Go to The Ciel Show
- Add a comment
- Go to I've been reading...
Re: "Doesn't anyone speak the King's English? I said MONEY!"
No, I haven't read it, Ciel, but, it sounds intriguing. The author you're referring to is Margaret George, who did a ton of research for the book...fifteen years and around 300 books, according to the synopsis I read on-line.
Another excellent biographical novel is
The Poe Shadow by Matthew Pearl, in which a lawyer who admired Edgar Allen Poe's work tries to rescue Poe's reputation on the heels of his untimely death.
It reads like a suspense novel, full of intrigue and danger that Poe himself would have been proud of.
posted by
metalrat
on December 6, 2008 at 5:05 PM
| link to this | reply
"Doesn't anyone speak the King's English? I said MONEY!"
metalrat, have you read The Autobiography of Henry VIII? Which is not, in fact that, but a novelization of his life as if he wrote it. I don't recall the author's name, and can't locate it at the moment, but she has written several other similar books. I think, one about Cleopatra...
posted by
Ciel
on December 6, 2008 at 4:32 PM
| link to this | reply
Your many points are well stated...
...and make up your summation nicely.
History is not an exact science, as you well know and have well illustrated, though, I believe it could be more exact if not for the agendas of those writing it.
I've always said that he who controls history, controls the future, for obvious reasons.
I have
The Private Life of Henry VIII and thought it to be a very sympathetic portrayal.
It's a wonderful movie and Charles Laughton was brilliant, as always.
And you're right about Will and Ariel Durant...very readable.
I enjoyed this...thank you, Ciel.
posted by
metalrat
on December 6, 2008 at 11:44 AM
| link to this | reply
Merkie, I agree--when the research and scholarship is good,
the historical novel is one of the most palatable ways to enjoy history, and get a real feel for it. Colleen McCullough, and her long series on the last century of the Roman Republic is one of those! I believe they used her work as a significant resource in that spectacular HBO production that ran two seasons, ROME. They didn't follow her story, but used her historical vision of Rome and Romans, I think.
posted by
Ciel
on December 6, 2008 at 11:41 AM
| link to this | reply
Naut, I had to go back and re-read what I'd written
to find the garden reference. While I was referring to the way I was addressing the topic, the metaphor does work, doesn't it? For exploration of personality, or of history, or both together.
Here's another: observing the bud of a leaf on a tree, following back down the twig to the branch, working down to the trunk and finally the roots... Who's that popular historian with the TV show... who traces the small and unlikely beginnings of large events and situations? Oh, yeah, James Burke--kind of like a bug on the bud...
Metaphors are phun!
posted by
Ciel
on December 6, 2008 at 11:38 AM
| link to this | reply
Troosha, yes, I read the book and saw the movie.
It didn't stick in my mind, apparently... It was colorful, and laid out a particular interpretation of the relationship between Anne and Mary Boleyn--and Anne's with her brother George, and his with men generally... certainly the most dramatic interpretation that her last pregnancy was by her brother and not by Henry--the one of which it was said after she lost it, "She miscarried of her savior." (Had the baby been born whole and healthy, I doubt Anne herself would have lasted with Henry another thousand days. And in the current series, The Tudors, they have taken the version of events that the fetus was deformed, and possibly "a blessing in disguise" that it was not born. I don't know if this squares with historic record, but might since it could be a matter of recorded fact rather than conjecture.)
There is also the interpretation of Anne that she was a shrew but not an adulteress at all. But Henry wanted rid of her, and 'justice' in their day was certainly subject to the King's desires.
posted by
Ciel
on December 6, 2008 at 11:23 AM
| link to this | reply
Most interesting. I enjoy historic novels and am so impressed with the research the authors present in their books . The real perspective seems enhanced but you do not get the same story as reading the actual history. Intrigueing events in either scenario!Grand post to stimulate others !
posted by
merkie
on December 6, 2008 at 10:15 AM
| link to this | reply
Ciel
Really excellent! You make many good points here about the approach to history...I especially like your analogy of 'rambling in a garden'! I sometimes speak of 'doing' history as a kind of archeology, but I think I like your idea better! Going back into the 'past', 'rambling' in a garden that is both familiar and strange, and where we always discover new and interesting things, in way which also is in part a discovery of
self...
posted by
Nautikos
on December 6, 2008 at 10:06 AM
| link to this | reply
Ciel
I find it all very fascinating as well. Have you watched “Other Boleyn Girl”? Other Boleyn Girl info
posted by
Troosha
on December 6, 2008 at 8:38 AM
| link to this | reply