From: danny@cs.su.oz.au (Danny Yee) Date: Thu, 08 Jun 1995 13:19:18 +1000 Subject: Book Review - Creation title: Creation by: Gore Vidal publisher: Heinemann 1981 subjects: historical fiction, religion other: 510 pages In 445 BC Cyrus Spitama, the Persian ambassador to Athens, hears Herodotus reading from his "Histories" and in response recounts to his nephew (Democritus) the story of his life: he has served three Persian kings and traveled to India and China; himself the grandson of Zoroaster, he has met Buddha, Gosala, Lao Tse and Confucius! This is the thesis of _Creation_, a historical novel which geographically spans most of the fifth century civilised world and intellectually engages with an immense range of ideas about the fundamental nature of creation. While it's probably impossible to avoid shallowness in presenting complex philosophical and religious systems in a novel, Vidal does a surprisingly good job of it: if you don't know anything about Buddhism or Confucianism or Taoism, then you could learn quite a bit about them >from _Creation_. He's also careful to avoid any anachronistic traces of Christianity (although, in contrast with Buddhism and Confucianism, it could be argued that Zoroastrianism pretty much *is* Christianity), though I found the omission of a meeting with one of the fifth century Jewish prophets a little surprising. Although religious and philosophical ideas are at the core of _Creation_, they are never allowed to overpower the novel. There is plenty of historical (and particularly political) interest -- poisonings in the Persian harem, the internecine feuds of the Greeks, the warring states of India and China. Much of this will be best appreciated by those who already have some knowledge of the history, but it isn't assumed. One of my friends described _Creation_ as a "superior airport novel", but I don't think that is a fair judgement unless readability is a sufficient criterion for calling something an airport novel! -- %T Creation %A Gore Vidal %I Heinemann %C London %D 1981 %O hardcover %G SBN 434-82969-2 %P 510pp %K historical fiction, religion Danny Yee (danny@cs.su.oz.au) 8 June 1995 ------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright (C) Danny Yee 1995 : Comments and criticism welcome ------------------------------------------------------------- URL http://www.anatomy.su.oz.au/danny/book-reviews/index.html -------------------------------------------------------------