Ancient Evenings: A Novel
Written by Norman Mailer
Narrated by Malcolm Hillgartner
3.5/5
()
About this audiobook
Norman Mailer’s dazzlingly rich, deeply evocative novel of ancient Egypt breathes life into the figures of a lost era: the eighteenth-dynasty Pharaoh Rameses and his wife, Queen Nefertiti; Menenhetet, their creature, lover, and victim; and the gods and mortals that surround them in intimate and telepathic communion. Mailer’s reincarnated protagonist is carried through the exquisite gardens of the royal harem, along the majestic flow of the Nile, and into the terrifying clash of battle. An extraordinary work of inventiveness, Ancient Evenings lives on in the mind long after the last page has been turned.
Norman Mailer
Norman Mailer (1923-2007) ha sido uno de los mayores escritores norteamericanos contemporáneos, así como una figura central en el panorama cultural: novelista, periodista, director de cine, activista político, aspirante a alcalde de Nueva York y enfant terrible todoterreno. Su primera novela, Los desnudos y los muertos, sobre la Segunda Guerra Mundial, que lo catapultó a la fama, ha sido publicada por Anagrama, donde también han aparecido Los ejércitos de la noche (Premio Pulitzer y National Book Award), La Canción del Verdugo (Premio Pulitzer), Oswald. Un misterio americano, Los tipos duros no bailan, El parque de los ciervos, El Evangelio según el Hijo, El fantasma de Harlot, ¿Por qué estamos en guerra?, América y El castillo en el bosque.
More audiobooks from Norman Mailer
Of a Fire on the Moon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Spooky Art: Thoughts on Writing Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Naked and the Dead Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5An American Dream Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Tough Guys Don't Dance: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Mind of an Outlaw: Selected Essays Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Oswald's Tale: An American Mystery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Deer Park: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Fight Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Armies of the Night: History as a Novel, the Novel as History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Miami and the Siege of Chicago Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Castle in the Forest Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Barbary Shore: A Novel Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Advertisements for Myself Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Castle in the Forest Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Selected Letters of Norman Mailer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gospel According to the Son: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Why Are We at War? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Why Are We in Vietnam?: A Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Big Empty: Dialogues on Politics, Sex, God, Boxing, Morality, Myth, Poker and Bad Conscience in America Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Related to Ancient Evenings
Related audiobooks
The Painted Veil Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Finnegans Wake Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Moon and Sixpence Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Confidence-Man (Unabridged) Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Pierre or The Ambiguities (Unabridged) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLook Homeward, Angel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Grass Harp Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Pillar of Iron: A Novel of Ancient Rome Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Underworld: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tales Of Unrest Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Last Days of Pompeii Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Son of the Circus Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Arrowsmith Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Murphy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Magic Skin Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Berlin Alexanderplatz Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Saturday Night And Sunday Morning Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sarrasine Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mildred Pierced Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The 42nd Parallel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Death of Ivan Ilyich Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Creation: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of Names: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Man Who Liked Dickens Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Custom of the Country, The (solo version) Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Therese Raquin Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Brief Lives Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shalimar the Clown Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFather Goriot Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Historical Fiction For You
The Song of Achilles: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Murder on the Orient Express: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Neon Gods Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5And Then There Were None Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Outlander Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Tom Lake: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dragon Teeth: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Tattooist of Auschwitz: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Red Tent - 20th Anniversary Edition: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Reformatory: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Alice Network: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Clan of the Cave Bear Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All Quiet on the Western Front Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5News of the World: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Death on the Nile: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of Lost Names Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The River We Remember: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Weyward: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beneath a Scarlet Sky: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5West with Giraffes: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lost Apothecary: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Witches of New York: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rose Code: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hang the Moon: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Magic Lessons: The Prequel to Practical Magic Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Yellow Wife: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5That Bonesetter Woman: the new feelgood novel from the author of The Smallest Man Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Rules of Magic: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Schindler's List Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for Ancient Evenings
182 ratings9 reviews
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5A bit of a snore for me. I found myself skimming large chunks of what I found to be tediously boring. I think there have been better books written about Egypt and the pharaohs.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Norman Mailer is one of the literary daddies and I've read a few titles of his in the past. At first I wasn't sure about this one, but the deeper I got into it the more addictive it became. Perhaps it's the fact that Mailer is a master at his art and conjures up the ancient Egyptian past so vividly that you can taste the corruption and hedonism that he describes. And perversion abounds in this story, so if you're of faint heart go listen to Harry Potter! For me the final chapter is perfect, but you need the measure of the book, which is the journey of death (and therefore about a life... or several), to appreciate the full impact of those final lines.
