Fact, fiction and history
How should one judge a historical novel? And how much does historical accuracy matter?
The women were as yet unaware of his presence. The lone, male figure among them, also twittering and chattering, was an orphaned cousin of the Consort who had fallen out of the sky some years ago...and stayed. The very sight of this timorous and studiedly unkempt young man unfailingly inspired in Narasimha afierce loathing...Slithering about as usual, Narasimha said, affably, What are you? A gecko or a man?...Have you...no better use for yourself than to while away your days in the company of women? Have you no male friends to sport or converse with?”
“Some have me for their comfort at night. By day, the ladies seek me for their wit. For everything else, I am quite useless.”
This episode, from Speaking Tiger’s latest offeringThe Sun and Two Seas by Vikramajit Ram, is both amusing and rather sad. The blurb on the back cover describes the book as “a grand historical novel of love, intrigue and ambition, inspired by the sculptures on the Sun Temple of Konark.”
Narasimha I ruled from 1238-64, the author tells us. The presiding deity, Kona Arka, ‘Corner Sun,’ was named for the first rays of dawn touching the easternmost outpost of Narasimha’s empire. He adds, “While these historical figures appear as characters in this book, and while many of the historical settings exist under contemporary names, this story is a work of fiction and historical characters, settings and events are revisited in these pages in a fictional context and so too, the battles and journeys described.”
Simon Sebag Montefiore, the writer, asks, how cavalier with the truth should writers be? How should one read historical fiction? His answer: It’s fiction set in the past and should not be read as history. James Forrester, in a Guardian article published some years ago, says, judging historical fiction is not as simple as ‘accurate equals good’ and ‘inaccurate equals bad.’ It depends on whether the inaccuracies are constructive lies, or accidental mistakes. Historical accuracy is like quicksand, he continues. Stay too long in the same place and it will suck you down and there will be no movement, no dynamism to the stories. Too much attention to factual detail is undoubtedly an impediment to literary art.
EH Carr’s What is History? (1961) makes some highly significant statements. He says that the belief in a hard core of historical facts existing objectively and independent of the interpretation of the historian is a preposterous fallacy, but one which is very hard to eradicate.
There are many fine novels set in ‘historical’ times. Some old but still absorbing classics: Charles Dickens’A Tale of Two Cities set in 1775-1794, Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose set in 1327, Pat Barker’s Regeneration set in 1917, Daphne du Maurier’s Jamaica Inn set in 1821, Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind, Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children, Alexandre Dumas’ The Three Musketeers...
My personal favourite is I, Claudius by Robert Graves. It’s a fictional autobiography of the fourth Roman Emperor. He is the most endearing character.
Here is how he introduces himself: “I, Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Germanicus This—that-and the other (for I shall not trouble you yet with all my titles) known to my friends and relatives and associates as ‘Claudius the Idiot,’ or ‘That Claudius,’ or ‘Claudius the Stammerer,’ or ‘Clau-Clau-Claudius’ or at best as ‘Poor Uncle Claudius...”
The women were as yet unaware of his presence. The lone, male figure among them, also twittering and chattering, was an orphaned cousin of the Consort who had fallen out of the sky some years ago...and stayed. The very sight of this timorous and studiedly unkempt young man unfailingly inspired in Narasimha afierce loathing...Slithering about as usual, Narasimha said, affably, What are you? A gecko or a man?...Have you...no better use for yourself than to while away your days in the company of women? Have you no male friends to sport or converse with?”
“Some have me for their comfort at night. By day, the ladies seek me for their wit. For everything else, I am quite useless.”
His frown deepened. “It takes years of dedication to claim true uselessness. How much longer do you propose to hone your talent in the shelter of my palace?”
This episode, from Speaking Tiger’s latest offeringThe Sun and Two Seas by Vikramajit Ram, is both amusing and rather sad. The blurb on the back cover describes the book as “a grand historical novel of love, intrigue and ambition, inspired by the sculptures on the Sun Temple of Konark.”
Narasimha I ruled from 1238-64, the author tells us. The presiding deity, Kona Arka, ‘Corner Sun,’ was named for the first rays of dawn touching the easternmost outpost of Narasimha’s empire. He adds, “While these historical figures appear as characters in this book, and while many of the historical settings exist under contemporary names, this story is a work of fiction and historical characters, settings and events are revisited in these pages in a fictional context and so too, the battles and journeys described.”
Simon Sebag Montefiore, the writer, asks, how cavalier with the truth should writers be? How should one read historical fiction? His answer: It’s fiction set in the past and should not be read as history. James Forrester, in a Guardian article published some years ago, says, judging historical fiction is not as simple as ‘accurate equals good’ and ‘inaccurate equals bad.’ It depends on whether the inaccuracies are constructive lies, or accidental mistakes. Historical accuracy is like quicksand, he continues. Stay too long in the same place and it will suck you down and there will be no movement, no dynamism to the stories. Too much attention to factual detail is undoubtedly an impediment to literary art.
EH Carr’s What is History? (1961) makes some highly significant statements. He says that the belief in a hard core of historical facts existing objectively and independent of the interpretation of the historian is a preposterous fallacy, but one which is very hard to eradicate.
There are many fine novels set in ‘historical’ times. Some old but still absorbing classics: Charles Dickens’A Tale of Two Cities set in 1775-1794, Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose set in 1327, Pat Barker’s Regeneration set in 1917, Daphne du Maurier’s Jamaica Inn set in 1821, Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind, Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children, Alexandre Dumas’ The Three Musketeers...
My personal favourite is I, Claudius by Robert Graves. It’s a fictional autobiography of the fourth Roman Emperor. He is the most endearing character.
Here is how he introduces himself: “I, Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Germanicus This—that-and the other (for I shall not trouble you yet with all my titles) known to my friends and relatives and associates as ‘Claudius the Idiot,’ or ‘That Claudius,’ or ‘Claudius the Stammerer,’ or ‘Clau-Clau-Claudius’ or at best as ‘Poor Uncle Claudius...”
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