Creation

by Gore Vidal

In 445 BC, Cyrus Spitama, the grandson of the prophet Zoroaster, is the Persian ambassador to the city of Athens. He has a rather caustic appreciation of his situation: "I am blind. But I am not deaf. Because of the incompleteness of my misfortune, I was obliged yesterday to listen for nearly six hours to a self-styled historian whose account of what the Athenians like to call 'the Persian Wars' was nonsense of a sort that were I less old and more privileged, I would have risen to my seat at the Odeon and scandalized all Athens by answering him." Having thus dismissed Herodotus, Cyrus then dictates his life story to his nephew, Democritus, with similar disdain for the Greeks--whom we in the modern world have come to view as the progenitors of civilization, but whom Cyrus considers to be bad-smelling rabble.

Of course, Cyrus Spitama speaks with a very modern, ironic voice supplied to him by Gore Vidal--and the political intrigues in which Cyrus finds himself immersed are likewise familiar territory for fans of Vidal's historical fiction. But the narrator's delightfully wicked observations are the icing on a narrative of truly epic scope--out of his desire to understand the origins of the world, Cyrus undertakes journeys to India, where he encounters disciples of the Buddha, and China, where he engages Confucius in philosophical conversation while the great sage fishes by the riverside. Creation offers insights into classical history laced with scintillating wit and narrative brio.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Literature, Philosophy, Classics, Religion

704 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

Works of American writer Eugene Luther Gore Vidal, noted for his cynical humor and his numerous accounts of society in decline, include the play The Best Man (1960) and the novel Myra Breckinridge (1968) .

People know his essays, screenplays, and Broadway.
They also knew his patrician manner, transatlantic accent, and witty aphorisms. Vidal came from a distinguished political lineage; his grandfather was the senator Thomas Gore, and he later became a relation (through marriage) to Jacqueline Kennedy.

Vidal, a longtime political critic, ran twice for political office. He was a lifelong isolationist Democrat. The Nation, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, The New York Review of Books, and Esquire published his essays.

Essays and media appearances long criticized foreign policy. In addition, he from the 1980s onwards characterized the United States as a decaying empire. Additionally, he was known for his well publicized spats with such figures as Norman Mailer, William F. Buckley, Jr., and Truman Capote.

They fell into distinct social and historical camps. Alongside his social, his best known historical include Julian, Burr, and Lincoln. His third novel, The City and the Pillar (1948), outraged conservative critics as the first major feature of unambiguous homosexuality.

At the time of his death he was the last of a generation of American writers who had served during World War II, including J.D. Salinger, Kurt Vonnegut, Norman Mailer and Joseph Heller. Perhaps best remembered for his caustic wit, he referred to himself as a "gentleman bitch" and has been described as the 20th century's answer to Oscar Wilde

Also used the pseudonym Edgar Box.

+++++++++++++++++++++++
Gore Vidal é um dos nomes centrais na história da literatura americana pós-Segunda Guerra Mundial.

Nascido em 1925, em Nova Iorque, estudou na Academia de Phillips Exeter (Estado de New Hampshire). O seu primeiro romance, Williwaw (1946), era uma história da guerra claramente influenciada pelo estilo de Hemingway. Embora grande parte da sua obra tenha a ver com o século XX americano, Vidal debruçou-se várias vezes sobre épocas recuadas, como, por exemplo, em A Search for the King (1950), Juliano (1964) e Creation (1981).

Entre os seus temas de eleição está o mundo do cinema e, mais concretamente, os bastidores de Hollywood, que ele desmonta de forma satírica e implacável em títulos como Myra Breckinridge (1968), Myron (1975) e Duluth (1983).

Senhor de um estilo exuberante, multifacetado e sempre surpreendente, publicou, em 1995, a autobiografia Palimpsest: A Memoir. As obras 'O Instituto Smithsonian' e 'A Idade do Ouro' encontram-se traduzidas em português.

Neto do senador Thomas Gore, enteado do padrasto de Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, primo distante de Al Gore, Gore Vidal sempre se revelou um espelho crítico das grandezas e misérias dos EUA.

Faleceu a 31 de julho de 2012, aos 86 anos, na sua casa em Hollywood, vítima de pneumonia.

Reviews

[Vit Babenco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Creation is my most favourite novel on the subject of ancient history, and not because it had opened my eyes to some antediluvian clandestine truths but because of its freewheeling stylishness.

I am blind. But I am not deaf. Because of the incompleteness of my misfortune, I was obliged yesterday to listen for nearly six hours to a self-styled historian whose account of what the Athenians like to call ‘the Persian Wars’ was nonsense of a sort that were I less old and more privileged, I would have risen in my seat at the Odeon and scandalized all Athens by answering him.

That is the beginning and from here on in there’s no stop…
History isn’t a textbook… History will teach us nothing.

[Rob Edmunds · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I were to do a detailed review of Creation, I would have to include quite a number of critical exemptions, caveats and clarifications. With that in mind, I’ll keep my views brief and uncluttered! I did really enjoy the novel and was hugely impressed with its scope and scholarship. One aspect of the book I didn’t enjoy was the style of the first hand narration which veered a little towards the didactic in my view. Vidal was an enormously learned and eminent academic and that is apparent throughout, in ways that are occasionally detrimental, at least to me. There were moments when the story almost resembled a University lecture and the breadth and ambition of the book made it a little claustrophobic and overwhelming at times. Nevertheless, it was a great read with much to admire and reflect on.

[Sean DeLauder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Persian history at the peak of the Achaemenid Empire (5th century BCE) is pretty neatly summed up in a few lines from our high school world history courses, largely in connection with Greek history. We hear a few snippets about the Persian rulers, Cyrus, Darius, and Xerxes; a big paragraph about Pheidippides, the runner who sprinted from Marathon to warn the Spartans (which was pointless, since they refused to march at the time) of the Persian attack (which was comeuppance for supporting a revolt in Persia and burning the city of Sardis), and ever after served as the namesake for future long-distance running contests; the battle at Thermopylae in which a handful of Spartans embarrassed an overwhelming Persian force under the Persian king, Xerxes, immortalized and buried under a mountain of hyperbole in cinema, and how Greeks won freedom from a terrible oppressor, launching democracy, serving as a basis for civilization and western world, blah blah blah.


