Posts Tagged ‘Ancient Greece’
Rosemary Sutcliff’s novel of the Peloponnesian War, The Flowers of Adonis, republished by Endeavour Press 2014
Posted in Autobiography & Biography, The Flowers of Adonis, tagged Ancient Greece, historical fiction, History on 22/08/20142014| Leave a Comment »
Endeavour Press have now republished in E form Rosemary Sutcliff’s historical fiction novel The Flowers of Adonis, about Alkibiades, who The Times in an interview to mark its publication in 1969 called “one of the most enigmatic figures in Greek History”. It is a novel of the Peloponnesian War, and Alkibiades’s relationship with Athens, and the dreadful battle at Syracuse.
- Source: The Times, October 27, 1969, p6
Newspaper review of The Flower of Adonis by historical fiction writer Rosemary Sutcliff about enigmatic Ancient Greece hero Alkibiades
Posted in Autobiography & Biography, Criticism, Reviews, Research, Awards, The Flowers of Adonis, tagged Ancient Greece, books, historical fiction, History on 07/06/20142014| 3 Comments »
Poor research: I clipped this from a newspaper in 2010, but I did not note which one!
(But see comments below for more details)
The Economist reviewed Rosemary Sutclifff’s Black Ships Before Troy | Re-telling of Homer’s Iliad
Posted in Black Ships Before Troy, Criticism, Reviews, Research, Awards, tagged Ancient Greece, children’s literature on 23/04/20142014| Leave a Comment »
One of the 20th century’s great writers of historical fiction for children died in 1992 from a disabling disease that had confined her to a wheelchair for much of her working life. (Blog editor’s note: actually, she did not die from Still’s disease!). Yet Rosemary Sutcliff produced many outstanding works of fiction over a 40-year-period — most notably her cycle of novels which dealt with the Roman occupation of Britain. The last two books that she completed were children’s versions of Homer.
The first of these, Black Ships Before Troy, her version of the Iliad, is now out. Like all her books, it is an intellectually-taxing read — but it also manages to sort out some of the complicated strands of Homer’s often digressive narrative. This helps children to see the characters of the great protagonists all the more clearly.
The illustrations by Alan Lee do the book a great service. At their best, they have the confident sweep and pomp of Victorian narrative painting.
- Source: The Economist, December 4, 1993
Interview on publication of The Flowers of Adonis (1969) | Rosemary Sutcliff in The Times
Posted in History, The Flowers of Adonis, tagged Ancient Greece, books, historical fiction, History, quotes, writing on 16/01/20142014| Leave a Comment »
Alkibiades, the hero of Rosemary Sutcliff’s novel The Flowers of Adonis, was one of the more enigmatic figures of Greek history. When this historical novel ‘for adults’ was published in 1969 by Hodder and Stoughton (costing 35 shillings in old money), Rosemary was inteviewed by The Times newspaper (Oct 27, 1969).
I was trained at art school, but then the desire to scribble came over me. I got my interest in history from my mother who had a sort of minstrel’s, rather than historian’s knowledge. Inaccurate, but full of colourful legend. I disliked history at school ….
… They do say that to be a successful children’s writer one has to have a large lump of unlived childhood in one. I certainly think I have that.
You have to show children that good does overcome evil, but that does not necessarily mean that the old lady you helped then pays for your ballet lessons! The satisfaction should just be coming from the fact that you have done right.
… It is easier to give a book a historical setting, because children will take things happening then rather than right on their own doorsteps now.
Source: The Times, Oct 27, 1969, p6.
A Crown of Wild Olive | Rosemary Sutcliff story of the Greek Olympics
Posted in The Truce of the Games, tagged Ancient Greece, children’s books on 13/04/20122012| 1 Comment »
Rosemary Sutcliff children’s book and story A Crown of Wild Olive (The Truce of the Games) tells the story of the Olympics.In fact, it is the newer title of a book originally published as The Truce of the Games. The tale is of two athletes from different ways of life who discover the meaning of friendship as they compete against each other in the ancient Olympic games. A Crown of Wild Olive was published in the collection Heather, Oak, and Olive (1972).