"I am puzzled by creation," says Cyrus Spitama, our narrator at one point in his travels, an attitude that will be shared with the reader who stays with him until the end, and absorbs all that he encounters and ponders through his peregrinations, ostensibly as Persian Ambassador, throughout the Fifth Century world.

I have no problem, as some other reviewers seem to do, with Vidal's caustic snipes peppering the narrative. In fact, they kept me going at several points in the book. For my one criticism of the book is that it becomes theologically tedious at times. What is generally denominated the "First Cause" argument for a Creator is rehashed so many times that it becomes almost unbearably tiresome. --- The argument, for those sans a philosophy class in their background, takes the form of something more or less like this: Everything has a cause, and if you go back far enough in your questioning of what caused this, and what caused this that caused this that caused this other thing etc etc, you'll finally come across something that has no cause. That something is God or the Creator, or, what you will. And if you question someone who actually believes this argument for a creator as to why this must be so, you'll be told that there can't be an "infinite regression". This argument was dismissed by philosophers and even most believers in a creator many moons ago for the very obvious reason that there is no reason that there not be an "infinite regression" other than that we find it hard to imagine. It's also not true that everything has a cause. But that's for a higher level philosophy class, and is not dealt with in Vidal's book.

The theodicy question, the problem of evil in the world, which keeps arising among all the different philosophers and religious figures whom our narrator encounters, is far more interesting. It is best posed by Prince Jeta as he is dying in India: "We can't conceive [of] a god who takes an immortal soul, allows it to be born once, plays a game with it, then passes a judgment on it and condemns it to pain or pleasure forever." This is a question that has dogged Western religious thinkers for ages: Why is there so much evil in the Creator's world? Need I say that the question has never been answered thoroughly despite many attempts to do so. The only coherent answer to the question, if you believe both in the creator and evil, is the belief of the Ancient Gnostics that the creator of this world is himself evil. But the "Ancient Gnostics", as far as we know, did not come along until four centuries after this narrative is set.

But I'm omitting the most fascinating part of the book, indeed, what makes it worth reading, the view into the ancient world from a non-Hellenic viewpoint. This firsthand narrative from the imagined perspective of a Persian is most refreshing. We are taught to revere the Ancient Greeks as the founders of modern civilisation. It is altogether bracing to see them treated with the irreverence and disdain a contemporary Persian must have felt for the comparatively impoverished and chaotic country, particularly Athens. The pre-eminence they now enjoy was by no means foreordained.

Vidal's intriguing panoramic view of the Ancient world almost makes one wish one could travel back in time as an ancient Persian, Indian, Cathayan or even Greek to experience all these things oneself----Ahem, I exclude those who believe, with Pythagoras and the Indians, in the transmigration of souls. They've obviously already been there, in some form or another....But, as our narrator laments, "What we are is seldom what we want to be while what we want to be is either denied us - or changes with the seasons."

This novel is not only a masterful recreation of the ancient world, but is breathtaking in the level of historical research that must have gone into its writing. This is an entertaining exploration of the fundamental philosophies of the major cultures of the Old World, many of which shape national character today. It is also an entertaining historical lesson of a complex period in human history. Finally, the narrator (Vidal's) voice is witty and humorously cynical, and is a complete pleasure to read.

You don't like a novel written by a legend and immediately, you feel guilty, even stupid. It's like standing in front of a very expensive painting of what looks like vomit marks on a canvas, and the "art critic" next to you lectures you on the deep meaning behind such a fantastic artwork.
Not that this book is a literal comparison here, but I found it a labor to read. Worse, the promise of the book was a fantasy "as if" look at what would happen if all the ideas of the axial age had somehow merged, or at least crossed paths. For years I've thought this an excellent concept for a book, and was delighted when I discovered that somebody had written one. This book is a waste of a fantastic concept. Totally undeveloped. The hero simply meets folks like Confucius and Buddha and basically says hello and goodbye. Not to say the book isn't interesting, just too long. By half.

While reading "Creation" by Gore Vidal, I kept imagining that the main character, Cyrus Spitama, was a representation of Vidal himself. There are several parallels that lead me to this conclusion. First, Cyrus is from an important family, and so is Vidal. Second, Cyrus is closely connected to political events around him; so is Vidal. In any case, in my opinion, I feel Cyrus Spitama is Vidal. I enjoyed this novel, probably because ancient history and philisophy are two of my main interests, and a novel, well-written and interesting on top of it, combining these two interests would surely rank high on my charts, and it does. The protagonist in the story, this Cyrus Spitama, the grandson of the religious leader Zoroaster, gets involved with different political assignments throughout the ancient world, including Greece, Persia, India, and ancient China. While on these assignments, Cyrus gets in touch in various ways with the land's resident philisophers, be it Buddha or Confucius and so forth. Cyrus is on a quest to find the meaning of "Creation", or the meaning of it all. It's unclear whether or not he finds such meaning, but by the end of the novel I feel that Vidal wants to strike a balance between endless philisophical searching and involvement in the world around us; for example, politics. This idea has it's voice in the character of Confucius, who, in the novel, is portrayed both as a philisopher and a political tinkerer. I believe that Vidal has more sympathy for the ideas and behavior of Confucius than, for example, the Buddha, who is seen in the book as a lazy bum who doesn't want to do anything productive with his time. Some of the events of ancient Greek history are seen from a "behind the scenes" viewpoint, and this is important because Vidal is known for criticizing "official" views of history. Admirers of Vidal's work will find the standard wit and cynicism laced throughout the text. Overall, this is an interesting novel and well worth the time to read it.

This is the best historical fiction novel written by one of the best historical novelists ever.

