Beyond Renault

Dad the Emeritus Historian of Graeco-Roman Egypt has pointed me to Beyond Renault, a site devoted to post-1920 historical novels about Alexander the Great. The author, Jeanne Reames-Zimmerman, is both a historical novelist and a specialist in Macedonian history, and the site includes an interesting essay on the historical novelist's practice. Given Dan Green's query in the comments of the "Historical fiction" post, below, I found Reames-Zimmerman's distinction between "historical fiction" and "historical allegory" useful (although I'm not sure I agree entirely with her discussion of her former--but that's a different post).

Comments

[Jonathan Dresner]

Wow, that's specialized.

[Jeanne Reames-Zimmerman]

You must be Stanley's daughter? I hope you don't mind me dropping in; I found the link via my counter (in case you wonder). :-) He said he was going to give you my URL.

Actually, I'd be most interested in your thoughts on the essay, and historical fiction generally. That essay is somewhat abbreviated, and there's more that I could say, as I am (obviously) interested in the topic. If you're interested in dialogue, I'd love to hear your comments/thoughts/disputes. I've not studied this subject systematically or academically, so much as in practice (either that of friends or of my own). Thus, discussing the topic with someone who looks at it all from a different perspective would be most interesting.

Btw, your father is a lovely person. He once offered me some kind encouragement when I was an (even younger) junior scholar and unsure if I had anything to say worth the waste of paper, and I've never forgotten that. It's funny how small things can make such an impact, and I think part of his reputation (to my mind) isn't just for his outstanding scholarship, but also for being a very gracious person. (Sorry to take up journal space with the personal, but I like to pass on things when I can and I respect your father a great deal.)

[Jonathan]

The Fuego was a kick-ass car, though. Particularly the Turbo.

[Miriam]

There must not be that many emeritus Graeco-Roman historians around :) Yes, I'm Stan Burstein's daughter. I'll get back to the historical novel discussion as soon as I recover from jet lag...