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*Count Belisarius* by Robert Graves has recently been recommended to me. I haven't read it yet. It is set about 60 years before To Forestall. It's setting is mainly the Eastern Empire. It is not a sequel to *I, Claudius*, but perhaps you meant just not Robert Graves.
I read Count Belisarius years ago, but thank you for reminding me. I can reread it; it's been many years. I meant I Claudius and its sequel; the Derek Jacobi television serial was enough for me, good as it was.
I can also heartily recommend *Raptor* by Gary Jennings. A long book, 970 pages, told in first person with unusual, and likable, narrator. He/she is a hermaphrodite. I thought it a stunning work, set about 526 as I recall. Theodoric Rex is a character.
Library has it and it's an interesting premise. If it gets graphic I'll just skip those parts. A centurion named Wyrd???
It doesn't get graphic. It is NOT pornographic. As I recall Wyrd is a woodsman whose language is very amusing. Also as I recall the only graphic scene is one where a woman has dedicated her two young sons to be catamites. The scene is told with revulsion, as it should be. The novel is not dirty, but fascinating and uplifting. Its mellow conclusion is just a right as the conclusion of Bernstein's Candide, "We will tend our garden."
I'm blabbing too much, but another point: the scene, fairly early on when Thorn's hawk dies, is one of the most moving bereavement scenes I've ever read. Here's a young man who, because of his deformity, avoids love and closeness, and the one thing he will ever fully love dies because of his own actions. Very powerful. Not many writers could pull off such a powerful scene. Genius.
Jane, have you read Memoirs of Hadrian? Quite an austere book with a languid pace but achingly beautiful in parts.
Yes I have. It was a beautiful book. Sometimes I'm in the mood for something like that. I plan to reread, since I read a few years ago. Thank you. If you can ever suggest anything else w/ Roman theme; I'm about out of ideas--something quality.
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Vann
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Oct 30, 2013 01:15PM
*Count Belisarius* by Robert Graves has recently been recommended to me. I haven't read it yet. It is set about 60 years before To Forestall. It's setting is mainly the Eastern Empire. It is not a sequel to *I, Claudius*, but perhaps you meant just not Robert Graves.
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I read Count Belisarius years ago, but thank you for reminding me. I can reread it; it's been many years. I meant I Claudius and its sequel; the Derek Jacobi television serial was enough for me, good as it was.
I can also heartily recommend *Raptor* by Gary Jennings. A long book, 970 pages, told in first person with unusual, and likable, narrator. He/she is a hermaphrodite. I thought it a stunning work, set about 526 as I recall. Theodoric Rex is a character.
Library has it and it's an interesting premise. If it gets graphic I'll just skip those parts. A centurion named Wyrd???
It doesn't get graphic. It is NOT pornographic. As I recall Wyrd is a woodsman whose language is very amusing. Also as I recall the only graphic scene is one where a woman has dedicated her two young sons to be catamites. The scene is told with revulsion, as it should be. The novel is not dirty, but fascinating and uplifting. Its mellow conclusion is just a right as the conclusion of Bernstein's Candide, "We will tend our garden."
I'm blabbing too much, but another point: the scene, fairly early on when Thorn's hawk dies, is one of the most moving bereavement scenes I've ever read. Here's a young man who, because of his deformity, avoids love and closeness, and the one thing he will ever fully love dies because of his own actions. Very powerful. Not many writers could pull off such a powerful scene. Genius.
Jane, have you read Memoirs of Hadrian? Quite an austere book with a languid pace but achingly beautiful in parts.
Yes I have. It was a beautiful book. Sometimes I'm in the mood for something like that. I plan to reread, since I read a few years ago. Thank you. If you can ever suggest anything else w/ Roman theme; I'm about out of ideas--something quality.