Hyperbole. And partial nudity. And epic nose chains.

Essentially, most of what we know about Persia has been related through the lens of Greek history. The Persians amassed an enormous army and had an equally enormous empire, making them the perfect foil in the Star Wars parable that we've made Greek v. Persia history out to be.


Look, sir! Greeks!

It's a suitable mentality to have even in the current age, as the Persian empire stretched across the middle east, a land that is, and has been, largely unfriendly to the Western world for centuries, mostly for religious reasons (on both sides) that didn't exist during the Achaemenid empire.


Say, isn't this this pretty much the same empire Alexander ruled and was considered so awesome for creating, but promptly fell apart when he died?

The question that must come to mind to anyone reading this myopic history is: How did this empire come to be so massive and rich? Surely it could not have been all bad. Vidal's Creation answers this question and carefully explores what most folk of the Western hemisphere have deliberately ignored as a relic of the backwards and dangerous middle east: the Persian perspective.

What Vidal provides in Creation, from the viewpoint of the fictional diplomat and spiritual inheritor of Zoroastrianism, Cyrus Spitama, the grandson of none other than Zoroaster and childhood friend of Xerxes, is the story of a lush and powerful civilization, rife with power struggles and an abundance of history, just like the Greeks, and with ample justification for the contempt that Persians in power felt for the Greeks. And not without cause, as they're depicted as self-serving, filthy, shifty, and hardly trustworthy. Reading Creation, you're liable to share the Persian contempt. In many ways, and without stretching the truth, Spitama compares and contrasts Greek and Persian civilization, and it's difficult, in the end, to see how Greece receives the historical accolades while Persia is ignored. There's certainly a sense of foreboding and bitterness in Spitama as an old man recounting his journeys throughout the Persian empire, Greece, India, and China, who seems to know the wheels of fate have turned inexplicably in favor of Greek culture.

While much of Spitama's angst is directed at the Greeks, having metastasized from previous Persian rulers who had to deal with them, he also serves as a diplomat to the East as well. He visits and marries in India, is captured in China, and meets figures of extraordinary historical significance.

It's important to note that Vidal has selected a singularly remarkable time period and location to explore, in which the likes of significant eastern historical figures, such as Siddhartha Guatama (the Buddha), Master K'ung Fu-tzu (Confucius), Lao Tse (creator of the Tao Te Ching), were mucking about in the East at the same time prominent Greeks and Persians were mucking about in the "West". Not only do we meet these philosophical titans, we get to listen to their followers interact and deride one another, which is an unparalleled treat.

Much of the greatness I attribute to this story has little to do with Vidal's writing ability, which itself is slick as wet glass in the reader's mind, and more to do with Vidal's selection of time period. Volumes and volumes and volumes of books have been written on each of the characters in this work, on the empires explored (including those lesser-known in India), on the political machinations of those in power (including Zoroaster himself, which provided Spitama with an important political role where he otherwise might have been No One). But to combine this confluence of activity and personality seamlessly into a single novel is all at once an obvious choice, a fascinating exploration of that which most overlook, and ultimately nothing short of sublime.

[Scriptor Ignotus · Rating 2 out of 5]

I give up. I expected to love this book, but Gore Vidal somehow managed to take an amazing concept for a story and turn it into one of the dullest books i've ever tried to slog through. The narrator has little depth, despite his unnecessary verbosity, and neither do most of the people he encounters, despite their being some of the most influential people in world history. It is obvious that Vidal did an extensive amount of research for the book and attempted to include every sliver of information he learned. I give him credit for his learning, but the result here is a book that is not story-driven enough to be a good novel, nor deep or informative enough to work well as a work of nonfiction.

Apologies to anyone who enjoyed it.

[David Sarkies · Rating 5 out of 5]

An historical novel of truly epic proportions
20 October 2012

I didn't realise that Gore Vidal was what is called a revisionist when it came to his historical novels, but it only makes me want to pick up more of his books because revisionists tend to give us an alternate view of history that differs from the history that is written by the winners. This book is one of those examples: not so much a retelling of Herodotus but rather a version of Herodotus written from the view of a Persian.

For those who are not familiar with Ancient Greek literature, Herodotus is known as the Father of History, but he is also known as the Father of Lies, most likely because of his portrayal of the Persians (who were the enemies of the Greeks). However, Herodotus' Histories is not strictly a history text but rather an anthropological text in which he describes a number of cultures that existed around the Eastern Mediterranean during his time. A large section of his book deals with the Egyptians in which we learn a lot about Egyptian culture (such as the fact that they practised circumcision) that we may not have otherwise known. However, in the end, it appears that Herodotus' purpose is to demonstrate that the greatest of the civilisations is that of the Greeks.

Vidal tries to overturn that belief by writing from the point of view of a Persian diplomat, Cyrus Spitama. The novel begins near the end of Spitama's life, when he is posted to Greece as a diplomat. Here is spends his time discussing politics and philosophy with Anaximander, which is interesting because when most of us think of Greek philosophers, we think of Plato (who had not been born at this time) and Socrates (who makes an appearance in the story, but is described as a pest with a big nose). In a way Spitama, who was raised a Zoroastrian and believes in a dualistic world, namely a world in which equal but opposite powers are forever struggling for control, on a search for truth and meaning in life. His travels, as he tells them to his Greek friends, have taken him to India, where he met with the Buddha, and as far abroad as China, where he met with Confucius.

There is little to no discussion of Greek religion in this book, namely because it is generally accepted that Greek religion was fairly primitive at the time. Instead we have discussions on philosophy with one of the pre-Socratic philosophers, as well as an exploration of Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. It should be noted that, with the exception of Zoroastrianism, all of these religions are not strictly religions, but rather philosophies. It should also be noted that there is an acceptance that the old polytheistic religions (such as the one that Zoroastrianism superseded in Persia) were considered primitive, and that a movement forward involved moving away from a world of conflicting deities, to a world with either one, or no, deities.

Zoroastrianism has been considered to be the foundation religion from which the major monotheistic religions of today arose, however I tend to disagree. It is noted by some commentators that there is a problem with Spitama being Zarathustra's grandson in that it is now suspected that he lived a lot earlier than he did in this book. I tend to fall into the position that Zoroastrianism had probably been around in Persia for a while (and in fact it was probably introduced to Persia when the empire expanded to the northeast), but became popular after the fall of Babylon and the freeing of the Jews.

