10-05-2006, 12:28 AM
This is strange! Here is a list of novels on ancient history recommended by the Association for Latin Teaching.
Am I the only one who is surprised by the presence of Renault's Funeral Games? I think it is a very boring novel, especially when we compare it to her master piece, The Last of the Wine, which is not listed at all.
One of the delights of the study of Antiquity is that it can potentially destroy our prejudices. Some really good novels have been written in which the past is used to criticize modern religious beliefs (e.g., Simon Vestdijk's Final Days of Pilate, Nikos Kazantzakis' Last Temptation of Christ, Robert Graves' King Jesus). I am really surprised that the Association for Latin Teaching advises us to read novels that do little to undermine our prejudices. What a pity!
Quote:By Mary Renault, Arrow & PenguinI can not believe this. What a spineless list! Where is Gore Vidal's Julian? Too political, a failed invasion of Iraq? Where is Yourcenar's Memories of Hadrian? Too shocking, a homosexual ruler? Where is Flaubert's Salammbô? Too realistic? Still, I think that no one will deny that these three novels are a lot better than the Falco novels.
* Her Alexander the Great trilogy: The Persian Boy, Fire from Heaven, Funeral Games
* The King Must Die
* The Bull from the Sea
* The Mask of Apollo
* The Praise Singer
The Sibyl, by Pär Lagerkvist (out of print?)
By Robert Graves, Penguin
I Claudius and Claudius the God
Stephanie Plowman (out of print?)
To Spare the Conqueror and The Road to Sardis
Pompeii, by Robert Harris, Random House
By Lindsey Davis, Arrow: The Falco novels
Am I the only one who is surprised by the presence of Renault's Funeral Games? I think it is a very boring novel, especially when we compare it to her master piece, The Last of the Wine, which is not listed at all.
One of the delights of the study of Antiquity is that it can potentially destroy our prejudices. Some really good novels have been written in which the past is used to criticize modern religious beliefs (e.g., Simon Vestdijk's Final Days of Pilate, Nikos Kazantzakis' Last Temptation of Christ, Robert Graves' King Jesus). I am really surprised that the Association for Latin Teaching advises us to read novels that do little to undermine our prejudices. What a pity!
