- Hardcover: 400 pages
- Publisher: W&N (14 Jun 2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0297816977
- ISBN-13: 978-0297816973
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.5 x 3.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,175,536 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Evening of the World
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
He did it first. Long before our current obsession with all things connected with ancient Rome, Allan Massie was producing historical novels set in that fascinating period with all the solidity, dash and power of the very finest epic writing. The appearance therefore of The Evening of the World, the first part of a much-anticipated new Roman trilogy, is welcome news indeed, and all it takes are a few pages to see how consummately Massie has made this era his own. Not only is the scholarship and research seamlessly integrated into an ambitious and panoramic narrative, the complex psychology of his characters (particularly the protagonist here, a young Roman nobleman named Marcus) is delineated with the utmost intelligence and subtlety.
Marcus is reputed by legend to be the son of the Archangel Michael, but religion is not the answer to the questions of identity and destiny that torment him. It is the period of the barbarian invasions, and Marcus finds life in the savagery and splendour of the Roman Empire unsatisfying. He undertakes a search for meaning and stability in a world whose days (he senses) are numbered. His odyssey takes him the full length and breadth of the Empire, from Italy to Greece and the fabulous decadence of Byzantium, taking in a terrifying encounter with Attila the Hun and his marauding hordes. But whatever dangers Marcus encounters, he finds himself no nearer to the answers he seeks. Those answers, of course, will be forthcoming in the second and third books of this sequence, and it's part of the author's strategy to keep us wanting more--nothing wrong with that, of course. But if Massie maintains his customary high standards (and we have no reason to suppose he won't, as this is every inch the equal of such remarkable Massie novels as Nero's Heirs), this trilogy may well prove to be his magnum opus. --Barry Forshaw
Review
"A mighty entertainment--and a humbling feat."
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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First Sentence
Know, most noble Prince, that the Holy Apostle John, he who was loved by Christ, and who is the Guide and Inspiration of all who seek after the knowledge that is born of the Spirit, knowledge which yields itself only to those who, by courage and insight, have broken the veils of Time and Flesh, wrote of the Last Days thus: And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death; neither sorrow nor crying; neither shall there be any more pain; for former things shall have passed away. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Know, most noble Prince, that the Holy Apostle John, he who was loved by Christ, and who is the Guide and Inspiration of all who seek after the knowledge that is born of the Spirit, knowledge which yields itself only to those who, by courage and insight, have broken the veils of Time and Flesh, wrote of the Last Days thus: And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death; neither sorrow nor crying; neither shall there be any more pain; for former things shall have passed away. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
There's nothing remarkable about this story: at first glance it is the simple romantic cliché of humble boy rising to great heights. From this seemingly basic foundation Massie builds an altogether different structure.
This isn't a historical novel written in modern language. The story is just one device he uses to transport you to the past. His cunning use of language and narrative diversions hint at a world that is as strange as it is distant in time.
Its rich array of characters and deep perversions are chequered with often disapproving footnotes by two later, conflicting commentators. Therein lies the genius of this work: the story is simple, but Massie's "fictional" original author has an agenda all of his own, and it is up to the reader to work out his motives and those of his commentators.
Reading this book is like looking at a simple picture that, through Massie's deliberately distorting lens, slowly turns into something altogether different, and somewhat disturbing.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This work certainly demonstrates the author's knowledge of all aspects of this era. He successfully develops a range of characters that encompass a fairly broad spectrum of the society of the time. The book also moves along at a fair pace, shifting locations and situations rapidly and mixing fantasy with more real storytelling. These are the positives.
On the negative side, I found the book's mix of characters to be unsatisfying - Marcus is rather unbelievable and his adventures hit the heights and plum the depths with unrelenting regularity and his 'noble bearing' became a bit unbearable.
I also found the two 'reviewers' as well as the 'author' added little value and only got in the way of the story. Credit to Alan Massie for his use of these devices, but they didn't do it for me.
In summary, an instructive but ultimately unsatisfying read - I wasn't left feeling any empathy with the characters and won't be buying the next in the series.
0 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I'm not familiar with any of Massie's other work and I picked this up to read when illness required me to do nothing. Otherwise I shouldn't have persevered.
I'd say that, as a novel, it's no better than a second draft. Some episodes are far longer than their content warrants, and longer than other episodes of similar weight (or triviality). There is much that is irritatingly superfluous - if a writer is admitting on the page that such and such is a digression, what's the point of leaving it there? Much of the book reveals assiduous research and probably a genuine love of the history but the many digressions appear to me as false starts in the plotting and they ought to have been cut before publication. The characterisation is shallow and the erotic stuff gratuitous, especially the homo-erotic, which seems to me as self-indulgent private fantasizing and, again, should have been rigorously checked for plot relevance before publication.
That's all if it's a novel. But I suspect it's really intended to be a film proposal. As such, all its literary shortcomings find a ready explanation, and it's revealing that the style becomes sloppier towards the end -- if the film-makers have read that far they won't be put off by the lack of copy-editing. I find it insulting that an author has foisted on the reading public a piece of work that is nowhere near polished enough to be a novel but (I suggest) is flying a kite at our expense in the hope that some film company will notice it. I'm wondering which part Mr. Massie has in mind for Kiera.
The anti-clerical analysis was fun but it wouldn't be enough to get me even to open the covers of another Alan Massie, far less to buy one.
I'd say that, as a novel, it's no better than a second draft. Some episodes are far longer than their content warrants, and longer than other episodes of similar weight (or triviality). There is much that is irritatingly superfluous - if a writer is admitting on the page that such and such is a digression, what's the point of leaving it there? Much of the book reveals assiduous research and probably a genuine love of the history but the many digressions appear to me as false starts in the plotting and they ought to have been cut before publication. The characterisation is shallow and the erotic stuff gratuitous, especially the homo-erotic, which seems to me as self-indulgent private fantasizing and, again, should have been rigorously checked for plot relevance before publication.
That's all if it's a novel. But I suspect it's really intended to be a film proposal. As such, all its literary shortcomings find a ready explanation, and it's revealing that the style becomes sloppier towards the end -- if the film-makers have read that far they won't be put off by the lack of copy-editing. I find it insulting that an author has foisted on the reading public a piece of work that is nowhere near polished enough to be a novel but (I suggest) is flying a kite at our expense in the hope that some film company will notice it. I'm wondering which part Mr. Massie has in mind for Kiera.
The anti-clerical analysis was fun but it wouldn't be enough to get me even to open the covers of another Alan Massie, far less to buy one.
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