Vidal seems to consider that the 4th century BC was a period in which there was a lot of expansion in human knowledge. It was during this time that Buddhism developed in India, moving away from the pantheistic Hindu religion, Zoroastrianism superseded the older Persian polytheism, as well as seeing the collapse of the Neo-Babylonian empire. Greece was also developing a democratic political system as well as a system of philosophy, ethics, and rudimentary scientific ideas. I believe we even have encounters with the Jews in this book, but it has been quite a while since I read it that I am not able to say for sure (though it is on my list of books to read again). If this is the case, then it is another break from Herodotus, who for some reason, seems to completely ignore this rather important people who would end up having an even greater impact upon our culture (though I explore the reasoning behind this in my commentary on Herodotus).

I wish to finish off with another comment on Zoroastrianism, and that is how many of us do not realise the significant impact that it has had on our culture. As well as enhancing the popularity of monotheistic religions (in that there is only one god that mattered because the other god as out to destroy us), it also introduced the concept of dualism, and that is the eternal struggle between good and evil. It was not the idea that existed beforehand, and is not the actual Christian (or Jewish position). Previously, evil was present, but weak, and this has taken hold to some extent with Christians who actually understand the bible, not so much that God is more powerful, but rather that love extinguishes evil much more than evil extinguishes love. Yet, despite all this we are still a dualistic society, and the modern church preaches not only on a Platonic background of heaven and hell, but on a dualistic notion of good and evil. Satan is everywhere, and if we don't watch out he will ensnare us and destroy us, despite the Bible telling us that love will always triumph over evil. While the bible warns us about indulging in evil, the concept of love, and of evil as being selfish, has become blurred to the extent that we end up living in fear of the real world, or we align ourselves with those who seek to destroy the freedoms that we have fought so hard to obtain.

[Sud666 · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I am blind. But I am not deaf. Because of the incompleteness of my misfortune, I was obliged yesterday to listen for nearly six hours to a self-styled historian whose account of what the Athenians like to call the "Persian Wars" was nonsense of a sort that were I less old and more privileged, I would have risen in my seat at the Odeon and scandalized all of Athens by answering him.
But then, I know the origin of the GREEK wars. He does not. How could he? How could any Greek? I spent most of my life at the court of Persia and even now, in my seventy-fifth year, I still serve the Great King as I did his father-my beloved friend Xerxes-and his father before him, a hero known even to the Greeks as Darius the Great....."

So begins the story of Cyrus Spitama, a fictionalized character, the grandson of Zoroaster, and a Persian Diplomat from the Court of the Great King. Gore Vidal's brilliant novel exploring the time period of the 6th-5th century BCE world, through the vehicle of Cyrus Spitama as he travels the known world comparing the political and religious beliefs of various empires, kingdoms, and republics of the time. All of it is immaculately researched and the conversations with a variety of brilliant minds such as Zoroaster, Socrates, Anaxagoras, the Buddha, Mahavira, Lao Tsu, and Confucius, are brilliant.

It is also a great view into the world of Greek, Persian, Indian and Chinese (Cathay) politics, religion, and beliefs. Thus the title of the book "Creation". Spitama's quest to find the answer to the existence of evil, the creation of the universe, and man's purpose in the world and the afterlife will lead him to explore a variety of religions from Jainism to Buddhism. It is superbly done and never boring.

The writing is superb and the story is enthralling. The sheer scope of the tale and the depth of the story, not only as historical fiction of the best quality, but also as a deep exploration of a myriad of different faiths and beliefs. A truly brilliant novel and well worth the time of anyone interested in this time period, philosophy, religion, or just wish to read a superbly written novel.

A few things that readers might notice- yes Zoroastrianism is the basis for much of the Abrahamic religious lore. That fusion of the Second Temple Jews moving into the region with the beliefs of a Wise Lord (Ahura Mazda) and his evil duality of Ahriman, ultimate judgment, final days, etc all fused with the Jewish religion and eventually heavily influenced Christianity and Islam.

Also while Cyrus Spitama's claims about the actual ramifications of the Greek wars on the Persian Empire were not, at the time, nearly as dramatic as the Greek would have you believe is accurate to a certain extent, neither can the long term consequences (bankrupt armies, death of good commanders, Persian politics, etc) that would lead to the decline of the Great House of the Achaemenid be brushed away. In fact, Artaxerxes I, the final Great King served by Spitama ended his reign in 424 BC. By 334 BC this empire would be conquered by Alexander the Great of Macedonia.

A great look at history and religion. It is also a wonderful travelogue of the Greek, Persia, Indian, and Cathayan Empires of the time. Brilliant book. A pleasure to read and one that I am glad to add to my collection.

[Emiliya Bozhilova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Гор Видал праща лична покана на историята. И тя благосклонно приема - от името на Дарий, Ксеркс, Конфуций, Буда, Демокрит, Перикъл, Темистокъл и куп други антични знаменитости.

Всяка среща на внука на сенатора...пардон, на пророка Зороастър...Гор Видал...пардон, Кир Спитама...е всъщност зададен въпрос защо и откъде сме се появили и поели по своя път. Получените отговори варират от нула до безкрайност: средният път, заветите на предците и изграждането на идеалното общество, неизменимодтта на съдбатата и следователно безсмислието на въпросите. Всеки може да си избере от пъстрия букет отговора, който най-много му допада. В зависимост дали той идва страна на жреците на Ахура Мазда, цар Дарий, джайнистите, самия Буда, лично от Конфуций, или се е заплел нейде из сложните словесни и логически конструкции на гръцките философи. Всички те имат какво да споделят с Кир Спитама. През неговите дълбоко недраматични, стоически, скептични и човечни очи се преливат Персийската империя в зенита на Ахеменидите от V в. пр. н. е., Вавилон с неговите висящи градини, Средното царство и (въз)раждащият се Път на коприната, царствата от поречието на Ганг и древният Варанаси, Атина във времето, когато е все още страшно неугледно градче. Животът във всяко от тези места се усеща в куп цветни, мънички детайли, с аромата на източни подправки, звъна на персийско злато и оръжие, шумните философски дебати на изискан йонийски диалект (дорийският е за диваци), шумоленето на китайска коприна и шепотът на листата на дървото бодхи.

