Art and War with a Master Storyteller
A novelist writes to move someone.
He begins by probing his own feelings—the things he loves and the things he hates. The things that pique his interest and pierce his heart; the things he fears but will never admit. He distills these insights into a story about life, and through his words seeks to induce a feeling in the reader, to make the reader love or hate or identify with people who do not exist. The novelist entertains, delights, grieves, and consoles us. Ultimately, the great novelists cause us to reflect on our own lives and, on occasion, to change them.
By this measure, Steven Pressfield is a great novelist. Pressfield is the author of more than 10 nonfiction books, several Hollywood films, and, with the publication of The Arcadian this month, 12 novels. From his pen has flowed millions of dollars in sales of books and movie tickets. But it was one book – Gates of Fire (1998) – that cemented his legacy.