Incredibly, it took me three tries to finish the book. The first two times I put it down because it talked at length about Greek politics and it was a bit boring. However, I am glad I got to finish it. The story portrayed in Vidals' book is Cyrus Spitama's and his travels during what Jaspers called the Axial Age. Spitama, the grandson of the prophet Zoroaster, is imagined to travel to India and to China, where he met with the most prominent religious figures of his day, namely:
Makkhali Gosala (p. 204-07). This thinker parted company with Mahavira. He believed that everyone begins as an atom and has to go through 84,000 rebirths. Only then is the monad finally blown out. Everybody must endure the entire cycle from beginning to end. There is no way out. Nobody can help one escape the cycle.
Mahavira (p. 219-23). He achieved "kevala". He was the 24th Tirtankara ("Crossing-maker"), founder of the Jains. He upheld an atomistic view of life. He believed in the need to extinguish karma by refraining from actions (including good ones).
King Bimbisara
Buddha (p. 330-36) and his disciples Sariputta and Ananda. See Buddha's rebuttal of God's existence in pp. 624-25. Spitama says: "The absence of deity, of origin and of terminus, of good in conflict with evil...the absence of purpose, finally, makes the Buddha's truths too strange for me to accept." And again: "It is astonishing to think that millions of people actually think that at a given moment in history, two human beings [Buddha and Mahavira] had evolved to a higher state than that of all the gods that ever were or ever will be. This is titanism. This is madness." (p. 300)
Lieh-Tzu (p. 489-96)
Confucius (p. 549- 57)Spitama cites his views in detail (p. 672-73)
Democritus' views (p.701)

If X Created Us, Then Who Created X? And other Unseemly Questions.

About 2,500 years ago, a blind old man remembers his adventurous life. He is half Persian, half Greek, and traveled all over the world known to his people. He's met every major thinker of his time and posed to them the same question--in effect the same question. In India, he sat with Buddha. In China, he fished and chatted with Confucius. He listened to their explanation for how we came to be and asked the next question: Who created that set up? His grandfather Zoroaster taught him about the Wise Lord, but as he comes to realize, not where the Wise Lord came from. Confucius is the only one with a coherent answer: there's no point in inquiring what we can't know, so let's instead focus on the here and now.

At one level, this is a philosophical treatise. But like all great books, it works on more than one level. So this is also a picaresque adventure story, told delightfully by the weary yet ever so witty old man, Cyrus Spitama. From the ghastly enamel makeup on a Persian great queen's face to the exotic foods sold in a Chinese market place, the details are marvelous. Several historical characters come to life, Persian emperor Xerxes among them. By the end, Xerxes no longer cares about Greece or China or India or even his own empire. He just wants to stay in his harem and drink. That's one response to the complexity of existence.

Fortunately, Spitama has a very different response. He explores and learns and then transmits his learning to his young nephew, Democritus--another historical character, the philosopher who originated the view that the world consists of atoms in constant motion. What would the fictional Spitama have thought of atoms? One suspects he would have been most curious. The book, a wonder of engaging narrative, raises tantalizing issues and really makes one think.

This is the second copy for me; I read this many years ago, and I loved it. It is a history and philosophy lesson while being a very good story. The time is one of great ferment-4-5th century B.C. and formed the basis for so much of what we know and believe today.

The story begins in Greece at the end of Cyrus Spitama's life. The ninety year old blind sage is recollecting his memories so they can be dictated to his nephew, Democritus. The perspective of recollection permits Cyrus to use the knowledge of future events to color his recollections of the past. Also, his scribe is permitted to make editorial comments throughout.

In childhood, Cyrus was tenuously kept alive by precarious events, alternatively faltering between favor and imminent death. Perhaps that is why he is so fascinated with death and "creation." Cyrus's mother is a master politician who keeps her thumb on the pulse of the palace, most notably the gossip among the eunuchs, and forges an alliance with the queen that keeps them alive. Eunuchs are the conduit of information due their permitted proximity with prominent members of the royal court. So, the first third of the book is a portrayal of court life at the height of the Persian Empire circa 400 BC.

Via a convoluted apotheosis, Cyrus becomes a favored ambassador of the king. The remaining two-thirds of the book, Cyrus's physical journey as ambassador for the Persian king, is really a spiritual survey of eastern religions. Only with a fictional character can such artistic license be permitted that one individual would meet the charismatic leaders of so many great religions in one lifetime: Socrates, Confucius, Lao Tse, Gosala and Buddha. Although Cyrus has been assigned by the King to investigate special trade routes through eastern kingdoms, he maintains an alternative motive to spread Zoroastrian principles through heathen lands. As a devout Zoroastrian (his grandfather was the prophet Zoroaster himself), the religions and cultures of Greece, India and China (Cathay) are presented in a critical manner by a skeptical narrator.

This is a thick book and rich with details. "Creation" by itself is a life's work and I am repeatedly awed that Vidal somehow has cranked out volumes and volumes of these historical epics. At times, Cyrus encounters so many characters so quickly that it's hard to keep everyone strait. This book is a primer in so many areas: eastern religions, cultures, and politics. The book represents a truly a mammoth project. Even Cyrus's Indian marriage is described in sordid detail. If you are only going to limit yourself to one Vidal ancient history novel, I would recommend "Julian." But this is a close second. Although the nature of "Creation" is the driving force behind the novel, Vidal presents a journey of discovery, but does not provide a simple answer. Among the great ancient religions (Christianity and Judaism are not included) the reader is left to forge his or her own conclusion.

Creation was the second of Vidal's books that I read (after Julian), which I did so hesitantly, since Julian was such a profound literary experience for me, it seemed all else would be incomparable.

Delightfully, this was not to be.

Creation is sweeping, tragic, hilarious, and above all, maintains Vidal's tradition of writing excellence.

Do yourself a favor and read this as soon as humanly possible.