Романът е красив пътепис във времето, поднесен с щипка хумор и много мъдрост. Пиршество за любителите на историята. Хареса ми Гор Видал...пардон, Кир Спитама.

***
"Физическото разнообразие на човешкия род е точно толкова удивително, колкото и еднообрaзието на човешката природа."

"Искам да стигна до края на света. Или до Китай. Което от двете е по-близко."

[Bahram Bahrami · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a magnificent novel by Gore Vidal. I had read a translation of it many years ago. However a few weeks ago Vidal was in Toronto and that was how I began looking at the novel again. For those Iranians who were angry at the movie 300, this book works as a relief. The narrator is an imaginary Cyrus Spitama, who Vidal describes as the grandson of Zoroaster (Zarathushtra). I have to add that Zoroaster lived somewhere between 4000 to 7000 years ago. Recent studies are in favour of 7000, including Mary Setegast’s marvelous research (When Zarathushtra Spoke). So in a way Vidal’s Cyrus Spitama cannot be the prophet’s grandson, since the author is talking about events of the Achemenide king Xerxes. And by this time even the language of Gathas, Zoroaster’s divine songs, was a dead language. But the good thing of this historical novel is that it reveals the lies of Herodotus, the well known Greek historian whose lies were often used against Iranian civilization. Cyrus Spitama’s narration as an ambassador of the King Xerxes in Athens is witty and philosophical at the same time. It is interesting to note that Cyrus Spitama is of a mixed marriage between an Iranian father and a Greek mother, something that was very common in those days. I recommend reading of this novel to all my Iranian friends and non-Iranians who are not satisfied with western cliché attitude against the barbarians (i.e. Iranians!)

[Erik Graff · Rating 5 out of 5]

This and Julian may be my favorite novels by Vidal, not that I've read them all yet.

Creation postulates, within the realm of plausibility, a character who, in the course of his lifetime, travels from Persia to India to China to Greece and meets such luminaries as Zoroaster, the Buddha, Lao Tzu, Confucius and Herodotus. It is done amusingly, but seriously enough that a reader unfamiliar with the period might be inspired to pursue a more serious study.

[Petya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Много мащабна книга, която ми направи силно впечатление. Радвам се, че я отлагах дълго, тъй като сега е по-подходящ момент за прочитането й. Страхотно интересна гледна точка по отношение на източните философии, зороастризма и учението на Питагор. Много политически игри и интриги. Определено си струва четенето!

[Nikola Jankovic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Možda ne baš najbolji roman postavljen u antiku (na brzinu mi na pamet padaju barem dva bolja, takođe Vidalov Julian i The Last of the Wine), ali svakako najambiciozniji.

Celovito putovanje kroz istoriju 5. veka p.n.e., u kom izaslanik kralja Darija, pa kasnije Kserksa, obilazi Persiju, Evropu, ali i Indiju i Kinu, a na svojim putovanjima se druži sa Sokratom, Budom, Konfučijem, Periklom, i naravno persijskim kraljevima. Možda zvuči nategnuto, ali je Vidal to dobro uklopio - Sokrat je, na primer, 18-godišnji zidar koji radi kod njega u Atini na popravljanju kuće (i nema pojma o svom zanatu), a ostale sreće kao izaslanik. Malo mi jeste bilo čudno što su ljudi toliko putovali u to doba, ali valjda je postojala i tada razmena ideja, ne samo od Puta svile dalje - oduvek su mi se stoicizam i budizam činili prilično usklađeni u mnogo svojih pravila kako živeti.

"I have never visited any city in the world where I was not told that I just missed the golden age. I seem never to be on time."

Ima ovde mnogo istorije, prepričavanje (i ispravljanje) Herodota je interesantno pošto je ispričano s "varvarske" strane, ali ima mnogo i antičke religije (narator je unuk Zaratustre), filozofije, političkih odnosa u najrazličitijim političkim društvima. Nisam mnogo čitao o Indiji iz tog vremena, iako mi je bilo jasno da je to bila vrhunska antička civilizacija, sa ogromnim gradovima (i sa loše organizovanom vojskom).

“No man ever knows when he is happy; he can only know when he was happy.”

[Felisa Rosa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not one of my favorite books of all time, but I am giving it five stars anyway because it truly is amazing. Vidal's grasp of history never fails to impress me. Creation is a long rambling journey across the fourth century B.C as viewed by Cyrus Spitama, a Persian diplomat and the grandson of Zoroaster. Vidal breaks several of the cardinal rules of fiction, and the book can seem a little exhausting at times; the lengthy conversations about ancient Greek politics would have been more interesting if I had a more in-depth understanding of Grecian history. That said, Gore is at his gossipy best when he delves into harem politics, and his vivid descriptions of Cathay, India, and Persia give life to an era too often blandly summarized.

[Paulo (not receiving notifications) · Rating 3 out of 5]

German philosopher Karl Jaspers coined the term "Achsenzeit" (Axial Age) to describe a period (from about the 8th to the 3rd century BCE), in which similar ways of thought on religion and philosophy shaped the development of different civilisations around the world.
It's fascinating how, across geographically huge distances, diverse civilisations during that specific period gave birth to strikingly similar philosophical and religious ideas. Thinkers like Confucius in China, Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha) in India, Zoroaster in Persia, the Hebrew Prophets in the Levant, and the early Greek philosophers all contributed to new ways of understanding the world, ethics, and the human condition.
Jaspers argued that this era laid the spiritual foundations of humanity, and it's hard to disagree when we consider the lasting impact these ideas have had on our world today. It’s almost as if humanity collectively took a philosophical and spiritual leap forward during those centuries.
In ancient Persia, India, China, the Levant, and the Greco-Roman world, there was a continuous parallel development without any obvious admixture between these disparate cultures. An ongoing Gestalt that poured on the World, leading to the dominant religions and mainstream ways of thought of today's World.

