THE FIRST MAN IN ROME

THE FIRST MAN IN ROME is the first of seven novels by Colleen McCullough dealing with the period we call the end of the Roman Republic. A masterful blending of historical fact and conjecture, rife with period details and amazingly vivid portrayals of the Roman mind, this novel is the gateway to understanding the rise and fall of Julius Caesar.

Indeed, the novel begins with Caesar's grand-father, also named Gaius Julius Caesar. We meet the impoverished noble family, august in lineage but poor in purse, as they journey on New Year's Day to see the inauguration (literally, augurs are involved) of this year's consuls.

Two other men in the crowd, unknown to each other, are Gaius Marius and Lucius Cornelius Sulla. They are a study in opposites, from temprament to background. Marius, an Italian New Man with no noble Roman ancestors, is the quintessential military man. He has made a fortune through warfare, and has scrabbled up Rome's political ladder as far as an Italian-born man would ever be allowed.

Sulla, on the other hand, is one of many men from a noble line who lacks the funds to follow the career his blood entitles him to. Instead he associates with the dregs of society - actors, mummers, professional pretty-boys. He ends up murdering first the heir to his step-mother's fortunes, then his own mistress, and finally his step-mother, earning him enough money to enter the Senate and fulfill his birthright.

Both men are embraced by Fortune, and their lives come together, uniting them to stop an invasion of barbarian Germans. As a reader I became enamored of them both, and lacking the knowledge of the history I didn't have even a hint of foreboding until the very end of the novel.

This book also gives us the Saturninus riots and the birth of Julius Caesar. She lays the groundwork for Caesar's career here. I have deep feelings for each novel in this series, loving nearly all of them for very different reasons. This is the novel that shows why Rome was great - and also why it would someday fall. The seeds are sown in this novel of the change from Republic to Empire. Each constitutional change was necessary at the time for Rome's survival, though most would not have been necessary had the Senate and People of Rome had a little foresight, and curbed the hubris and greed of the first class.

Parallels, anyone?

I have never read THE THORN BIRDS, so my introduction to Ms. McCullough was this novel. Actually, I first encountered it on a road trip home from college as an audiobook, read by the inimitable David Ogden Stiers. As an overview, it's fantastic. The novel is even better. (Snails, anyone?)

A fantastic read, the first of several.

Arthurian names

Having just reviewed the best King Arthur books I've ever read, there are two matters of nomenclature in the Arthurian myths that I'd like to address. The first is Excalibur. Now, I don't know if there's an author who has made hay of this, but if you reduce the sword's name to it's latin roots, it becomes EX CAL LIBER: "From the Stone Made Free." I'd like to see someonedo something with that.

The other bit of bizarre trivia comes to us from Scotland. I was visiting Holyrood in Edinburgh almost a decade ago, and looking at the tall hill behind it, I noticed on the map it was entitled "Arthur's Seat." I turned to a guard and said, "Not King Arthur, right? I didn't think his myth made it this far north."

The guard shook his head at my stupidity and sighed. "No, he didn't. And he wasn't real. No, laddie, it was named for the Saxon god of thuder. When they came north they saw it and decided it was Thor's throne."

Arthur = Ar Thor, or Of Thor.

Now when looking for the root of Arthur's name, most scholars and authors point to Artoris, latin for "bear." But wouldn't it be cool if Arthur was a name earned in battle, given to him by his enemies out of respect? "That warrior is magnifient! He fights like Thor himself!"

Just passing thoughts.

EXCALIBUR

EXCALIBUR is the third and final novel of the "Warlord Trilogy" by Bernard Cornwell. As with all Arthurian tales, the most heart-breaking. For of course it has to end with Arthur's defeat, setting in motion the inevitable fall of Britain to the Saxons.

But first we must deal with the great battle, the one that Arthur was actually known for - the Battle of Mount Badon. Arthur makes a deal with a Christian king - reinforcements will be available to Arthur, if Arthur's army will carry the sign of the cross into battle. Ever the pragmatist, Arthur agrees. With that one act, Merlin sees how the Christian god will now be able to claim that the victory is due to Him. This is the passing of the old ways. Merlin becomes reconciled to it, but his disciple Nimue, Derfel's former lover, does not.

Derfel Cadarn fights bravely, and has his final battle with Lancelot. He also discovers his Saxon heritage, leaving him to face his own father in battle. Then, with the Saxon menace ended, all should be well. But a terrifying alliance between Nimue and king Mordred threatens to swallow Britain, and Derfel must fight one last time at Arthur's side.

