I’m always on the lookout for historical books that are a little left field, and I’ve just finished reading Adam Roberts excellent adaptation of a novel/screenplay written by Anthony Burgess called The Black Prince.
I’ve added a slash between novel and screenplay because the late Anthony Burgess never got to publish, or screen, either of his works in the early 1970s; and also, I think the creative aspect of the book lands somewhere in between the two descriptions. However, I’ve never read anything like this book before - at least nothing in a historical setting. So, if you like your novels dark and gritty with a pinch of A Clockwork Orange thrown in for good measure, this book might be for you.
But beware, readers, The Black Prince is experimental fiction. It’s not the usual kind of pulp history we are used to, although it is very readable, and it puts you right there amid the action from several unusual viewpoints. The subject matter focuses on the eldest son of the renowned medieval godfather, Edward III. By contrast, young Edward of Woodstock was famous for defeating the French at Crecy, Poitiers, and many other actions in the Hundred Years War. ‘The Black Prince’ founded the Order of the Garter, was a great chivalric warrior, and tragically, he died of dysentery in 1376 before even having the chance to ascend the English throne. But there, the normality of history ends. If you’ve ever wondered what it was like to see medieval Europe from the perspective of a blind King of Bohemia, a dog, a chicken seller, a Cornish miner and the Black Prince himself, then look no further for inspiration.
Cinematic newsreels move the story along from here to there and read like some wide-eyed medieval correspondent has actually witnessed the battles of Crecy or Poitiers firsthand. Adam Roberts paints an absorbing picture full of all the poetry and allegory of the time. His attention to detail is excellent. The putrefaction of the Black Death is experienced from within someone’s body, and by now, you might be thinking is this novel meant to be funny? But I can assure you it isn’t. There are plenty of grim, bloody scenes that some might say should carry a health warning. The siege of Limoges is a particularly disturbing and stomach-churning event accompanied by intrusive camera angles and sweeping panoramas.
Anthony Burgess was born in Manchester in 1917. He published his first novel, Time for a Tiger, in 1958 and his most famous title, A Clockwork Orange, in 1958. Kubrick’s film of the same name brought Burgess global fame, and after producing some of his best work in the 70s, he died in 1993.
Adam Roberts has done a great job imitating some of the Burgess quirks, and I highly recommend this book if you want a historical novel with a twist of modernism. The Black Prince is a brutal history lesson about chivalry, religious belief, obsession, and bloody warfare. Anthony Burgess shines through, and Roberts has followed and enhanced his original screenplay in a wonderful and outlandish way. You can almost smell the Middle Ages as you turn the page.