The first "universal religions" appeared in the age of the first universal empires and of the first, intentionally created, trading route networks. When coins, entering general circulation, began to replace the trade system. Cartography developed as triremes left the ports of Asia Minor to explore east while the Vikings drakkars went west, and in Mexico, the Teotihuacan civilisation developed hieroglyphic writing at Monte Alban in the Mixtec states. The World has become "smaller" by a fraction.
All the people and events listed above, except for the Mexicans, appear in Gore Vidal's historical novel, "Creation."

Think about this, please:
After the so-called "Age of the Sophists", the world absorbed and digested over the following centuries the alien thoughts of visionaries and lunatics, to end up with what we are today.

Zarathustra (dualistic theory of creation - good vs evil)
Socrates (human wisdom begins with the recognition of one's own ignorance)
Sophocles (deities are irrational and unpredictable).
Anaxágoras (No Becoming or Passing-Away, Everything is in Everything)
Herodotus (It is better to be envied than to be pitied.)
Democritus (Atomic theory of the universe).
Mahavira (Jainism - no god can attain Nirvana and extinction without first being reborn as a man - Does it remind you of Jesus or what?)
Gosala (doctrine of absolute fatalism or determinism - there is no free will)
Siddhartha Gautama - the Buddha (reincarnation)
Confucius (Do not impose on others what you do not wish for yourself)
Lao-Tse (non-action, non-resistance, “going with the flow”)
Pythagoras (doctrine of metempsychosis)
Mahavir (the gospel of universal love - spiritual liberation )

This is the context and content of Vidal's "Creation." Set during the height of the Persian Empire, when Darius I ruled from the Nile to the Indus, the novel explores the supposed intrigues that led up to the Persian-Greek wars, specifically the battles of Marathon and Salamis. Vidal presents these events through a blend of lively fictionalised facts, legends, geography, and intriguing cultural sociology. He is careful to avoid any anachronistic traces of Christianity, though it can be argued that Zoroastrianism shares similarities with Christianity, especially when compared to Buddhism and Confucianism. However, I found the absence of a meeting with a Jewish religious figure somewhat surprising. Overall, this novel serves as a romanticised summary of the development of some of the world's most significant religions in terms of their influence and consequences.

While being an agnostic, I hate organised religions. All of them. Please, don't you start me asking why.
Why did the omnipotent and omniscient Creator bother to create the Spirit of Destruction? But since He created it, why does He bother to fight it? And then demand that Humanity, another supposed creation of His, also fight against His first creation...... Does that make any sense?

"Creation" is full of superficial information about one of the most deeply changing times in human History. It's easy to read, since there is no evident plot: it's mostly a kind of travelogue, but the amount of names and theories compensates for the shallowness of the writing.
And this review of mine is as uninspired as was the reading. In Vidal's bibliography, I found "Kalki", a much smaller novel, far more interesting and entertaining.

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Socrates, Pythagoras, Sophocles, Pericles, Darius the Great, Buddha, Lao-Tzu, and Confucius all lived in the Fifth Century BCE, and the ideas conceived at that time continue to shape the cultures of this day. Gore Vidal imagined a man, Cyrus Spitama, a direct of relative of Zarathustra, who managed to visit and learn from these great thinkers.

On one level, the book is a study of comparative religions. Cyrus believed the only important issue was how and why the world was created. He felt most of the Greeks were ‘hair splitters’ arguing about the words used. Pythagoras, like the Jains, believed in transmigration of souls. Cyrus met with Jain monks who believed the right path was not to harm any living creature and self-denial. Buddha questioned the very concept of existence and argued against the Hindu and Jain beliefs in transmigration of souls. Confucius believed in right behavior and appeared to be an atheist. In Zoroastrian, because it introduces the concept of monotheism, as well as heaven and hell, Vidal brought in basic belief system of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Another clear message was cultural relativism. Cyrus accepted the somewhat negative Persian view of the Greeks and each of the religions was convinced they were correct. Buddha in particular pointed out that most religious questions were unknowable, so how could anyone be right or wrong.

I am not normally fan of historical fiction and could not finish Banville’s Doctor Copernicus, Stone’s Lust for Life, or even Yourcenar’s Memoir of Hadrian. I felt some of the dialogue – since it was made up - distracted from the actual history. However, in this case, Gore’s obvious research, his use of Cyrus a jaded, witty and sympathetic narrator, in addition to his clear writing style made the 500+ pages a highly enjoyable read.

[Ozymandias · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is less a novel than a guided tour of ancient philosophy all held together through the tenuous threads of one (fictional) man’s life. Cyrus Spitama is a Persian in service to the king of kings of Persia, where he encounters many of the most famous men of the age. The fifth century BC was an amazing time in world history. In Greece you have Socrates, Anaxagoras, Democritus; in Persia there is Zoroaster (at least possibly, though I suspect he was much earlier); in India you have Mahavira, Gosala, the Buddha; in China there is Lao Tzu and Confucius. All of these men changed the course of their civilizations and it is incredible to think that they were contemporaries.

Unlike, say, Forrest Gump, these encounters are more than just cameos and impossible coincidences. Cyrus is a great lover of wisdom. He seeks out these men, which makes the coincidences feel much more plausible than if he’d just run into them in a pub. Cyrus’ obsession is the search for the answers of creation. Although a devout Zoroastrian (his grandfather was Zoroaster himself) he feels that something is missing in the greater truth. How did the universe begin? And so as ambassador to India and China he seeks out the wisest men around to answer this question.

The depiction of all these figures is supremely well handled. Intellectually, they are exactly where they should be, keeping in mind that it is impossible to state with certainty which elements of the existing accounts are accurate and which are later additions/interpretations. Hearing philosophies articulated by the people themselves is a delight. We hear the importance of the rejection of desire from the Buddha’s lips himself. Lao Tzu lectures Cyrus on Taoism and the virtue of nonaction. Confucius waxes rhapsodic on the importance of tradition. They all have personalities too. The Buddha is austere and single-minded to the point you kind of want to strangle him. Democritus is curious and more accepting of foreign wisdom than most Greeks, even if he feels the need to defend them. Confucius is a warm and ethical man who loves fishing. They all work.

