Julian: A Novel by Gore Vidal Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Julian: A Novel
Book Review: The Last "Ancient" Roman Emperor
Summary: 5 Stars
Yes, there were Roman Emperors after Julian, but Julian was the last of them to openly believe in the old gods, to place the traditional values of Rome above the amalgamated virtues of Christianity, and the final Roman ruler to challenge the dominance of the sect that grew up as a death cult around a Judean mystic.
Gore Vidal likes to take on established "facts" and counter them with his version of truth. Sometimes he succeeds at this and sometimes he does not. In Julian he achieves his goals brilliantly as he informs the modern reader of the struggle between the relatively new religion of Christianity, and ancient paganism in its death throes. This book is also a descriptive recounting of civil wars, societal decline, politics and everyday life, all set in a 4th-century world on the path to eventual transition from classical to Medieval. It is exciting and it is also tragic. Julian, even when Vidal quotes directly from his own written words, seems a distinctly modern man, rather the lover of past times he was even in his own age. He was someone who clearly received bad press after his death, and did not deserve it, since he was no tyrant, and unlike the Christian rulers before and after him, he allowed freedom of worship according to conscience for Christians, Jews, pagans and all others. Through Gore Vidal's book, I met one of the more interesting figures from the ancient world, and I'm glad I did.
Book Review: The story of a true Philosopher King- and the eternal cycles
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of the finest works of historical fiction that I have ever read. I find myself wondering why I waited so long to finally get to it. If Gore Vidal had written nothing else in his life, this volume would have been enough.It was the religious aspect of the novel that most interested me. This book addresses issues that are still quite controversial about the early days of the Christian Church in the Roman world. It's "triumph" over Hellenism was far more complicated and messier than most people realize. Indeed, Julian, as the last great champion of the old Gods (or rather the one ultimate God of Plato with His many aspects) comes across as the most spiritually sincere character in the book. It is refreshing to follow the thoughts of a sincerely good man whose only motivation for most of his life was to lead a good life in pursuit of Truth. Even when the titles of "Caesar" and then "Augustus", are forced upon him by men who realize his goodness, his first thought is always the welfare of those he now rules and never his own glory and power. Here, is one of the very few times the ideal of the Philosopher King was ever realized in the flesh.
One comes to realize, through the words of the Emperor and his biographers, the true nature and value of both classical philosophy (love of wisdom) in it's many aspects, as well as the equal importance of mysticism, magic, and the Mysteries in the Roman world.
You also see how the myth of the good Emperor who once saved the West, and who will one day return, far predates the time of Charlemagne, or even Arthur.
Vidal has captured the transitional, turbulent world of the 4th century C.E. better than any other writer. You feel the corruption, greed, and decay that would ultimately spell the end of the empire in the next century. You find yourself mourning for the lost power and virtue that was once Rome's. It is obvious that Vidal has actually read Plato, Homer, Aurelius, Plotinus- unlike so many other writers that try to exploit this time period. Vidal understands the twilight of the empire; he understands what was lost- and why.
It can be somewhat eerie reading the accounts of Julian's legions advancing through Mesopotamia. The accounts of his troops entering the opulent deserted palaces of the Great King, the relatively easy initial victories and defeat of the enemy army, the resulting constant hit-and-run warfare, the atrocities and cruelty of the enemy, the treacherous civilians, the miserable intense heat, the lack of support from home, the grumbling of the troops themselves, even the burning naphtha pools- you realise that all of this has happened before. Even Julian sees that it had happened over and over before his own time. It is proof of Aurelius' eternal cycles.
