Gilgamesh the King

Rating:
Summary: One of Silverberg's best.
Review: An entertaining spin on the myth of Gilgamesh, by one of our foremost living authors. I have read the original (or a translation, anyway) and it is remarkable how he manages to be so faithful to the tone of the book and yet to shore up an often-fragmentary narrative. Definitely, a must-read.

Rating:
Summary: Gilgamesh the mundane
Review: Being fond of ancient Sumer in general and the Gilgamesh epic in particular, I found Mr. Silverberg's book a profound disappointment. It appears that the author's intention was to rework the venerable story to remove its fantastic elements. Along the way he practically ignores an interesting milieu, makes the characters boring, and replaces dynamic episodes with confusing ones.

Admittedly, Mr. Silverberg did make an effort to make his characters seem as though they actually are living in a different day and time. However, as historical fiction this book falls flat. (If you want historical fiction set in Sumer check out The Three Brothers of Ur by J.G. Fyson, and forget this book.)

Rating:
Summary: Gilgamesh the mundane
Review: Being fond of ancient Sumer in general and the Gilgamesh epic in particular, I found Mr. Silverberg's book a profound disappointment. It appears that the author's intention was to rework the venerable story to remove its fantastic elements. Along the way he practically ignores an interesting milieu, makes the characters boring, and replaces dynamic episodes with confusing ones.

Admittedly, Mr. Silverberg did make an effort to make his characters seem as though they actually are living in a different day and time. However, as historical fiction this book falls flat. (If you want historical fiction set in Sumer check out The Three Brothers of Ur by J.G. Fyson, and forget this book.)

Rating:
Summary: A face to the legend
Review: Gilgamesh The King is a thoroughly engrossing retelling of the famous Sumerian myth from the perspective of the figure himself. It creates a plausible blend of superstition, ancient knowledge and characterization as underpinnings of the legend.
In the same way that Mary Stewart's historical tales carry the reader to ancient times through the eyes and thoughts of the main character, Gilgamesh The King brings a profound humanity to such fabled material.

Rating:
Summary: This is not ancient Sumer, let alone Gilgamesh
Review: I thought I would love this book. I have a passion for ancient Sumer and I love historical fiction. Silverberg's research is average, his characters are average, and his setting is boring. One small anacronym that really bothered me was the spring rain. Rain comes to southern Iraq (Ancient Sumer) in the Winter. I admit, probably with Silverberg's abilities it was not easy to research Sumer. Little is known about the ancient culture as compared to Egypt, Rome, or Greece. But, he could have put more effort into the characters. When Enkidu died, I was like, "So?" I had no sympathy for any of the characters. They weren't real. It did begin to become intersting when Gilgamesh traveled to Dilmun. That place seemed to stir some imagination, but Sumer seemed so boring. And it was anything but. A good historical novel on the Sumerians needs to be done. I guess I'll do it.

Rating:
Summary: a social history of Sumer
Review: The narrator of Gilgamesh the King is the hero of the oldest surviving literary epic. His ruminations about the gods of ancient Sumer paint a picture of a period of history when goddesses had become subservient to male gods but had not yet been totally suppressed.
Gilgamesh the King is categorized as science fiction. In fact all of its fantasy elements constitute the conditioned beliefs of the narrator, who more than once raises the possibility that the true explanation of events he interprets metaphysically could be coincidence or something equally mundane. Even when he travels to an island I identify from the context as Bahrain, to seek immortality from Ziusudra, whose ark later evolved into Noah's ark, he learns that the alleged world-covering flood was a localized thunderstorm, the "ark" was a fairy-tale elaboration, and Ziusudra's immortality was likewise mere myth.
This book will appeal to lovers of science fiction (which it is not), lovers of historical fiction, and persons who like to see ancient myths demythologized into the possible historical events from which the myth evolved. I loved it.

Rating:
Summary: An uplifting, hopeful adventure story
Review: This book may be a peculiar exception to what people expect from this author. The book seems to be somewhat maligned in reviews, and by library staff as well - i think that is extremely undeserved.

Silverburg tells the story of the archetypical royal hero Gilgamesh in this book. The story here is stark and sophisticatedly simple versus well developed and textured, maybe analogous to the simple early Middle Eastern figurines, staring hauntingly down through the ages with their exaggeratedly large eyes, versus some busy Bosch painting.

Paintings and such aside, Silverburg's telling of the story has Gilgamesh swashbuckling his masculine way through the times of early Middle Eastern city-states. While the times may have actually been brutal, Silverburg's version makes it seem better characterized as 'passionate', royalty and dominion being established by hubris and warring, and sexuality being an integral part of the society.

In the original story, from the beginnings of history, a rivalry goes unresolved in a contest; Gilgamesh meets his match, and becomes an admirer of the mysterious Enki-du, his proven equal. Silverburg's Gilgamesh has a big heart. Gilgamesh's hearty confidence and gusto, through which the reader sees the events in the story, tempers the impression of the actual time and place. In fact, the warmth and uplifting emotional buoyancy of this character puts a winning and human face on masculinity.

In a culture that has turned to hatefully undermining heterosexual masculinity and destroying fraternity wherever it is found, this book is a hopeful illustration, not only of a distant past, but maintenance of a spirit for the future. Definitely, it is the opposite of one of our contemporary 'chick books'.

This book does not deserve maligning reviews, nor does the author deserve the belittling review. It is a 'must read' for a thinking man, and will only disappoint those who are narrow-minded.