Cyrus Spitama is a great narrator. By which I mean he isn’t perfect. We’re familiar enough with the nature of mankind to be suspicious about perfect narrators. It means they’re lying. It means inauthenticity. But Cyrus the narrator is a blind old man of 74, and like most old men he’s prone to rambling digressions and losing his train of thought. Reminds me of my grandfather actually. He’s always good for a story or two, but last time I was up there he told me the same story three times. It was all about driving at night and driving along the white line in the center of the road. He really shouldn’t be driving at night.

Where was I? Oh yeah, Cyrus’ digressions. As with most narrators of this sort the illusion isn’t perfect. It’s not trying to be. At 1,000 pages long it’s longer than all but the most universal of histories. And Cyrus is prone to reproducing entire conversations and everyday social matters in a way no ancient author would. Even a memoirist today couldn’t reproduce their life in as much detail and accuracy as this old man with no access to diaries or records. But this sort of inauthenticity is usually for the best in historical novels. You want the illusion of authenticity, not the reality of it. Too much reality and you end up with something like Pericles the Athenian or Memoirs of Hadrian.

Cyrus is also a tremendous grump. It’s a good thing I’ve a fondness for grumpy old men. More than a grump, he’s Gore Vidal. Bitter, cynical, caustic, and full of contempt for anyone who has the audacity to disagree with him. And he’s eminently quotable. Just a few examples:

Hereditary priests usually tend to atheism. They know too much.
Like Greeks, Indians are better at questions than at answers.
Nothing, he declared, would make him happier than to see the Cathay dragon rug in the house of his favorite daughter. But we never got the rug. This was the sort of happiness that he tended to deny himself.
The Buddhists accept the world as it is, and try to eliminate it.

This book is also a look at the Greco-Persian wars from a unique viewpoint. Cyrus, despite his Greek mother and the Greek grand-nephew he’s narrating to, is very much a loyal Persian. So to him, there’s very little noble about the Greeks taking on first Darius then Xerxes. The Greeks basically start the mess through their ceaseless feuding, and then they blow their actual achievements out of all proportion, all the while jockeying for the Great King’s favors. This also includes a wonderful account of life in the Persian court. Cyrus is a close childhood friend of Xerxes and Mardonius, so he’s in the perfect position to say what goes on behind closed doors and why. Possibly the most interesting element of this is how much focus is given to the women of the harem. As per this account, the empire is basically administered through the wives of the kings, since they stay in the palace and are close to the administrative offices and the eunuchs who serve the throne. Harem intrigues determine the course of empires. Queen Atossa (daughter of Cyrus the Great, wife of Darius) is a master at these and one of the book’s most engaging characters.

Here is where Cyrus’ few problems as a narrator come in. How reliable is he really? When in the East we seem to be expected to regard him as flawless. Is the same true in the West? Much as I agree with the idea that the punitive campaign would have been seen as accomplishing its main objective (they did manage to burn Athens to the ground after all) I struggle a little with the idea that the battles of Salamis and Plataea could be written off as inconsequential. Unlucky losses to an unworthy foe sure, but a substantial part of the Persian army was lost in Greece. Similarly, the dismissal of Greeks as poor soldiers (while nice in the face of the gross eurocentrism usually displayed) hardly seems fair. And (an admittedly young) Socrates as a mere “splitter of hairs”? Is Cyrus letting his contempt get in the way of his good sense here? If so, why doesn’t he in the East? He reproduces the beliefs of the Buddha faithfully, despite despising all that he stands for. Same goes for the political situation. It feels like there’s a bit of conflict between being true to the character and telling an accurate story.

The book’s big problem though, and for a book this ambitious of course there’s a problem, is that it tries to do too much. The book is split between two narratives: Cyrus seeking wisdom while traveling to foreign lands as an ambassador and Cyrus observing the Persian court and its growing involvement in Greek affairs. At first this split isn’t too bad. The first sage, Zoroaster, blends in easily enough since he is connected with the Persian kings and therefore Cyrus’ journey. But the whole Greco-Persian Wars from a Persian angle gets derailed once we travel to India. And then we’re back again for Xerxes’ rise only to head off for five years in China. And then we’re back to the culmination of the wars and the journey to a lonely exile in Athens. If you accept the wars as the main plot then visiting the sages is the sideline. If you see the sages as the main plot then the wars are the sideline. Worse still, Cyrus’ visits to the sages in no way affects his storyline in the Persian court, just as political events back in Persia have no relevance to his experience abroad. The stories simply aren’t connected to each other.

The book is flawed in conception (ironically) and tries to take on too much by giving equal focus to two unlike and unrelated narratives. Normally this large a structural issue would automatically rule out perfection (five stars), but I am floored by the book’s vision(s) and the depth of its world. This is a book that truly understands the ideas of which it speaks and is able to represent theologies and philosophies in scenarios that come from the author’s imagination rather than just reproducing their existing statements. It is also a book that seeks to understand a marginalized and oft-maligned culture by placing it at the center of events rather than viewing it as a pale reflection of nationalistic Greek sources. Ambition is the central requirement of great literature, but it must be supported with insight, wit, and thoughtfulness. This book has all that in droves. Highly recommended if you have the patience.

[Emerson Grossmith · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favourite books on Iran and history. I first read this in 1982 when I was travelling in India. I had heard of the book before I began an around the world trip in 1981-82 and picked up a dog-eared copy in New Delhi. It had a profound effect on me because most of ancient history came from the Greek side of things primarily from the "Father of History" Herodotus.

Vidal took a different tact and wrote this book from the Persian side of history and rightly so. I don't know why Old World historians and ancient Near Eastern folk always favour the Greek side of things--there are two sides to a coin after all. We don't necessarily need to read everything from the victors side of things do we? Most Old World historians view has been skewed by reading Herodotus' histories.

After travelling through the Middle East in the 1980s, I went back to university and got a BA and MA in Near Eastern Studies with a minor in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies and also spent time studying the rich Persian history. After a few years of Near Eastern archaeology, I finally got my chance to go to Iran and did so in 1999. Naturally, I was attracted to the many Achaemenid, Sassanid and Zoroastrian sites, as well as, the many Safavid and Qajar architectural masterpieces.

