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"So make yourself comfortable, Democritus. I have a long memory, and I shall indulge it. As we wait in this drafty house for the Spartan army to come - not a moment too soon as far as I'm concerned - I shall begin at the beginning and tell you what I know of the creation of this world, and of all other worlds too. I shall also explain why evil is - and is not."
-- Creation by Gore Vidal
Monk gave his weekend reading over to beginning the novel that Mr. Vidal has said is the one book of his that he would want people to read - if they had to read only one.
At this point in Monk's life, he doesn't have much interest for those Big Questions about the origin of the world or evil, having grown comfortable with leaving the unanswerable unanswered, and just trying to savor and appreciate the day, the moment, as much as one can in the world as we know it.
But Monk was looking for some fiction to ease his reading on the War on Terror, and struggling to think of anything that would interest him, when Gore Vidal came to mind. Monk had been meaning to try some of Vidal's historical fiction.
After a few chapters of Creation, Mr. Vidal has a new fan. The protagonist is Cyrus Spitama, the grandson of Zoroaster who grows up to become a high official of the Persian empire. We get to look at that seminal era of Western Civilization when the battle between East and West was between the Persians and Greeks. In his travels, Spitama slakes his spiritual curiosity by seeking out and interviewing the seminal religious figures of that fertile time, from Buddha to Confucious, as well as bumping up with such figures as Socrates.
And Monk is already enthralled by Vidal's literary and historical power...
"So make yourself comfortable, Democritus. I have a long memory, and I shall indulge it. As we wait in this drafty house for the Spartan army to come - not a moment too soon as far as I'm concerned - I shall begin at the beginning and tell you what I know of the creation of this world, and of all other worlds too. I shall also explain why evil is - and is not."
-- Creation by Gore Vidal
Monk gave his weekend reading over to beginning the novel that Mr. Vidal has said is the one book of his that he would want people to read - if they had to read only one.
At this point in Monk's life, he doesn't have much interest for those Big Questions about the origin of the world or evil, having grown comfortable with leaving the unanswerable unanswered, and just trying to savor and appreciate the day, the moment, as much as one can in the world as we know it.
But Monk was looking for some fiction to ease his reading on the War on Terror, and struggling to think of anything that would interest him, when Gore Vidal came to mind. Monk had been meaning to try some of Vidal's historical fiction.
After a few chapters of Creation, Mr. Vidal has a new fan. The protagonist is Cyrus Spitama, the grandson of Zoroaster who grows up to become a high official of the Persian empire. We get to look at that seminal era of Western Civilization when the battle between East and West was between the Persians and Greeks. In his travels, Spitama slakes his spiritual curiosity by seeking out and interviewing the seminal religious figures of that fertile time, from Buddha to Confucious, as well as bumping up with such figures as Socrates.
And Monk is already enthralled by Vidal's literary and historical power...
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no subject
Date: 2004-09-19 06:36 pm (UTC)From:He's one of the few authors that I've read who can actually turn a fascinating topic into one you hate merely by his technical skills. Some of his more law-related essays especially...we used to read him for a few classes.
no subject
Date: 2004-09-19 06:47 pm (UTC)From:If you hadn't read this one, I thought it was something you could go for.
no subject
Date: 2004-09-19 06:58 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2004-09-19 09:37 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2004-09-20 07:06 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2004-09-20 02:57 pm (UTC)From:How's MOnk?
no subject
Date: 2004-09-20 03:31 pm (UTC)From:I just haven't found much will to check into Blurty. But, of course, you can always post here if you wanted, hmm...
Good to see you!