защото тя е дълбок и прекрасен роман, изключителен пътепис на далечни времена, на различни народи и още повече богове. Безброй богове – повече, отколкото е възможно да се въобразят дори. И сред всички тях неуморно крачи Кир Спитама, внукът на Зороастър – пророка на Единия бог, Ахура Мазда, и неговото проявление огъня. От мига, в който става свидетел на гибелта на дядо си и единствен чува думите на бога, той е с предопределено бъдеще… но не така мислят персийският владетел Дарий и неговите наследници Ксеркс и Артаксеркс.Виж още: http://knigolandia.info/book-review/s...
—Христо Блажев