There are several brilliant moments here, but the best is the redemption of Gwenhwyfar. In the old legends, Arthur was married twice, both to women named Gwenhwyfar. Cornwell reconciles those old legends beautifully. Also lovely is the understanding that Christ and Mithras, the god Derfel worships, are born from the same tale. While Britain descends into horror, these moments offer a vision of the world that was lost.

So ends the Warlord Trilogy, in blood and sweat on the sands of Britain and Arthur, fallen, sails away to a farther shore. But it's Derfel's fate that one hungers to know. And Cornwell resolves the whole tale in a satisfying, if painful, fashion. Since Derfel is the narrator, we know he lives - but how, and why, remain to the final pages.

ENEMY OF GOD

ENEMY OF GOD is the second of Bernard Cornwell's "Warlord" trilogy, now called the "Arthur Books." It is also the best.

We begin after the battle that has assured Arthur the leadership of a fractious Britain. Derfel Cardarn, our narrator, is caught in a cleft stick. He has sworn to join Merlin's quest for a holy relic (the pagan version of the Holy Grail), and also to fight in Arthur's army as they push back the Saxons. Merlin facilitates Derfel marrying the woman of his dreams, Ceinwyn, which creates exacerbates an already simmering hatred between Derfel and Ceinwyn's other suitor - Lancelot.

This novel has the grail-quest, the first major battle with the Saxons, the Tristan-Isolde tale, and the great Lancelot-Gwenhwyfar betrayal. But each take is astonishingly fresh and genuine. Whereas Richard Sharpe will always be Cornwell's greatest creation, Derfel Cadarn is his most human, most sympathetic, most complex character. His family life, his struggle with the clashes between honor and friendship, his love for Ceinwyn and Arthur - these are what make this story great.

The best part has to do with the betrayal of Arthur by his friend and his wife. This is not a French romance. This is about power, and the willingness to use it. Especially by a woman determined to be a queen. The characters are astonishingly well-drawn, and painfully human.

As a humorous aside in the middle of the novel, Cornwell addresses both the Round Table and the idea of Camelot. The mythic table was in reality simply a novelty at a party Arthur threw, that by the end of the day was cracked and vomited upon. Camelot was a phrase later attributed to the gathering, not something they ever called themselves. As I often say about theatre, I like flouting an audience's expectations. That's what Cornwell does here. He gives us not myths, but a plausable root to those myths.

There are also few books that made me weep. This one did it twice.

THE WINTER KING

Bernard Cornwell is probably best known for the Sharpe series. But I maintain, and he agrees, that his King Arthur trilogy is his best work. Beginning with The Winter King, then moving on to Enemy of God, and ending with Excalibur, the series follows a little-known character from early Arthurian myth, Derfel. Rasied by Merlin and fighting for Arthur, he is constantly drawn into the intrigues of both their worlds.

THE WINTER KING is a first-person narrative told from the point of view of Derfel Cadarn, a Saxon-child who survived a murderous raid by the Britons on his tribe, only to be adopted by Merlin. Raised as a Briton, he is one of the most steadfast, loyal, perseverant characters it has been my pleasure to follow. Since he has none of the magic Merlin hoped he would, he trains as a warrior. Thus Derfel has a foot in both camps, Arthur's warrior realm and Merlin's magic one.

When I say magic, we learn that most of it is parlor tricks and whatnot. Merlin is a master manipulator, a genius at moving men to do his will. His goal is the return of the old gods and a removal of Christianity from Britain's shores.

This is the counterpoint to Arthur's goal of uniting Britain's various kingdoms against the Saxons. Arthur, the illegitimate son of King Uther, has been disavowed by his father in favor of Uther's legitimate grandson Mordred. Arthur is made to swear to uphold Mordred's position as High King, and Arthur's strong sense of honor and oath prevents him from ever attempting to usurp the throne.

Arthur becomes betrothed to a princess, a symbolic union that will unite the kingdoms. But on the eve of his wedding he meets Gwenhyfar, and the whole thing unravels. It turns into a massive British civil war, one that must be won before they can turn back the Saxons.

What I love so passionately about this series is that it deconstructs the flowery Arthur myths. This is the fifth century, not the twelfth. No jousts, no pageants, just warfare and survival. Shield walls, spears, barefoot warriors with rings on their hands and beards forged from enemy weapons. Cornwell has returned Arthur to his Welsh roots, but he gives nods to all the various elements we expect to have from an Arthurian legend.

Some of the things I like best:

- Arthur is never a king, he's a warlord. This correlates to the earliest mention of him as a Dux Bellorum, a Duke of War.

