book review: Creation by Gore Vidal

Creation
Originally uploaded by Dimitris Mazarakis.

Ok so you know my passion for fiction that in some way embraces history. And Gore Vidal is just one of those writers that really does his job well. I am not necessarily seeking historical accuracy, for that I can read a historian. I am looking for excitement, truths and lessons that remain over the milennia, original ideas an plot.

And Creation has got all of that.

Original idea: Telling the story of the Persian Wars (we know so much from history that we learn at school in my country) from the Persian and not the Greek perspective. The main person in the book is a Persian dude that travelled the world and worked for the Great Kings of Persia, that ruled the world around 500 bc.

Theme: The book is built around our hero's quest for the one real religion.

Excitement: In different missions he travels around the world going all the way to India and China, describing the world at the time and meeting great personalities of his time. He ends up in Athens, old and blind, after peace between Greece and Persia is declared.

In the beginning I didn't enjoy the book much, cos I was reading small pieces and couldn't get the story running. But once you get into it, you're in it for good. Definitely a recommendation for fans of history and related fiction. And check Gore Vidal out, he's written lots and lots of fiction and non fiction.