Book Review: To read and to re-read
Summary: 5 Stars
*Julian* was just as good the second reading, as it was the first reading a couple of years ago. This time I led a small discussion group and all seemed enthusiastic about the story--the story I like to call the "deconstruction of Julian the Apostate"(showing my own hermeneutical framework and presuppositions!). I delight in the perennial "good read" experience, and Gore Vidal's work is exceptional! Having read most all of Vidal's novels, I have come to his earlier ones only of late. I am a big fan having begun with his *Lincoln* about 20 years ago, and now I look forward to *The Judgment of Paris* to round out my reading experience!Book Review: Very moving fictionalized account
Summary: 5 Stars
A very well written novel about the Emperor Julian (361-363 a.d.), the so-called "Apostate".The story unfolds as if we were reading Julian's private diary. Comments are then inserted by two other characters, Priscus and Libanius, who were part of Julian's entourage as celebrated pagan lovers of wisdom. In the book we read how Julian had to suffer at the hands of his cousin Constantius, who exterminated Julian's family and always feared that Julian would one day usurp his position. The book shows how Julian remained faithful to his cousin (who made him Caesar in the East) even when his troops acclaimed him "Augustus". He claimed he did not seek to take revenge on Constantius and was very reluctant to become emperor. One cannot help but come to like this character (especially after reading his works, which I did a couple of years ago); I can only pray that the Lord may have mercy on his soul and allow him to see that Jesus he so reviled ("dead Galilean"). Christian orthodoxy is taunted throughout the book, and Vidal shows no sympathy for it whatsoever: Christians are depicted as intolerant, quarrelsome and close-minded. He then tries to present a nice picture of Chrysostom to counter-balance the view of Christianity, but the damage has already been done (But then again, wasn't Vidal irreverent toward Buddha himself in his other book, Creation?).
Here is a quote from the book I really liked:
" I always have the sense that I must hurry to get things done, that there is hardly any time at all for a man to impress his quality and passion upon a world which will continue after him, as unconcerned as it was when it preceded him. Each day that I live I say to myself: the visible world is mine, use it, change it, but be quick, for the night comes all too fast and nothing is ever entirely finished, nothing." (p.311)
Book Review: Vital portrait of a Dying Culture and Doomed World
Summary: 5 Stars
I have to admit I got clued on to this book after viewingthe fascinating American Masters series about Vidal on PBS.
Already having an interest in Ancient Rome my curiosity was
peaked after reading his recent Dreaming of War so this seemed
like a natural.This book is historical fiction narrative
of the life of the Roman Emperor Julian, known as Julian the
Apostate for his attempts to restore Hellenisim as the dominate
force of Roman life over the rising tide of Christianity.
The author uses great amounts of historical material
interwoven with the fictional narrative in a skillfull
manner.
I think some of these other reviews have been excellent
and touched on the main points of the book but I'll still
add my comments. This book is great read for anyone interested
getting as close as is possible in my opinion to being
inside the heads of people who lived in the fourth century
AD. The Roman Empire is in Decline,suffering dire fiscal straits,beleaguered by Barbarian Hordes in the West
and the Persians in the East.
The rise of Christianity
which was legalized by the Emperor Constantine has caused
divisions among the followers of the old Roman Gods and the
classic Greek Hellenists with those who embrace Christianity or
what one of the books main Characters Pricus refers to as the
"Galilean Death Worship Cult". This is a world far different
to our own. Vidal does an excellent job of showing the
conflicting attitudes and the immense struggle of a world
undergoing what must of seemed to those who lived it as
cataclysmic change. The author tells the story from the
the 3 viewpoints; That of Julian the nephew of the Emperors
Constantine and Constantinius who himself becomes Emperor
after surviving the purge of most of his Family by his
uncles and by Pricus and Libinius two teachers as well as
friends of Julian. The story is told through Julian's memoirs
and correspsondence and commentary between Priscus and
Libinius. Julian is a classically educated Hellenist
as a youth and is skeptical of the new Christian religion.
Especially as he sees the brutalilty, intolerance and grasp
for power of the newly Christianized Emperors and their bishops.
They are no different from their pagan predecessors.
Julian becomes appointed Caesar by Constantinius even though
he has spent his life as philosophy student partially because
of his love of learning and also to avoid the endless
intrigues,struggles and slaughter over succession within the Imperial court. To the amazement of allJulian excells and
restores order to Gaul and (temporarily) checks the advances of
Germanic Barbarian hordes. It is fascinating to watch the
transformation of inwardly philosophical young man into an Emperor who rules most of the known world. Yet power takes
its toll on Julian even though he is basically a tolerant and
moral individual. The pressures of ruling an empire and adherence
to his beliefs cause him to become more irrational to degrees
which hasten conflicts within the empire his own downfall.
One gets the equal sense that Julian may be have been the
last hope for Imperial Rome but at the same time the sense
of doom is irrevocable. I'm glad to see that this novel
is coming back into print its lessons are still vital to our
present time.