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Yvettep
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Yvettep
Post Number: 763
Registered: 01-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, November 14, 2005 - 12:18 am: | 
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I have always had a certain aversion to history. Likely this was due to some long-forgotten trauma at the hands of some history/social studies teacher in school, like being the only Black kid in class during a discussion of slavery during US history...
Anyway, I have been trying to reverse this phobia of mine in recent years. I have found that I appreciate history more by reading a fictionalized account first. Right now I am reading "All Souls Rising: A Novel of Haiti" by Madison Smart Bell. I am really enjoying it, and can see myself seeking out non-fiction accounts of the Haitian revolution after I finish this or one of the sequels.
Does anyone have any other recommendations of such historical fiction? Genres I particularly like are mysteries and science fiction. Non-ficiton books I enjoy are mainly in the popular science/mathematics areas and, of course, African American culture.
Thanks! |
Chrishayden
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Chrishayden
Post Number: 1611
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, November 14, 2005 - 11:06 am: |
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Yvettep:
According to the person who said "History is an agreed upon series of lies" all of it is fiction.
I just read a very enjoyable biography of the Life of Alexander the Great by Peter Green. The Campaigns of Napoleon is another one I like. I try to re read Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William Shirer once a year.
What historical period most interests you? |
Yvettep
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Yvettep
Post Number: 764
Registered: 01-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, November 14, 2005 - 01:09 pm: |
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Thanks for the picks!
Re: historical periods: See, that's partly my problem. (If it is a problem...) I don't really care so much about "periods"--I am interested in good stories with fascinating characters. The same things I enjoy about fiction.
I also have to admit to liking a little gossip: One of my favorite history teachers (perhaps my *only* favorite one) knew ALL the dirt on historical figures: who had/likely had VD, who was having an affair with some other historical figure's spouse, who was secretly gay, who was a drug addict, etc. Something like that often provided a good hook to get me started on a topic.
Right now I seem to be on a "transistions" kick--probably the closest thing to a historical "period." What was going on during this time of huge shift from something to something. (Hence, my current interest in the Haitian revolution.)
ALso, I like previous "untold" histories. I am also right now listening to an audio book of "1491" about the Americas prior to Columbus. |
Crystal
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Crystal
Post Number: 246
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, November 14, 2005 - 01:35 pm: |
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I like historical novels, but can only think of 2 right now:
Segu by Maryse Conde, an historical novel set near the African nation of Mali.
Pride of Carthage by David Anthony Durham, a story of Hannibal that's been discussed on this board recently.
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Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 2999
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, November 14, 2005 - 01:49 pm: |
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Tannarive Due wrote a fictional novel about the life of Madam C. J. Walker. There was also "The Douglass Women", a fictional book about the life of Frederick Douglass. Both of these books had interesting historical settings. |
Sisg
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Sisg
Post Number: 223
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, November 14, 2005 - 03:33 pm: |
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Yvette,
Check out "Tell My Horse", by Zora Neale Hurston, all about voodoo and life in Haiti. |
Yvettep
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Yvettep
Post Number: 766
Registered: 01-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, November 14, 2005 - 03:44 pm: |
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These are GREAT! Thank you for these ideas. |
Reader23
Newbie Poster
Username: Reader23
Post Number: 10
Registered: 11-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, November 17, 2005 - 07:01 pm: |
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Also try Dessa Rose. It takes the true stories of a black woman slave and a white woman abolitionist and combines them to make a story in whicht the two meet. I'Tituba is another good one. It is about a black "witch" in Salem duirng the witch trials. |
Yvettep
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Yvettep
Post Number: 815
Registered: 01-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, January 04, 2006 - 07:42 pm: |
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Wanted to update y'all. I went on a book buying spree for my Christmas presents to myself and a couple of your selections above were on my list. But also, one I just finished I just had to tell you about.
It's called "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson and tells the alternating stories of the main architect of the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago and a serial killer working the area at the same time.
Fascinating! Great historical info, lots of background about the development of architecture as a field in America (wonderful for an HGTV devotee like myself), wonderful profile of one of my favorite cities in the world, and ties in a lot of other history going on at this time. PLUS a mystery story that is all the better in that it is true. |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 3232
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, January 04, 2006 - 11:23 pm: |
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I've been hearing about this best-seller. Maybe I'll check it out because I love books that have an interesting historical setting. |
Yvettep
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Yvettep
Post Number: 816
Registered: 01-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, January 05, 2006 - 09:33 am: |
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Yes, Cynique-esp given its location, right!
I should make clear that this is not a work of fiction, but kind of a "non-fiction novel" in the sstyle of Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood." If all works of nonfiction could be like this, I would have had no problem getting into history as a younger person.
Immediately after finishing this book I began a biography of mathematician Kurt Godel--written in the usual style. The contrast was glaring: the Larson book I stayed up at night, unable to put down; the Godel bio I fell asleep on--literally! |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 3234
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, January 05, 2006 - 01:56 pm: |
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Yes, Yvette, Chicago has such a colorful history! Me, I have been trying to plow my way through the auto-biography of John Hope Franklin, the distinghished black historian, and it was starting to read like a looong resume because all he writes about are his accomplishments. I was wondering if it was just me but then I read a review which complained that anyone expecting a mirror of the era in which this 90-year-old lived would be disappointed because this was a book not about the life and times of John Hope Franklin, but just about the life of. Such self-indulgence can be a pitfall of auto-biographies as opposed to biographies. |
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