Later, I went to see the movie, "300" and I was appalled at the portrayal of Xerxes the Great shamelessly wearing next to nothing and at the bronze monkey-faced "Immortals" who looked like a bunch of freaks. I had seen images of the real "Immortals" on a staircase leading up to Darius' apadana at Persepolis--they did not look like monkeys at all. Incidentally, the "Immortals" were mercenaries and they probably had Greek mercenaries within their flanks. Their portrayal in the film was a travesty of the worst kind and really a pile of BS (probably the directors had Greek script writers).

Read "Creation" it is worth it.

[Tom LA · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hey Petra thanks for the like : ) As full of himself mr. Vidal was, this book is such a masterwork! I'd like to read it again sometime.

[André Kfouri · Rating 2 out of 5]

Are you a fan of exposition? If you are, then boy have I got a book for you. I feel like good historical fiction (like "The Name of the Rose", "I, Claudius" and "Memoirs of Hadrian") works when it lets you stop thinking about the setting and leaves it to seep through the story. This is where this book falls flat.

I started reading Creation because I really enjoyed Vidal's earlier novel Julian. Both are very similar in some respects: Vidal had a gift for witty writing and did his research very well, and wasn't shy about showing either of those off. The difference is that Julian was a very coherent and tight book. The main character was such a central figure for an unique historical period that to develop him is to develop his world, and vise versa.

Cyrus Spitama, in contrast, feels like a flat excuse for a character who was created for the sole purpose of plausibly meeting all these important people (even if, for that, Vidal had to push Zoroaster forwards thousands of years just so the protagonist could be his grandson, at the cost of ignoring any formative role this 'new religion' had on Persian culture).

After a promising first chapter about getting pissed at Herodotus, the narrative takes the following shape: Cyrus tells us of how he went somewhere for no real reason, and proceeds to exposition the hell out of the place. He knows more than a realistic character has the right to (his certainty of the common roots of indo-aryan pantheons particularly irked me), and narrates it from the distant and objective point of view of a modern historian, rather than a biased and flawed man of his time who actually belongs there. The illusion of character, for lack of a developed story, is provided by the occasional Vidal witticism.

If it's going to feel like a history book, you might as well go read the real thing.

[Kevin Tole · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 it 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.

I initially gave this a 2 start rating which was distinctly unfair. This is not to say that Gore Vidal's writing is two star just that this book left me with a two star feeling. I find his novels of which Duluth and Kalki stand as excellent examples wonderfully written and expounded. I'm not too sure about this book though and would urge people to find other examples of his work first. As it is In have reread the book and believe it warrants the 4 start rating. Vidal is a master at the novel as history and vice versa.

[Perry Whitford · Rating 5 out of 5]

In many ways, Creation can lay claim to being the motherlode of all historical fiction novels.

What a period Vidal chose to write about! He simpky couldn't have picked a more fertile time. Requiring only a little elasticity with regards to the accepted dates, the roll call of historical heavyweights making an appearance in this book is simply astonishing.

Pericles, Xerxes, Buddha, Confucius, Socrates, Zoroaster - names to conjure with one and all.

Persian diplomat Cyrus Spitama, grandson of Zoroaster and childhood friend of Xerxes, is our guide as he journeys across the ancient world, from Babylon to Athens, across India and China and back again.

He meets all those luminaries mentioned above and many others, allowing Vidal to examine the actions and beliefs of each. It's like skim-reading a joint honours degree in religion and philosophy.

You have to admire the immense ambition, aligned to a vaulting self-confidence necessary to take all these giants of world history on in turn, and in the same book too.

Vidal does it his own wsy. The Greeks in particular take something of a pasting, as Vidal shows them how they must have looked to the Persians, little more than pesky flies buzzing around the foot of an elephant.

I love the Anciebt Greeks, so this was a tough pill for me to swallow. Most recyclers of history tend to present the Persians from the Greek perspective, as uncouth hoards of barbarians and fanatics.

Add to the epic scope of the narrative the fact that it's written by Gore Vidal, so every sentence is sinuous, every line of dialogue full of sly intelligence, and what more could you want?

Nothing more. This is an essential novel.

[D · Rating 4 out of 5]

An impressive and fascinating work of historical fiction. It contains the biography of the extraordinary (but fictional) life of Cyrus Spitama, a great-uncle of Democritus (the first Western philosopher to come up with a materialistic philosophy based on atoms). Told by the main character and written down by Democritus himself :). The main character is also the grandson of Zoroaster and is educated at the court of Darius, the 'King of Kings' of Persia. His life is situated in the 6th-5th century BC and many historical events re. the Achaemenid (Persian) empire, including the wars with the Greek states, are told from an insider's point of view. Moreover, Cyrus is appointed ambassador twice to the 'East' (India) and the 'East of the East', i.e. Cathay (China), leading to many adventures. In passing, the different religions/philosophies of the time are explained in some detail, through dialogues and observations. It thus appears that Zoroastrianism is (the religion is not extinct) a clear precursor of Christianity. In India, Cyrus meets and discusses with Gautama Buddha, who giggles a lot, while in China he learns about Lao-Tze and meets Confucius.

The story often contains humorous observations, with special attention to the many defects of the Athenians and the Greeks in general.

Amazingly, the tale is never boring, except in the, in my opinion, too long and drawn out section on Confucius.

[Kaśyap · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a well-informed and ambitious historical novel set in 5th century B.C. During the reign of Darius and Xerxes and the Persian-Greek wars. The book is in the form of a chronicle of the life of Cyrus Spitama, a grandson of the prophet Zoroaster. It takes the form of a narration of his life story to a young Democritus.

Starting with the death of Zoroaster and his early life at the persian court, the book then chronicles his travels to India where he meets Gosala, Mahavira and the Buddha and China where he meets the Taoist philosophers and Confucius.

With the narrator being a male associated with the ruling class of persia and also a grandson of Zoroaster, the focus is mainly on the political interactions and religious and philosophical ideas. The writer doesn't go deep into them but still manages to be thought provoking. I loved the humorous tone adopted in the narration. Even though rich in details, Vidal’s erudition for the most part doesn’t get too tedious.

The one downside is the name-dropping. I had a hard time keeping track of all the Greek, Persian and Chinese names.

[Sean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not only is Gore Vidal a snazzy dresser and an outspoken political analyst -- he's one of the best historical fiction authors going. This just might be one of my "marooned on an island" books.

