Recommendations for fiction that takes a non-mainstream view of a historical event/person
August 9, 2008 9:05 PM Subscribe
What are some good books of historical fiction that take a contrarian view of some well-known event/person?
To give you examples of what I mean: I recently read Oscar Wilde's The Portrait of Mr. W. H. in his collection of short stories, Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and Other Stories. In this story, Wilde argues that the Mr. W. H. whom Shakespeare dedicates his sonnets to is Willie Hughes, a boy actor in Shakespeare's company. His arguments come from the sonnets themselves.
Another example is Josephine Tey's The Daughter of Time, which presents arguments against Richard III having had his nephews smothered while imprisoned in the Tower of London. The story is told from the point of view of a London policeman, bed-ridden for a while and taking up historical investigations to pass the time.
So do you have recommendations for books along similar lines? While both these books are told from the point of view of a third person investigating historical events, that need not necessarily be the case.
For example, a Hindi play that I read for high school Hindi told the story of the Kurukshetra war (on which the Mahabharata is based) from the point of view of the customary villains -- the Kaurava brothers.
To give you examples of what I mean: I recently read Oscar Wilde's The Portrait of Mr. W. H. in his collection of short stories, Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and Other Stories. In this story, Wilde argues that the Mr. W. H. whom Shakespeare dedicates his sonnets to is Willie Hughes, a boy actor in Shakespeare's company. His arguments come from the sonnets themselves.
Another example is Josephine Tey's The Daughter of Time, which presents arguments against Richard III having had his nephews smothered while imprisoned in the Tower of London. The story is told from the point of view of a London policeman, bed-ridden for a while and taking up historical investigations to pass the time.
So do you have recommendations for books along similar lines? While both these books are told from the point of view of a third person investigating historical events, that need not necessarily be the case.
For example, a Hindi play that I read for high school Hindi told the story of the Kurukshetra war (on which the Mahabharata is based) from the point of view of the customary villains -- the Kaurava brothers.
Gore Vidal wrote several novels of historical fiction. Lincoln, Burr, Live from Golgotha, etc.
You might also enjoy the film, The Confederate States of America.
posted by HotPatatta at 9:39 PM on August 9, 2008
You might also enjoy the film, The Confederate States of America.
posted by HotPatatta at 9:39 PM on August 9, 2008
Well, since you mentioned Gore Vidal:
Blacklisted By History presents quite a different view of Joseph McCarthy than the one presented in my American high school history classes.
Liberal Fascism rakes both Roosevelts over the coals (and LBJ and Coolidge!) pretty well. And JFK.
posted by ostranenie at 10:34 PM on August 9, 2008
Blacklisted By History presents quite a different view of Joseph McCarthy than the one presented in my American high school history classes.
Liberal Fascism rakes both Roosevelts over the coals (and LBJ and Coolidge!) pretty well. And JFK.
posted by ostranenie at 10:34 PM on August 9, 2008
Best answer: Burr in particular sets out to be contrarian.
Beryl Bainbridge's According to Queeney is a really exasperated portrait of Samuel Johnson.
Ford Madox Ford's The Fifth Queen novels (about Katherine Howard) take a definitely non-orthodox attitude to the queen in question.
Janice Galloway's Clara rehabilitates Robert Schumann's wife, a famed pianist in her own right.
Roger McDonald's Mr. Darwin's Shooter shows us Darwin's impact from the POV of someone who helped him gather his samples.
Frederic Prokosch's The Missolonghi Manuscript offers an...interesting...take on Lord Byron. (Cf. Paul West's Lord Byron's Doctor, told from the POV of the sad-sack Dr. Polidori.)
A couple of revisionist novels about Jesus, besides the usual Kazantzakis: Jim Crace's Quarantine and Jose Saramago's The Gospel According to Jesus Christ.
Heading off into Greek myth: Robert Graves' Hercules, My Shipmate takes a sardonic view of Jason and Co.
In a way, the late George MacDonald Fraser's Flashman novels may qualify. They're mighty contrarian, to be sure.
posted by thomas j wise at 10:37 PM on August 9, 2008
Beryl Bainbridge's According to Queeney is a really exasperated portrait of Samuel Johnson.
Ford Madox Ford's The Fifth Queen novels (about Katherine Howard) take a definitely non-orthodox attitude to the queen in question.
Janice Galloway's Clara rehabilitates Robert Schumann's wife, a famed pianist in her own right.
Roger McDonald's Mr. Darwin's Shooter shows us Darwin's impact from the POV of someone who helped him gather his samples.
Frederic Prokosch's The Missolonghi Manuscript offers an...interesting...take on Lord Byron. (Cf. Paul West's Lord Byron's Doctor, told from the POV of the sad-sack Dr. Polidori.)
A couple of revisionist novels about Jesus, besides the usual Kazantzakis: Jim Crace's Quarantine and Jose Saramago's The Gospel According to Jesus Christ.
Heading off into Greek myth: Robert Graves' Hercules, My Shipmate takes a sardonic view of Jason and Co.
