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Read The Scorpion God: Three Short Novels (1973)

The Scorpion God: Three Short Novels (1973)

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Rating
3.36 of 5 Votes: 2
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ISBN
0571102328 (ISBN13: 9780571102327)
Language
English
Publisher
faber and faber

The Scorpion God: Three Short Novels (1973) - Plot & Excerpts

The Scorpion God is a collection of three novellas. The title story takes place in Egypt, I would guess shortly before or around the time of the First Dynasty (c. 3000 BC); "Clonk Clonk" takes place at some period before the Agricultural Revolution (pre-10,000 BC), maybe in Africa, maybe not; and the final story, "Envoy Extraordinary," takes place in a fictionalized Roman Empire.The historian in me would like to know more definitely when things happen but Golding's purpose in writing these stories is not the historian's. All of them challenge the standing of authority and tradition in some way, asking you to question your response to these things in your own life. In "The Scorpion God," the heir to the Great House (pharaoh) rebels against his planned destiny when his father dies and his sister (and future wife) conspires to displace him. In "Clonk Clonk," a crippled hunter struggles to gain acceptance in his tribe. And in "Envoy Extraordinary," there's a whole host of "rebels": the old emperor, his younger son, an eccentric inventor and his mysterious daughter.The great strength of these stories is also their great weakness - Golding is so spot on at evoking these utterly alien cultures that the tales come across as cold and unengaging. Not surprisingly, the last story, set in ancient Rome, our "grandmother," is the most accessible and easily read.I originally gave this book 2 stars but having written this short review, I've reconsidered and am raising my estimation to 3, but a very lukewarm 3 stars. The stories in this collection are short enough that you won't find yourself investing inordinate amounts of time in them, and you may find yourself liking them more than I did.

El libro está compuesto por tres relatos independientes ambientados en la antiguedad. En cada uno de ellos asistimos a un breve episodio en la vida de sus protagonistas, cuyos pensamientos, esperanzas y miedos son transmitidos de manera magistral por Golding.He notado una cierta diferencia entre los dos primeros relatos (El Dios Escorpión y Clonc, Clonc) y el último y más extenso (El enviado especial). En los tres el autor nos demuestra su maestría a la hora de tratar los personajes, pero en especial en los dos más breves consigue meternos completamente dentro de su cabeza, haciéndonos compartir sus miedos y esperanzas. Dos pequeñas joyas que por unos instantes nos transportan a una comunidad de cazadores primitivos o a uno de los reinos precursores del Egipto faraónico, construyendo mundos que se sienten como reales.

What do You think about The Scorpion God: Three Short Novels (1973)?

Libro con tres historias que se dan en el pasado. La primera se desarrolla en el antiguo Egipto y es la que requiere más atención, es algo confusa, por lo menos fue la que me pareció un poco más difícil de leer que las otras historias. Clonc Clonc, la segunda historia se dan en la era de las cavernas y muestra como las mujeres ya ejercian un poder asolapado sobre los hombres que son los cazadores. Y la tercera en la antigua Roma, la que se mejor se deja leer pues trata de un inventor que crea una maquina de vapor y otros inventos, y que lo ponen en algunos aprietos ya que se los da a conocer al emperador. El final es algo curioso.
—Paul

Three novellas in one volume, each a trip into history, and yet only the third is to a simply rendered past: Golding alienates the reader from easy recognition by his use of language. You are forced to see the world through the eyes of the narrative. Of course in many ways this is a phantom - we cannot really step into the past and see their world(s) as our ancestors did, but Golding's approach, replacing familiar words with neologisms, renders the past a strange place. Like The Inheritors, The Scorpion God is a wonderful book that should be better known. Golding won the Nobel prize in literature, and that is not given for a single novel: it is an injustice that he is known chiefly for the Lord of the Flies when his other works are at least as good.
—Simon

As an Author William Golding is a Nobel Prize winner. He is primarily famed for 'The Lord of the Flies' and little else, whereas he seems to have authored several equally well written, enquiring, imaginative stories that probe and ask intelligent questions.In this book we have three novellas, all essentially the narratives of outsiders; unlikely people of insight, anti-heroes, visionaries, foreigners and social outcasts. Each is in possession of knowledge or instinct that is transcendent of their cultural setting/standing and so puts them at odds with their surroundings; in the role of the subversive or the underdog, regarded with derision or suspicion by their peers and misplaced in their circumstance, maybe even ahead of their time!Three narratives, three different, historically inspired cultures: each superbly recreated, each with believable characters and settings. In around 60 pages of prose Mr Golding manages to take us to Pharaoic Egypt, primitive sub Saharan Africa and Ancient Rome respectively, each created and envisioned with realism and appropriate atmosphere whilst building tension and crescendo into the narrative with his usual skilful use of poetically descriptive, economical prose.
—Peter

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