This was fun but WOW was the ending boring. It started out really well I thought it was going to be the grecopersian wars from a Persian perspective which would have been super interesting. Instead it ended up with him shlepping around India and China and missing out on any of the actually interesting stuff. You get told offhand about the odd battle but it’s mainly him just wandering around and asking people about their belief system or being rude about his wife. And he keeps getting captured or sold into slavery, he’s not a very good ambassador.

If the book had stopped in India and he’d gone to Persia it would have been much better. The whole China bit was pointless 200 pages of wondering when he’ll get back to the stuff that’s actually interesting. It took him so long that I lost the will to find out.

Good but not great. A lot of missed potential.

Unas primeras páginas bastante pesadas pero, una vez introducidos los personajes y con el tiempo, la lectura se torna más fácil. Por otro lado, se ha notado que el autor y los editores en inglés se han esforzado por investigar bastante bien las distintas culturas presentadas, incluso me sorprendió enormemente el cuidado que se ha tenido con los capítulos dedicados a China puesto que, salvo algunos detalles, ha respetado y expuesto bastante bien dicha cultura [esto lo sé porque me he dedicado al estudio de la China Antigua por varios años].
Ahora bien, si hay algo que quejarme es de la edición en español, sobre todo en cuanto al cuidado de la traducción, pues hay palabras que bien pudieron ser sustituidas por otras para que no descuadren en la lectura, ¡y vaya que encontré palabras que descuadraban por completo del contexto en el que se desarrollaba la historia! Esto hacía que frene la lectura bruscamente. Por supuesto, tal vez dichos errores también hayan estado en la versión original en inglés, en todo caso, las fallas siguen siendo del proceso editorial y no del autor.

Под небе с хиляди богове – “Сътворението” на Гор Видал
Забравете. И за нелепия филм “300″, и за всички мъдротии, които сте чували за тази книга, заклеймяващи я като трудна за четене. Защото тя е дълбок и прекрасен роман, изключителен пътепис на далечни времена, на различни народи и още повече богове. Безброй богове – повече, отколкото е възможно да се въобразят дори. И сред всички тях неуморно крачи Кир Спитама, внукът на Зороастър – пророка на Единия бог, Ахура Мазда, и неговото проявление огъня. От мига, в който става свидетел на гибелта на дядо си и единствен чува думите на бога, той е с предопределено бъдеще… но не така мислят персийският владетел Дарий и неговите наследници Ксеркс и Артаксеркс.
Виж още: http://knigolandia.info/book-review/s...

Anthony Burgess’ foreword says that “Vidal has said that he wanted to read a novel in which Socrates, Buddha and Confucius all make an appearance: lacking such a book, he had to write it himself”. That sounded quite interesting to me.

Vidal’s 2002 introduction to this expanded edition notes that it restores a lot of text that was cut by an “overly busy editor” who thought “readers would not be interested”. The editor was right. In fact, he didn’t go nearly far enough. The book is terribly bloated and should have been cut by half from its current 574 pages.

The premise is certainly interesting, but the execution is tedious. The only theme that runs through the book is the narrator’s interest in the origins of creation. However, he only returns to that theme occasionally and doesn’t shed much light on it. The rest is an overly detailed history larded with unimportant minutiae, as if Vidal wanted to show off his considerable research but had no editorial judgment about what was important or interesting.

I finally forced myself to finish the book, but it was an unrelieved slog and I regretted afterwards that I had not abandoned it and read something else. It is hard to understand how Vidal could have made such an interesting subject so dull.

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.

If this was to be rated solely for the style and flair of writing, I would have rated it as high as others have, but taking into account that this is a historical fiction, I am surprised so many people have actually called the book informative.

The book is an autobiographical account of a blind Cyrus Spitama, one of the most engaging characters I have come across in a long time, recounting his life to his grandson.

In a refreshing breakaway, the book talks about Persia and highlights its military might, something a lot of movies and stories like 300, fail to communicate. There is a humurous element to the story telling and it provokes you to keep reading.

And yet I stopped. Why?

The book in a way is about nothing. It never actually gets into anything in details. It feels like reading a fictionalized compilation of museum visits, academic studies of the time period and Gore Vidal's own fantasies trying to recreate some of what the age would have had been like, for the readers.

I won't have mind that either, had the book not been seething with biogotry & racist stereotypes.

First off, I would love to see his sources. Did he find a source which actually told him that Indian society of that age was "coloring their beard" or was it just another of those brilliant attempts at highlighting how Eastern countries are effeminate, so characteristic of the writers of the 70s and 80s?
Same goes when the author talks about Ajatshatru. The man who actually invented seige engies (of sorts) and was a most brilliant military commander is time and again shown as "almost a woman if not for the size of his arms". Vidal even fancied a "snake charmer" as soon as he visits India through Cyrus Spitama. And 5th century BC India has strangely the same season as the Colonists who wrote essays on it almost 22 centuries later. Weirdly the country that provided dyes and clothes to entire World of the time, have their men and women go topless, but Persians are immacutaely dressed. I wish it stopped there. There are just so much of the typical colonial western superiority complex that I fear I'd end up going into a rant rather than sticking to a review.

