1984;
404 pages. New Author? : No. Genre : Historical Fiction; Myths &
Legends. Overall Rating : 6*/10.
I know what you’re thinking: just who the heck
was Gilgamesh?
Well, he's a legendary hero of an ancient (Akkadian)
epic called The Epic of Gilgamesh, written
on clay tablets and in cuneiform somewhere around 2100 BC. That in turn was based on an earlier (Sumerian)
account about presumably the same guy, although in that version he was called
Bilgamesh.
The Akkadian version is quite complete; the
Sumerian version is fragmentary. You can
read about all this by looking up ‘Gilgamesh’ in Wikipedia.
Although
the Gilgamesh in the ancient story is legendary in nature, there is
evidence that there really was also a historical Gilgamesh, a king of Uruk, and that
the clay tablet tales are just legends that cropped up about him as time went
on. The case can be made, therefore,
that The Epic of Gilgamesh is in fact
the earliest work of fiction that has ever been found.
But using cuneiform to write a book on clay tablets is a PITA, and there
is a practical limit to just how long such a tale of fiction can be.
It
almost screams for an enterprising modern-day writer to come along and flesh
out Gilgamesh’s story.
What’s To Like...
Make no mistake about it, Robert Silverberg is
a revered and renowned Sci-Fi writer, but Gilgamesh
The King has zero science fiction and zero fantasy. It is 100% Historical Fiction, and Silverberg
does a wonderful job of making you feel at home in the Mesopotamia of 4,000
years ago. The details of the settings
flow smoothly, without any hint of being an info-dump. Some of them did seem like anachronisms to me
– antimony, planets, steel, the phalanx, and beakers – but I’ll trust in the
author’s research that such things really were around way back then, albeit
probably viewed and spoken of in different terms than we do nowadays.
I do have some serious doubts about a vampire working its way into the
story though, which does occur here.
There’s
a lot of holy sex going on, as well as a lot of not-so-holy sex; and a lot of
nakedness to boot. The chapters are
short (41 of
them to cover 404 pages), and the Introduction and Afterword,
although similar are well worth your time to read. The story is told in the first-person
(Gilgamesh’s) POV. I seem to be reading
a lot of those lately.
I’ve
never read the historical version of this story, but in reading the Wikipedia
entry for it, it is obvious that Robert Silverberg’s rendering of it sticks
closely to the Akkadian version. Still,
I also enjoyed the ways in which the modern story goes its own way. While Gilgamesh sees gods, goddesses and
demons in just about everything, Silverberg carefully presents how natural
events could just as easily explain everything. I especially liked the alternate version of
the Flood narrative, and of Ziusudra’s supposedly “eternal life”.
The main themes that Gilgamesh seeks enlightenment about are : a.) what
happens after you die?, b.) can you avoid death if you’re partly divine?, c.)
the roles that gods seemingly play in the daily affairs of the world, and d.) are gods and demons real or not? Those questions are still asked today. Gilgamesh receives answers
to some of these, but not all.
The
ending is good, and the epilogue is even better. Gilgamesh
The King is a standalone novel, a one-off effort by Robert Silverberg in a
genre quite foreign to him, and AFAIK, he’s never contemplated a sequel to it.
Excerpts...
“We are a free
city!” I cried. “Are we to surrender?”
“There are wells
to dig and canals to dredge,” said Ali-ellati.
“Let us pay what Agga demands, and go about our business in peace. War is very expensive.”
“And Kish is very
mighty,” said Enlil-ennam.
“I call for your
pledges,” I said. “I will defy Agga:
give me your support.”
“Peace,” they
said. “Tribute,” they said. “There are wells to dig,” they said. (loc. 1994)
I sat upon my high
throne, thinking, Enkidu has died and shuffles about now within that place of
dust, cloaked like a bird in gloomy feathers, making his evening meal out of
cold clay. And soon enough I must go to
that dark place too. One day a king in a
grand palace, the next a mournful creature flapping his wings in the dust – was
that the fate that awaited me? (…)
Flies, flies, buzzing flies: we are nothing
more than that, I told myself. What
sense in being a king? King of the
flies? (loc. 3700)
Kindle Details...
Gilgamesh The King sells for $7.99 at Amazon. Robert Silverberg has been a prolific writer
of science-fiction since the 1950’s, and there are a slew of his novels
available for the Kindle, ranging in price from $5.99 to
$13.19. There are also a number of his short stories and novellas
available for a lesser price. If you are
patient, though, a number of his works are periodically discounted at Amazon,
which is how I snagged this book.
(T)here are times when it is
perilous to think. (loc.
1811)
I had some difficulties with Gilgamesh The King. There were some significant slow spots,
particularly in the early going, when Gilgamesh is telling us how wonderful he
is at everything. As a protagonist, I
found him to be a royal a$$hole, but I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered the
good citizens of Uruk felt likewise.
Also,
as a storyteller, Gilgamesh leaves a lot to be desired. Spoilers abound, and he tends to “telegraph”
the plot twists that are coming down the pike.
I can’t help but wonder if it would’ve been better to tell the tale in
the 3rd-person POV. Then
again, I also wonder if I would’ve appreciated the story more if I had read (a translation of) the Akkadian version,
or at least the Wikipedia article first.
But patience is a virtue, and things pick up around 50%, when Enkidu
and Gilgamesh become buddies and set out upon their quest. And the myth-busting portions of the second
half of the book will give you pause when any theology wants you to practice “blind faith”.
6 Stars.
Add 2 stars
if you’ve read Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha,
and loved it. You’ll find Gilgamesh The King to be a fascinating book. For the record, I found Siddhartha to be boring from beginning to end.
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