- Arthur's goal is fending off the Saxons. This is what he was famous for in the first place, but it has seemed to hold no interest for any author in the last eight hundred years. They're much more interested in his lovelife. That's here, too, but it ties into the Saxon warfare.

- Lancelot was not in the original tales, he's a French invention. But no Arthur story is complete without him, so Cornwell completely subverts him. Lancelot is a cad. His great reputation for bravery comes from the bards, whom he pays to sing of his prowess. His kingdom is, appropriately, in Brittany, where Arthur has been fighting for years, and where Derfel goes at Arthur's orders to hold up a failing kingdom.

- Arthur is a pagan who doesn't care at all about religion until it stands in his way. He wants to unite the Christians and the pagans, and honestly cannot understand the passions that are inflamed between the two religions. He sees the kingdom as more important, not the afterlife.

- Merlin isn't hunting the Holy Grail. He's a pagan, so he's after a pagan cauldron!

These are just a few of the elements I enjoy. I once tried to get the rights to adapt it to the stage. My wife, Jan, wrote a script for the first novel. But when Cornwell read our draft he cheerfully said he thought we'd been too faithful to his book. After that, the rights were granted to the Welsh National Theatre, or Clwyd Theatr Cymru. I had drinks last year with the CTC artistic director, Terry Hands, who told me how the project was progessing. It makes me sad that so much has been changed in their drafts. Cornwell's novel caused Jan and I to see the action staged just as it was written.

Nevertheless I want the play to be a huge success. And I keep buying the first book for people. Everyone should be aware of this version of the classic tale.

-DB

SLEEPING IN FLAME

For my first review, I have chosen one of the best novels I have ever read, a book I have forced on so many people, given as a gift so many times, one would think it was my own.

SLEEPING IN FLAME, by Jonathan Carroll (1988)

Set in Vienna in the 1980s, it's a first-person narrative told by Walker Easterling, a recently divorced American ex-pat living in Austria. Early on, Walker meets Maris York, a quirky artist who needs help escaping a bad relationship.

This book was first given to me by a woman who said I write like Carroll (it is patently false - there was something else entirely going on there). Because of those undercurrents, I was wary of this novel until I got to page eleven, and this line:

Having an affair is like trying to hide an aligator under the bed. It is much too dangerous and big to be there, it sure doesn't fit, and no matter how carefully yoy try to conceal it, some part of the beast inevitably sticks out, is seen, sends everyone running and screaming.

From there I was pretty well hooked by the writing alone.

The most wonderful thing is that Carroll captures what it is to fall in love. All the excitement, the awkwardness, the need to exchange information. In essence, the desire to breathe the other person in.

There's a bit where Walker, to cheer her up, takes Maris to his three favorite places in Vienna - a barbershop, a pet shop, and a mountain view. It's his way of showing who he is, and trying to figure out who she is, and sharing and showing off all at once.

I was in Vienna a dozen years ago, and I called Mr. Carroll from the train station and asked directions to those three places. Sadly the pet store no longer existed, but I went in and got a haircut, then climbed the very steep hill to look down over the city while having a picnic. The greatest part was that the view was neither greater nor less than Carroll's description.

The second most wonderful thing is that once Maris and Walker do fall in love, which takes up only a third of the novel, Carroll makes a left turn and the story becomes something else entirely. I don't want to say what it becomes, because discovery is joy, but it has roots in dark literature and darker themes. Just fantastic. I don't think the last page is really necessary, but because it's both fun and foreboding I go back and forth.

The best thing is that you feel the author giving in to inspiration. "Well, why not have that happen?" he asks again and again. The answer is always, "I can do whatever I want!" This was the novel that taught me, as a writer, that writing is free. A story goes where it goes, and the person holding the pen needs to be willing - to dare - to follow it.

Entering the Wood

Midway through the journey of our life
I came to myself in a Dark Wood...

Hello there. My name is Dave, though around ShanghiLow I am apparently called either the History Czar or (unfortunately) Blixty.

What is ShanghiLow Theatricals? Composed of theatre artists such as myself, Steve Pickering, Charley Sherman, and Kevin Theis, we move classic literature from the page to the stage.

I have been instructed by the Project Czar to create a space for my Shanghi'd thoughts. For a week now I've wrestled with a theme - the Literary Czar has chosen politics, something to which I am also addicted. But as I hate redundancy, I won't follow in his footsteps. Instead I will embark on the most despicable of endeavors - I will become a reviewer.

My reviews will mostly be composed of novels, with an eye to turning them to the stage. But the occasional film or tv show might sneak in, depending on what I'm obsessing over this month.

So much for introductions. On to joy.