I went into Waterstones the other week - only because I had one of their book vouchers to spend, normally I wouldn't shop there. I had in mind a single-volume edition of 'I, Claudius' and 'Claudius the God', if such a thing exists. I knew I wasn't going to have much luck when I asked the assistant if Graves's works would be under 'classics' (where they belong) or under 'G' in general fiction. "Robert who" she asked? 
They didn't have anything of his - not even 'Goodbye To All That', which, if I remember correctly, has never been out of print.
My wife reckons he is more of a man's author, and I'm inclined to agree with her, even though we both try to avoid such generalisations. One of the things I admire most about him is how he distilled so much of his classical knowledge into the two 'Claudius' books without making them at all dry or academic. I know he regarded most of his prose fiction as 'potboilers', and would probably have preferred to be remembered for his poetry and his non-fiction, but I think he did us all an immense service and he must rate as one of the best British writers of 20th century.
They didn't have anything of his - not even 'Goodbye To All That', which, if I remember correctly, has never been out of print.My wife reckons he is more of a man's author, and I'm inclined to agree with her, even though we both try to avoid such generalisations. One of the things I admire most about him is how he distilled so much of his classical knowledge into the two 'Claudius' books without making them at all dry or academic. I know he regarded most of his prose fiction as 'potboilers', and would probably have preferred to be remembered for his poetry and his non-fiction, but I think he did us all an immense service and he must rate as one of the best British writers of 20th century.