And then came the pretentious dive into philosophy. At this point of time it started feeling like a Paulo Coelho or John Green book. Not for once there actually is a real philosophical idea laid down. There are disconnected ramblings left in the book which the reader is to ponder upon and then accept Gore Vidal as the source who inspired the idea but kept it to himself, the breakthrough philosophical genuis, while he skeptically tears down the acutal religious or philosophical ideas established for centuries, veiled in humor in his book. I am not offended, but it sure sounds unappealing when you pose as intellectual snob.

In short, though I enjoyed the writing to a degree, the content is thoroughly disappointing.

A sweeping tale of Persian, Greek, and Chinese history, told by Cyrus "Forrest Gump" Spitama. Delves into real world history and philosophy without losing the thread of the main narrative.

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.

Com a comentarista de l'actualitat a Gore Vidal se'l troba a faltar. És va acomiadar del món blasmant amb entusiasme a G. W.Bush. Si hagués arribat a veure a Trump president no ho vull ni imaginar.
Com a novel·la , Creació , te molt del tremp periodístic del Vidal narrador que explica coses concretes que passen a llocs concrets propiciades per gent concreta durant el seu temps, tan limitat. I això ho apica dels grans fundadors dels sistemes de comprensió del món construits a l'Atenes de Pericles, (Herodot, Péricles, Sòcrates, Democrit...), al príncep Siddharta Gautama fundador del budisme i a Confuci. També es aplicable als relats derrotats com l'imperialisme persa i la fascinant religió del zoroastrime. A la ploma de Vidal aquests mons es tornen reals i propers. Encara que sembli estrany aquesta van ser tots contemporanis. I una persona que hagués tingut l'oportunitat de viatjar els hagues pogut coneixer a tots. Vidal es desmitificador i malevol i no pels a la llengua.
El protagonista de la novel·la és un alter ego de Gore Vidal que viu al súmmum de l'hegemonia del seu país, ho volta tot , te la vista oberta a tot i ho llegeix tot i té prou nas per flairar els indicis de la futura decadència i destrucció del seu món. L'erudició és colossal i l'estil divertit, intel·ligent i àgil és Vidal pur. Que més voleu?

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.

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 Vidal çok üretken bir yazar. Kendisi ve romanları Türkiye'de çok bilinmese de dünyanın en çok satan tarih romanı yazarlarından. Tarihi bilgisi ve detay hakimiyeti inanılmaz. Daha önce Hristiyan Roma'yı tekrar Paganizme döndürmek isteyen imparator Julian'ı anlattığı 'Julian'ı okumuştum. M.S 4 .yüzyılda geçen romandaki detaylar, dini ve politik bilgiler çok zengindi. Fakat Julian çok ilginç bir karakter olmasına rağmen kitap roman olarak nedense biraz kuru kalmıştı. Dönemi anlamak ve öğrenmek için iyi fakat roman olarak çok başarılı bulmamıştım.

Yine de Vidal beğendiğim bir yazar olduğu için başka bir kitabını daha aldım. 'Creation' M.Ö 5. yüzyılda geçen ve ana kahramanı Zerdüşt'ün torunu Cyrus Spitama olan bir tarihi roman. Kahramanımız yine çok renkli bir karakter. Zerdüşt'ün torunu olmasını dışında annesi Yunan. Ve Pers Kralı Darius'un ve sonra oğlu Xerxes'in elçisi olarak Hindistan ve Çin'de elçi olarak bulunuyor. Ki, Hindistan ve Çin o zaman bilinen dünyanın en ucu. Bu görevleri sırasında da başta Budha ve Konfüçyus olmak üzere pek çok tarihi karakterle tanışıyor. Yaşamanın son yıllarını ise Atina'da geçiriyor ve Socrat, Pericles ve Aspasia'dan oluşan bir çevreye sahip oluyor.

'Creation' yazarı Vidal'ın tanımladığı gibi 'karşılaştırmalı dinler tarihi' olarak okunabilir. Tek tanrılı dinlerin çıkış noktası olan Zerdüşt anlayışı çok detaylı olarak anlatıyor. Ardından Hindistan'daki farklı inançlar, Budizm ve Konfüçyus'un görüşlerine sıra geliyor. Kahramanımız kitaba adını veren yaratılışın nasıl gerçekleştiğini anlamanın peşinde tüm dünyayı dolaşıyor.

Pers-Yunan savaşları ve ilişkileri de kitabın önemli bir bölümünü oluşturuyor. Spitama'nın Yunan kültürü ile ilgili kinayeli tespitleri efsane. M.Ö 5. yüzyıl coğrafyası, yaşayış biçimleri, iktidar ilişkileri hakkında çok şey öğrendim. Fakat romanın sürükleyiciliği ile ilgili zorlandım. Sanki roman değil de, tarihi ve dini bilgilerin çok başarılı bir şekilde sunulduğu bir kitap okudum. Bu arada Türkiye'de çok satan tarihi romanlardan yine de kat kat üstün. Ama benim için çıta Robert Graves olduğu için beklentim çok yüksek. Eğer tarihi bilgilere meraklıysanız seversiniz ama roman olarak çok sürükleyici değil.