Creation
a novel
by Gore Vidal · first published 1981
5mentions
2recommended by
4HN commenters
2009–2023first – last mentioned
50% recommend25% neutral25% critical
Cyrus, a fifth century Persian, relates the story of his travels and encounters as an ambassador.
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I read Creation by Gore Vidal and I was blown away by his imagination and knowledge of the classical world. His other books are on my list.
on “A life in feuds: how Gore Vidal gripped a nation” ↗Gore Vidal wrote Creation as penned by the Persian ambassador in Athens in the 5th century BC. Highly amusing. Seen from that viewpoint, the Greeks were just a bunch of pirates and cattle raiders on the edges of real civilization.
on “Iran's Great Wall Is Now Buried and Forgotten” ↗If you like this sort of thing, you may enjoy Gore Vidal's Creation book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_(novel) The story follows the adventures of a fictional "Cyrus Spitama", an Achaemenid Persian diplomat of the 6th-5th century BCE who travels the known world…
on “The Ancient Indian Buddhist Monk Buried in Athens” ↗…interested in a book, despite working hard to find something of interest in it, then I'm wasting my time. The best books to read aren't necessarily the best books. For example, I just happened to pick up Creation by Gore Vidal while halfway through Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind which I happened to pick up after a painful breakup caused by incompatible cultural assumptions. It was a happy coincidence,…
on “100 Best English Nonfiction Books of Twentieth Century” ↗Funny, just a couple weeks ago a friend recommended Gore Vidal's historical novel Creation, where the author is a grandson of Zoroaster. He manages to meet Socrates, the Buddha, and Confucius, which was actually possible at a certain point. (I don't like Vidal's writing, which I find to be…
on “Zoroastrians make a comeback in northern Iraq” ↗