/lit/'s thought on Historical Fiction

[Anonymous No.13760698]

any suggestions are welcome

[Anonymous No.13760733]

>>13760698
Pic related is amazing. It will help you with your life. Do not be intimidated by the setting, you do not need to really know anything about Japanese history to read it, but you will learn a little in the process. It is set just after the battle of Sekigahara in 1600 and follows Musashi's quest to become the greatest swordsman ever. Truly an epic tale

I, Claudius and Claudius the God are both good books as well but the author takes many liberties with accurate depictions of the characters

[Anonymous No.13760748]

>>13760733
thanks man

[Anonymous No.13760762]

>>13760698
Umberto Eco's books are pretty good.

[Anonymous No.13760774]

>>13760733
How does he take liberties? I thought basically the whole point of those books (which I liked a lot) was that he takes the skeletal account provided by the classical authors, mainly Suetonius and Tacitus, and then fills out the missing details in a plausible but obviously fictional and dramatic account. I don't recall that he dramatically subverts any of the characters' reputations, I guess maybe aside from Claudius, who he turns into a sympathetic flawed character easily recognizable to a modern audience, in juxtaposition to the (it generally seems to a modern reader) cruel and hateful accounts in the sources, on account of his deformity and stutter and so on. Aside from that, if anything, I thought the point was that Graves was taking the standard historical reading of various characters, like that Livia was a scheming jezebel, and dialing it up to dramatic proportions. Not subverting such readings.

[Anonymous No.13760794]

After a few books, you'll be growing mutton chops, what?

[Anonymous No.13760801]

>>13760733
do you have the hardcover or paperback?

[Anonymous No.13760827]

>>13760774
You are correct but Livia was likely nothing like how she is depicted in the book, which made me wary of treating the books as anything more than fiction. The only historical source that suggests Livia was like this was Tacitus, which explains why Graves writes her like this, but other than that there is no evidence she was a scheming jezebel. He does the same with some of the other characters, but I cannot recall which since I read it a while ago, I just remember Livia being the most criminal example.

[Anonymous No.13760848]

>>13760801
Get the hardcover as it is ~900 pages

[Anonymous No.13760855]

>>13760794
Flashman is cleanest, best pleasure. Really top notch.

[Bleeding Edge is a historical (...) No.13760861]

Bleeding Edge is a historical novel

[Anonymous No.13760862]

>>13760794
>>13760855
How does it compare to Sharpe?

[Anonymous No.13760863]

sounded cool but haven't read it, its about to come in the mail

[Anonymous No.13760871]

Shogun was fun.

Big dicked Englishman crushing Japanese puss.

[Anonymous No.13760888]

>>13760827
Looks like you're right, the image comes mostly from Tacitus. It's the one that becomes popular in literary culture etc., so I guess Graves is following the "standard" Livia that most educated Brits would know.

Still, Suetonius was working in Rome for the government while writing the first half of his history (or so?), so maybe he just couldn't report the really spicy stuff. dunno.

[Anonymous No.13760896]

>>13760862
I haven’t read Sharpe, but Flashman is definitely better.

[Anonymous No.13761837]

>>13760698
It is my favorite fiction genre for modern books.

[Anonymous No.13762245]

>>13760698
Count Belisarius and I, Claudius by Robert Graves are both excellent.

[Anonymous No.13762262]

>>13760896
I havent read Flashman, but its probably better than sharpe. Sharpe is a nice light hearted, and a little cheesy romp. Its junk food, but its nice enough. I prefer Horatio Hornblower.

[Anonymous No.13762286]

>>13760862
Sharpe is fun, but Flashman will teach you more about fascinating history you had never heard of. Then he'll seduce a woman and try to avoid all danger, and be damned charming the whole time.

My only regret is that my facial hair can't grow into his tart catchers.

[Anonymous No.13762291]

>>13760698
Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz

[Anonymous No.13762390]

>>13760698
Sharpe, Aubrey-Maturin and Hornblower are all great if you want some Napoleonic fiction.

[Anonymous No.13762394]

>>13760698
My favorite is Ben Hur: a Tale of the Christ

[Anonymous No.13762921]

is there a Historical fiction chart?

[Anonymous No.13763069]

What about mythic historical fiction; stories based on historical places so old they are shrouded in legend and occult notions?
Or would that classify as fantasy?

[Anonymous No.13763079]

>>13760698
>no one's posted JG Farrell yet
Troubles>Singapore. Haven't read Siege but it's the shortest

[Anonymous No.13764386]

>>13762245
>>13760733
If you like Graves read Memoirs of Hadrian by Yourcenar and Augustus by John Williams.

[Anonymous No.13765232]

>>13760733
Taiko is also good.

[Anonymous No.13765246]

I've never read it but Wolf Hall gets mentioned a lot.

[Anonymous No.13765265]

Aztec by Gary Jennings

[Anonymous No.13765448]

Burr and Lincoln by Gore Vidal both exceeded my expectations. Highly recommend them.

[Anonymous No.13765629]

Thoughts on these books

[Anonymous No.13765761]

>>13762291
No! Pharaoh by Bolesław Prus.

[Anonymous No.13765783]

>>13765761
The movie is fucking awesome as well
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rj0VyfFiC8Q

[Anonymous No.13765798]

It's pretty good series of small books about 14th century France.

[Anonymous No.13765926]

>>13765448
I want to loan Lincoln from my local library. Thing is, I’m ignorant about USA history (south american). Do i need some background? How about the language? Is it difficult or not so much?

[Anonymous No.13767641]

>>13765629
Not a big fan of Follett, the others are pretty good.

[Anonymous No.13767692]

>>13765926
>Do i need some background?
Yes, if you read both of their Encyclopedia Britannica and Wikipedia pages you'll be more than ready for the books.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Abraham-Lincoln

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Burr
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Aaron-Burr

[Anonymous No.13767710]

How has no one posted this

[Anonymous No.13767711]

>>13760698
No

[Anonymous No.13767731]

Augustus