It's also really well read! - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A startling work of creative imagination.
Norman Mailer - love him or hate him - had a mastery of the language that very few could rival. It is apparent in all his works, including "Ancient Evenings", which takes place at a variety of Egyptian locales, from royal dinners to family barge rides, from distant mining camps to tombs. Much of the story is told in flashback, much of it recited by a ponderous old man. The highlights of the book are:
a) Mailer's immense knowledge of the age. I adored Ancient Egypt as a study topic when a student, and still I'm not sure how much of this is verified/historically theorised truth, and how much is Mailer's imagination. Either way, he creates a world in which every cultural nuance and spoken idiosyncracy feels foreign and yet genuine;
b) That sense of magic - speculative fiction, I guess we'd call it now - that allows us never to be sure what is real, without ever succumbing to the dreaded "fantasy"; and
c) yes, it is true: Mailer's ability to tell those lecherous tales while rarely coming across as just a perv.
As others have said, this book will beguile or disgust: sodomy and incest (sometimes both!) are high on the agenda, and Mailer is as unapologetic as his characters.
I would never call this book my favourite, not by a long shot: like many works, I appreciate it as much intellectually as I do viscerally. For instance, Menenhetet speaks using a lot of similes and analogies, often quite ponderously. It makes reading this book a tougher experience than one would like, but this is a genuine part of the character and his culture, not a flaw in Mailer's writing.
In the end, this is a work that won't speak to anyone. It's highly idiosyncratic, explores many abstract or challenging themes, and takes no pains to explain itself until it feels the time is right. However, by the same token, the novel refuses to pander to cliche or the simple answers, and is one of those amazing books where - by the time you're reading the final chapters - you realise how strange and incomprehensible they would be to the uninitiated, yet they make perfect sense to you. "Ancient Evenings" makes you work for your reward, and in this case the reward is a fantastic and unsettling portrayal of life in Egypt under the Pharaohs, and of a world so far removed from our own. The final chapter is startlingly beautiful, and puts my previous favourite literary ending - that of "The Great Gatsby" - to shame. Lovely. - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Ancient Egypt is not an area where I have much background, so this book is rated almost purely on its entertainment value. It wasn't more than entertaining. Mr. Mailer continues his quest for a definition of manhood that will allow him to feel good.
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Oh, what the fuck, Norman. You've completely lost it.
I respected The Naked and the Dead very much. A true epic of the Pacific War, no question. This is something by a different person entirely. Now, in his later career, he just seems to be fascinated with shit - literally. The historical novel about Hitler seemed to have too much rambling rants about piss in it. I refuse to read too much into his personal life, but this almost seems fetishistic.
Aside from that, I've always had a fascination for the mythology and history of Ancient Egypt, and it takes special effort to make this seem boring. What a waste. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Not for the faint of heart and take plenty of liquids. Evokes well the time of the pharoahs and the carnality at times excessive ring true.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I recently completed my 4th or 5th re-reading of this book. My familiarity with the characters and their environments allowed for an enriched reading experience and did not detract in any way. Mailer wrote with such precision and care that I expect to have an even deeper experience the next time I pick this book out of my shelves. Like Tom Wolfe, Norman Mailer often elaborates on a specific subject for pages or even entire chapters, but because I am so immersed in the world he has created, I find that level of detail illuminating.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5If you like the word "phallus", then this is the book for you. (Actually, this novel was kinda interesting from the historical/mythological perspective.)
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5I hated this book. I didn't even finish it, and I normally finish a book no matter how bad it is.