"Empire" is a very fine historical novel authored by Gore Vidal and published in 1987, when Gore Vidal was in his early 60s. It is a sequel and somewhat of a continuation to other historical novels, but is nonetheless a stand alone novel. It is full of wry humor, historical figures and historical and cultural references, many of which I needed to look up. Although mostly easily comprehended, It is somewhat sophisticated and is not always an easy read. I do not mean that as a criticism. I like to read different novels of various degrees of difficulty depending on what else I have going on at any given moment. This novel demanded my attention.
This is easily my favorite Gore Vidal novel that I have thus far read. In the past I have only read two early Gore Vidal novels; "Williwaw" from 1946 and "The City and The Pillar" 1948. "Williwaw" is a semi autobiographical novel about World War II. "The City and The Pillar" is, what was at the time, an avant-garde novel about homosexuality in America. Although I liked those novels, it is crystal clear to me that Gore Vidal evolved very much in the decades that followed those two novels.
I inadvertently got ahead of myself in reading this particular novel. I was visiting family in Europe. I came across it at a local book sale at a nominal price. I was looking for a hard copy of a book that I could hold and read as opposed to a device. Only after beginning to read it did I discover that it was a sequel. I was easily able to read it without reading the earlier novels. However my "inner rainman" likes to read these types of novels in order. I fully intend to read the prior novels in this series.
This novel begins at the end of The Spanish American War. The story is largely about politics and the interactions between politicians and journalists. There is much cynicism. There is a lot of irony and wry sophisticated wit. I found myself looking up numerous cultural references and figures mentioned in the novel. In that context I learned a good deal despite the fact that this is fiction.
As I often do, I purchased an audiobook narrated by Grover Gardner and read and listened simultaneously. Grover Gardner is generally one of my favorite narrators and he does an excellent job with this novel. His narration is essentially completely faithful to my hard copy of the novel.
In summary, I really enjoyed this reading and learning experience. This is easily my favorite Gore Vidal novel that I have thus far read, although I had only read two early novels. If I had it to do over again, I would have started with the first novel in this series, "Burr", although they apparently were not published in order, "Burr" is the earliest of the historical sequence. Thank You...
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