In a way, the late George MacDonald Fraser's Flashman novels may qualify. They're mighty contrarian, to be sure.
posted by thomas j wise at 10:37 PM on August 9, 2008
Oh come on, ostranenie, at least HotPatatta mentioned Gore Vidal's novels. You disagree with Gore Vidal, but don't take that as an invitation to recommend stuff shelved in the nonfiction section (my bias showing).
posted by Gnatcho at 11:16 PM on August 9, 2008
posted by Gnatcho at 11:16 PM on August 9, 2008
Fatherland might fit the bill. It's an "alternate history" of the world we'd be living in if the Nazis had won World War II.
posted by amyms at 12:23 AM on August 10, 2008
posted by amyms at 12:23 AM on August 10, 2008
The Sot-Weed Factor by John Barth. It offers another view of John Smith (as in Jamestown, Pocahantas) as well as life during the early colonial days in America. Apparently it may suffer from the same condition of being truthful yet contrary to popular conceptions that OmieWise's Lindbergh book has.
posted by HE Amb. T. S. L. DuVal at 12:47 AM on August 10, 2008
posted by HE Amb. T. S. L. DuVal at 12:47 AM on August 10, 2008
My first thought upon reading your post was Gore Vidal, Lincoln -- not that it was/is contrarian but rather that it shows more of Lincoln then I've found in other writings, his locking up newspaper editors who disagreed with his policies, his doubts, his struggles. In short, his humanity. A great read. And then I come in and about 74 others have already commented upon it, I am, yet again, late to the ball...
posted by dancestoblue at 12:52 AM on August 10, 2008
posted by dancestoblue at 12:52 AM on August 10, 2008
War and Peace presents a contrarian view of Napoleon.
posted by languagehat at 7:10 AM on August 10, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by languagehat at 7:10 AM on August 10, 2008 [1 favorite]
Gore Vidal has already been mentioned, but I'd recommend his book Julian. I haven't read it in some time, but it was funny, conveyed the atmosphere of the times and displayed well paganism's cultural relevance back then instead of going all HURF DURF PAGAN WORSHIPER .
posted by ersatz at 8:18 AM on August 10, 2008
posted by ersatz at 8:18 AM on August 10, 2008
It looks like there's a lot of different options on this page at wiki.
posted by damnjezebel at 9:06 AM on August 10, 2008
posted by damnjezebel at 9:06 AM on August 10, 2008
March, by Geraldine Brooks, is written from the POV of the father in "Little Women." That character was based on Louisa May Alcott's father so, in turn, Brooks's book could be about him. It definitely shows another side of the idolized character in Little Women.
The March, by Doctorow, is about General Sherman. Not sure it's a contrarian view, but he's a well-rounded character and it's a good read.
posted by Sweetie Darling at 9:24 AM on August 10, 2008
The March, by Doctorow, is about General Sherman. Not sure it's a contrarian view, but he's a well-rounded character and it's a good read.
posted by Sweetie Darling at 9:24 AM on August 10, 2008
The Other Boleyn Girl and The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory immediately come to mind. Gregory used a fairly controversial source for the first book, especially, which creates a new birth order for the Boleyn sisters, suggests that Mary Boleyn's children were fathered by Henry VIII, and suggests that the allegations against Anne Boleyn (including allegations of incest) were, more-or-less, true. This isn't a complete fictionalization of the historical sources, but it goes against some more popular histories.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 11:04 AM on August 10, 2008
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 11:04 AM on August 10, 2008
TC Boyle's The Road to Wellville has breakfast-cereal magnate John Harvey Kellogg as a major character.
posted by box at 11:18 AM on August 10, 2008
posted by box at 11:18 AM on August 10, 2008
Alan Moore's From Hell was the first thing to pop into my mind when I read this question.
Eco's The Name of the Rose presents a unique theory about something that I can't mention without spoiling the novel.
TC Boyle's The Inner Circle might work.
posted by painquale at 2:08 PM on August 10, 2008
Eco's The Name of the Rose presents a unique theory about something that I can't mention without spoiling the novel.
TC Boyle's The Inner Circle might work.
posted by painquale at 2:08 PM on August 10, 2008
The Known World presents slavery in the US south as a normal part of everyday life -- a different picture of slavery than other things about that era that I personally have read. Most books focus on the shockingly cruel aspects, as if to ask "how could anyone have ever let this go on?" This author shows how people -- many good, well-meaning southerners -- could let it go on. It de-emphasizes the cruelty that does occur and portrays slavery as a normal part of the way some whites and some blacks accumulated wealth. It is anti-slavery, but it shows slavery, at least in part of the book, through the eyes of the apologists.
posted by salvia at 3:46 PM on August 10, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by salvia at 3:46 PM on August 10, 2008 [1 favorite]
"The Journeyer" by Gary Jennings gives an alternate view of Marco Polo's travels (it's pretty graphic).
posted by h00py at 6:32 PM on August 10, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by h00py at 6:32 PM on August 10, 2008 [1 favorite]
Time's Arrow by Martin Amis messes with morality by making events of a fictional Nazi doctor's life go backwards.
People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks also has interesting theories about the origins of the Sarajevo Hagaddah.
posted by BAKERSFIELD! at 8:43 PM on August 10, 2008
People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks also has interesting theories about the origins of the Sarajevo Hagaddah.
posted by BAKERSFIELD! at 8:43 PM on August 10, 2008
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal.
Trust me.
posted by tzikeh at 7:49 PM on August 11, 2008
Trust me.
posted by tzikeh at 7:49 PM on August 11, 2008
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by OmieWise at 9:28 PM on August 9, 2008 [1 favorite]