The reason I am asking this is because I think it’s extremely difficult for any author to write accurately about a time period they haven’t lived in. I feel, if you want to learn about the past, it’s much better to read books written in the past, rather than contemporary works *about* the past.
There are of course some exceptions, some historical novels that are the result of meticulous study of a certain time period, or done by incredibly talented authors, or about the time period that is in the past, but still not a distant past. War and Peace would satisfy all those criteria. It’s about a past that’s relatively recent for the author, it’s incredibly well researched, and the author is incredibly talented.
But I feel in general historical novels can be often of questionable quality. Especially when the authors give the “historical feel” to the work, instead of trying to make it like a work that an author from the time period that’s being covered could plausible write.
What are your thoughts on that?
BTW, I’d be thrilled to read some authentic works from old eras. For example for the Ancient Rome, Meditations by Marcus Aurelius could be a good choice to familiarize oneself with that time period. But unfortunately it lacks many elements that we usually enjoy in a novel. On the other hand, I’m not really sure I could trust modern authors when it comes to their depiction of the Roman times.
I also feel that today’s authors couldn’t write a realistic novel about early 19th century England. I mean, it would be quite difficult for them to write with the same authenticity about how extremely important it is for women to marry, or how scandalous it is for them to have premarital relationships, as Jane Austin did it. I mean they could try, but I think it would sound quite fake. Only someone who actually lived through it can write well about that stuff. Or maybe I underestimate modern authors.
That’s why I ask you fellows.
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by hn-mc
6 Comments
Not if it’s a good writer.
Check out Julian by Gore Vidal.
>I think it’s extremely difficult for any author to write accurately about a time period they haven’t lived in.
I feel the same way about books that are set in the future.
Yeah. It would be impossible to write about Rome without reading an 1800 year old book of philosophy.
As with any genre, there’s the good and the bad; and the truly excellent will always be a small group.
*The Hunchback of Notre Dame* strikes me as worthy historical fiction set long before the time of the author.
Some people spend their whole lives throughly researching specific time periods and can actually use fiction to help us understand those tiles better!
Shogun is the only historical fiction book I have truly enjoyed