[Мартин Касабов]

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 две 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.

[Nathan "N.R." Gaddis]

I recall once that Gore Vidal included this title on a list he provided some interviewer (one supposes, given the vagaries of memory) of Books Which Everyone Ought To Read. And don't quibble with me about who is and who is not included in "everyone" because, well, either it includes everyone or it's slightly hyperbolic. Nor please to quibble about the "ought" because I have really no patience nor tolerance for those who say there is only an is and never an ought, even if patience and tolerance are virtues one ought to bring with one into any exchange of views, opinions, knowledges, and things of this nature. Which is basically why Vidal is correct in including his own book on a list of Books Which Everyone Ought To Read.

[Aravala · Rating 5 out of 5]

Трябва да призная, че въпреки трудното начало тази книга ме грабна изключително много с уникалния разказ за света, който рисува. Започваш с един уморен старец, който диктува на племенника си историята на своя живот. Нещо, чиито потенциал не се забелязва в самото начало. Но няколко глави по-късно, и то съвсем неусетно, вече крачиш из залите на персийския цар, вървиш по калните индийски пътища и вдишваш аромата на цъфналите китайски вишни. Да се почувстваш поне за малко гостенин в света от онова време и да "срещнеш" исторически и легендарни личности, в такава неформална и човешка среда, се оказа истинско удоволствие.

[Julio The Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gore (I knew him slightly) always said "all the wisdom for living we can take from the East." This gargantuan but thoroughly thrilling novel is a travelogue through what Karl Jaspers called "the axial age of human history" when all the world's pre-Christian religions got their start as did Greek philosophy; itself greatly influenced by Eastern beliefs, e.g. Plato's theory of knowledge as memory versus the Hindu karma concept. Gore's hero travels from Greece to China and along the way meets Socrates, Herodotus, Zoroaster, Buddha and Confucius. Brilliant conversations.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite books. Gore Vidal's writing is one of a kind and brings the ancient world to life. When reading this book you become absorbed, you feel like you are there witnessing the tales of an old man on the shores of the Aegean recalling a life that covers the philosophy of Zoroaster, Confucius, Lao Tzu, and the Buddha. Philosophy, history, religion, life itself - the themes of 'Creation,' and these themes are brilliantly elucidated through Vidal's story telling. This is an unparalleled masterpiece of historical fiction.

[Fede · Rating 3 out of 5]

'Vidal has said that he wanted to read a novel in which Socrates, Buddha and Confucius all made an appearance: lacking such a book, he had to write it himself '. A. Burgess

Well, he did a good job.
Set in the 5th century B.C., "Creation" is the story of Cyrus Spitama, the imaginary grandson of Zoroaster - the prophet of Ahura Mazda, the Wise Lord, and hence the man who introduced the first truly monotheistic cult in the Persian empire. After the invasion of their hometown Cyrus and his Greek mother move to king Darius' court, where the boy finds himself struggling to survive the deadly wars between factions and usurpers; but he also befriends Darius' heir, Xerxes, a youth of his age whose lifelong affection will change his existence. After years of careful plotting Queen Atossa, mother of Xerxes - unforgettably portrayed by Vidal in all her glory and ugliness: due to hormonal disturbances, she must cover her face with a thick layer of enamel to hide an embarrassing beard - succeeds in her plans and Xerxes inherits the magnificent Persian empire. From the Nile to the Indus river, hundreds of cities and lands belong to Cyrus' closest friend.

Although not a Zoroastrian, Atossa is fascinated by the intelligent youth, a perfect friend and councilor for her son: Cyrus is therefore entrusted with delicate diplomatic missions during the Greek wars and starts to travel all over the empire. He gets involved in the Persian wars and the resulting crisis of Xerxes' reign; he tells us about the intrigues of exiled tyrants and plotting generals; he unravels the secret aims of ambiguous politicians; and he travels to lands so remote and mysterious that their simple existence is no more than an abstract notion for the Great King himself.
Through the eyes of the protagonist, Vidal makes a paistaking report of the events as well as a perfect depiction of the ancient world: from Persia to Greece to India to Cathay, what we see through Cyrus' eyes is the world of 2400 years ago.

Cyrus' time is a crucial era. An era of religious, philosophical, historical transition and revolution.
Being Zoroaster's grandson, the Persian-Greek youth is seen as a spiritual heir by the prophet's followers. Although he is not in the least interested in being a religious leader nor a philosopher of any sort, Cyrus is determined to find out the truth about the origins of the world and the meaning of Evil, the only questions still unsolved by all the religious and philosophical beluefs of his time. During his travels he meets the men who will shape the future of mankind's thought: founders of spiritual and philosophical systems like Buddha and Confucius, but also Socrates, Herodotus, Pericles... even though it is clearly impossible to determine with absolute precision whether any of them was alive according to our protagonist's chronology, they all lived in this age of intellectual and spiritual exploration. Vidal's true aim is to show how their paths were restlessly intertwining, twisting and turning, widening or narrowing but basically coexisting.
Cyrus is the man who is in search of an answer. He gets acquainted with any man who supposedly has found his own, just to realise that none of them is either right nor wrong. At the end of his life, Cyrus understands that the only answer possible lies in the question: it is only in the last pages that the old blind man unravels the secret. Then we are finally told the truth...

As always, Vidal is a perfect researcher as well as a great story-teller. The depiction of the main characters and settings is impeccable and there is no hindsight of any sort - the greatest flaw of much historical fiction. Vidal's characters do not speak, think, drink, eat like actors playing in a movie; they are men and women of their time, and also their portraits are as vivid and realistic as possible.
So, even though I must say that I preferred "Julian" - Vidal's historical masterpiece about the Roman emperor known as the Apostate - this book is one of the best examples of good historical fiction, written at a time (1980) in which this genre was not exactly popular. All those who are interested in ancient history will appreciate the thorough research that lead to this important achievement in Vidal's 'serious' work. On the other hand, it will be a pleasant surprise for those readers who are only acquainted with his outrageous satires, such as 'Myra Breckinridge' or 'Duluth.'

[Slawi Dimitrov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good stuff.
Seeing ancient persia, india, china and greece, framed through a fictional person who could plausibly have seen them all, set my imagination and curiosity on fire.