Welcome to the Historical Fiction Online forums: a friendly place to discuss, review and discover historical fiction.
If this is your first visit, please be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above.
You will have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed.
To start viewing posts, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Giordano Bruno and other Renaissance Philosophers

User avatar
Margaret
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 2440
Joined: August 2008
Interest in HF: I can't answer this in 100 characters. Sorry.
Favourite HF book: Checkmate, the final novel in the Lymond series
Preferred HF: Literary novels. Late medieval and Renaissance.
Location: Catskill, New York, USA
Contact:

Giordano Bruno and other Renaissance Philosophers

Post by Margaret » Fri March 19th, 2010, 5:15 am

I've just posted an author interview with S.J. Parris on my blog about her mystery Heresy, featuring the Renaissance philosopher/scientist Giordano Bruno as sleuth. (I posted a review a little earlier this month.) Giordano Bruno was a fascinating guy, who had to flee his monastery just before he was about to be charged with heresy (for reading Erasmus in the toilet), and then traveled around Europe expressing all sorts of wild ideas - for example, he believed there were other suns in the universe besides ours, with planets circling around them. Radical stuff for the sixteenth century!

I don't know of any other novels about Giordano Bruno, but I'll bet someone here can come up with one, perhaps by an obscure author of the early 20th century?

John Banville wrote novels about Kepler and Copernicus; I've read the one about Kepler (titled simply Kepler), which is an exceptionally vivid portrayal of the period, which really brings the characters to life (although it includes a section of letters in reverse chronological order that rather put me off). Tycho Brahe is as interesting as Kepler - he lost his nose in an injury and wore a silver prosthetic nose for the rest of his life. I haven't read Banville's novel about Copernicus (titled Doctor Copernicus), but it's on my all-too-lengthy TBR.

There are quite a few novels about Galileo, I believe. I'm not sure why he's been so much more popular with novelists than Bruno and Kepler - both of whom, I think, led much stranger and more interesting lives.
Browse over 5000 historical novel listings (probably well over 5000 by now, but I haven't re-counted lately) and over 700 reviews at www.HistoricalNovels.info

User avatar
Jack
Reader
Posts: 80
Joined: September 2008
Location: California

Post by Jack » Fri March 19th, 2010, 7:11 am

I don't know any HF of Bruno, but there are several NF works that are good.
John Bossy wrote GIORDANO bRUNO AND THE EMBASSY AFFAIR;
Francis Yates GIORDANO BRUNO AND THE HERMETIC TRADITION;
Ingrid Rowland GIORDANO BRUNO: PHILOSOPHER/HERETIC;
And finally from Michael White (of Isaac Newton:the Last Sorcerer's fame) there's THE POPE AND THE HERETIC

It'd be interesting to come across any HF on the guy. Keep us posted

annis
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 4585
Joined: August 2008

Post by annis » Fri March 19th, 2010, 7:59 am

I haven't read it, but Chris Scott wrote "Antichthon" (1982) a historical novel about Bruno

"Antichthon" was published in Britain in 1985 as "The Heretic"

Read more:
Chris Scott's Biography
http://www.jrank.org/literature/pages/8 ... z0ibgov7id

*Edit- Bruno is among the real historical figures who appear in Arturo Pérez-Reverte's "The Dumas Club", a twisty mystery a bit along the lines of Katherine Neville's "The Eight". It was the basis for the movie
"The Ninth Gate"
Last edited by annis on Fri March 19th, 2010, 8:09 am, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
Margaret
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 2440
Joined: August 2008
Interest in HF: I can't answer this in 100 characters. Sorry.
Favourite HF book: Checkmate, the final novel in the Lymond series
Preferred HF: Literary novels. Late medieval and Renaissance.
Location: Catskill, New York, USA
Contact:

Post by Margaret » Fri March 19th, 2010, 4:36 pm

I knew you'd come up with something, Annis! These are both going on my TBR, if I can find a copy of Antichthon. Hopefully before the end of the year.
Browse over 5000 historical novel listings (probably well over 5000 by now, but I haven't re-counted lately) and over 700 reviews at www.HistoricalNovels.info

annis
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 4585
Joined: August 2008

Post by annis » Fri March 19th, 2010, 7:11 pm

You're welcome, Margaret - I wonder if Sarah might have a few othere stashed away in her amazing book treasure house :)

This one looks interesting, though it's NF, not a novel
John Bossy, "Giordano Bruno and the Embassy Affair"

Duh! I see you've got this one already listed with your "Heresy" review.
Last edited by annis on Fri March 19th, 2010, 9:29 pm, edited 2 times in total.

User avatar
Ariadne
Bibliophile
Posts: 1151
Joined: August 2008
Location: At the foothills of Mt. Level

Post by Ariadne » Fri March 19th, 2010, 7:53 pm

Heh :) I don't think I own a copy of this one, but Morris West's The Last Confession is another novel about Bruno. It's unfinished, as the author died (literally; at his desk) while writing it. I wrote up a review of Heresy myself earlier this year.

User avatar
Margaret
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 2440
Joined: August 2008
Interest in HF: I can't answer this in 100 characters. Sorry.
Favourite HF book: Checkmate, the final novel in the Lymond series
Preferred HF: Literary novels. Late medieval and Renaissance.
Location: Catskill, New York, USA
Contact:

Post by Margaret » Sat March 20th, 2010, 5:29 pm

Good review, Ariadne. Your longer format allows you to explore more of the novel's facets than I did. Obviously, we both liked it. One of the things I found less than perfectly satisfying about Heresy (though I don't think it was a flaw - and for most readers would probably be a strength) is that it doesn't go very deeply into Bruno's philosophical, scientific and religious/magical beliefs. It mentions enough in passing for readers to get quite a good sense of his ideas, but it was more tantalizing than meaty. It would have been fun for me as a reader to get a plot in which his ideas were front and center.
Browse over 5000 historical novel listings (probably well over 5000 by now, but I haven't re-counted lately) and over 700 reviews at www.HistoricalNovels.info

User avatar
Ariadne
Bibliophile
Posts: 1151
Joined: August 2008
Location: At the foothills of Mt. Level

Post by Ariadne » Sat March 20th, 2010, 9:27 pm

Thanks for your comments, Margaret. I've often tried to keep my reviews shorter, but without an imposed word count, it doesn't always happen! I'd look forward to seeing more about Bruno's philosophical beliefs as well. I agree, I got the sense of his passion for the subject, but it wasn't fleshed out as fully as it could have been.

User avatar
Margaret
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 2440
Joined: August 2008
Interest in HF: I can't answer this in 100 characters. Sorry.
Favourite HF book: Checkmate, the final novel in the Lymond series
Preferred HF: Literary novels. Late medieval and Renaissance.
Location: Catskill, New York, USA
Contact:

Post by Margaret » Sun March 21st, 2010, 12:57 am

I've been doing a few longer reviews for the Heritage-Key website, and it's nice to have the space to stretch out a bit. Not every book merits the extra verbiage, but I liked being able to work in a few more reflections and include more extensive quotes for my review of Ransom and a review of Katharine Beutner's Alcestis that will be appearing soon. I thought you made good use of the space with your Heresy review.
Browse over 5000 historical novel listings (probably well over 5000 by now, but I haven't re-counted lately) and over 700 reviews at www.HistoricalNovels.info

User avatar
Ariadne
Bibliophile
Posts: 1151
Joined: August 2008
Location: At the foothills of Mt. Level

Post by Ariadne » Mon March 22nd, 2010, 9:24 pm

Margaret, I enjoyed your review of Ransom very much; I've heard so many excellent things about this novel that I should put it on my TBR list very soon.

Post Reply

Return to “Tudor/Renaissance”