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leajyshi's review against another edition
5.0
神作啊 some of the most pristine prose you’ll ever read; Yourcenar is a sensual and austere thinker. “众神已灭，基督未显”的pagan world比后来的世界更广阔空灵
tildahlia's review against another edition
2.0
A few caveats:
1. I'm not really that interested in the Roman Empire.
2. I can see why people love this book.
3. I did not love this book.
So, given my first caveat I suspect many wonder why I chose to read this book. I stumbled upon it on Goodreads and the reviews were just so raving, I thought I'd give it a spin. Before you all lynch me for knocking Your Favourite Book Of All Time, as I concede in caveat 2, I get why y'all love it. The prose is lush and elegant and it comes across as a well researched, insightful summation of Hadrian's life. I wanted to love it, I really did. But it was just too self-aggrandizing (I'm such a cool progressive guy!) and frankly, boring for my palate and by page 130 I really had to psych myself up to open it up. Perhaps this is attributable to caveat 1, but two stars from me.
1. I'm not really that interested in the Roman Empire.
2. I can see why people love this book.
3. I did not love this book.
So, given my first caveat I suspect many wonder why I chose to read this book. I stumbled upon it on Goodreads and the reviews were just so raving, I thought I'd give it a spin. Before you all lynch me for knocking Your Favourite Book Of All Time, as I concede in caveat 2, I get why y'all love it. The prose is lush and elegant and it comes across as a well researched, insightful summation of Hadrian's life. I wanted to love it, I really did. But it was just too self-aggrandizing (I'm such a cool progressive guy!) and frankly, boring for my palate and by page 130 I really had to psych myself up to open it up. Perhaps this is attributable to caveat 1, but two stars from me.
arinaski's review against another edition
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Si vous espériez entrer dans l'esprit d'un homme qui a fini empereur, passez votre chemin, ici, Hadrien est aussi parfait qu'un dieu vivant, il a zéro défaut et fait tout bien, en fait, c'est vraiment l'empereur parfait, il raconte les structures qu'il a fait construire, les guerres qu'il a gagnées, et tout ça a l'arridité d'une liste de course impersonnelle sous une prose soutenue qui en ravira sans doute plus d'un, mais qui de mon point de vue masque un manque de substance par sa forme. Surtout que certaines tirades philosophique de cet empereur dieu sont assez simplistes pour ne pas dire creuses ou erronnées.
C'est le premier roman de Yourcenar que je lis et je suis déçue.
C'est le premier roman de Yourcenar que je lis et je suis déçue.
giant_teapot's review against another edition
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
lea_pleiades's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
raulbime's review against another edition
5.0
Written in epistolary form, Hadrian writes to his adopted grandson Marcus Aurelius. This book begins as an update after Hadrian sees his physician Hermogenes and later develops into the reflection and recollection of his life. This book is beautiful, from beginning to the end, beautiful.
From his childhood in Spain, to his army life, to the beginnings of his political life, his ascent to power and career successes, his policies as well as love for art and Greek culture, his finding his love Antinous, loss and the grief he suffers, and later old age and approaching death. This was a wonderful, wonderful reading experience.
Of course Hadrian has always been considered a great statesman and was indeed an impressive figure. Some of his policies were meant to help improve the conditions of slaves, women and other marginalized groups in Roman society; he also relatively maintains peace and avoids war, especially compared to his previous predecessor, in the empire. However, he is still determined to maintain the status quo and systems that made his rise to power possible, and keeping the empire and colonies intact, even if it means a war that murdered hundreds of thousands and the destruction it led to as was the case with Jerusalem.
Reading the book, it was the writer Marguerite Yourcenar and not Hadrian that was at the back of my mind with every read sentence. She worked to bridge the distance of eighteen centuries that separated her from Hadrian, reconstructing that world that is long vanished save for the histories, ruins and artworks from the period and worked successfully to give a self-portrait of the emperor. She was the one more impressive to me and not the emperor, even though she claims her role was as a sorcerer:
"The sorcerer who pricks his thumb before he evokes the shades knows well that they will heed his call only because they lap his blood. He knows, too, or ought to know, that the voices who speak to him are wiser and more worthy of attention than are his own clamorous outcries."
This is a project that was a three decade process; reading the writer's reflection on composition, which was part of the library copy I had, was a fascinating reveal into the process that bore this book as well as the research the writer undertook and the bibliography notes provided. How she was able to dissolve history, facts, hypotheses and invention and have it all merge, formed and crystallized into the marvel that is this book, how she did it all, I'm still impressed. This is a remarkable artistic achievement.
The photographs illustrated and selected by the writer, along with the reflections on composition and bibliography notes contribute to the wonderful reading experience. The glowing and brilliant reviews the book has received are more than merited.
The English translation of the book was also impressive. Reading this at times I forgot that it was a translation, translated from French by Yourcenar's partner Grace Fick who worked in collaboration with the writer and who the writer also acknowledges for her role in the writing of the book (not related to the translating). This was brilliant, it was with a mixture of awe, admiration and envy that I read this.
From his childhood in Spain, to his army life, to the beginnings of his political life, his ascent to power and career successes, his policies as well as love for art and Greek culture, his finding his love Antinous, loss and the grief he suffers, and later old age and approaching death. This was a wonderful, wonderful reading experience.
Of course Hadrian has always been considered a great statesman and was indeed an impressive figure. Some of his policies were meant to help improve the conditions of slaves, women and other marginalized groups in Roman society; he also relatively maintains peace and avoids war, especially compared to his previous predecessor, in the empire. However, he is still determined to maintain the status quo and systems that made his rise to power possible, and keeping the empire and colonies intact, even if it means a war that murdered hundreds of thousands and the destruction it led to as was the case with Jerusalem.
Reading the book, it was the writer Marguerite Yourcenar and not Hadrian that was at the back of my mind with every read sentence. She worked to bridge the distance of eighteen centuries that separated her from Hadrian, reconstructing that world that is long vanished save for the histories, ruins and artworks from the period and worked successfully to give a self-portrait of the emperor. She was the one more impressive to me and not the emperor, even though she claims her role was as a sorcerer:
"The sorcerer who pricks his thumb before he evokes the shades knows well that they will heed his call only because they lap his blood. He knows, too, or ought to know, that the voices who speak to him are wiser and more worthy of attention than are his own clamorous outcries."
This is a project that was a three decade process; reading the writer's reflection on composition, which was part of the library copy I had, was a fascinating reveal into the process that bore this book as well as the research the writer undertook and the bibliography notes provided. How she was able to dissolve history, facts, hypotheses and invention and have it all merge, formed and crystallized into the marvel that is this book, how she did it all, I'm still impressed. This is a remarkable artistic achievement.
The photographs illustrated and selected by the writer, along with the reflections on composition and bibliography notes contribute to the wonderful reading experience. The glowing and brilliant reviews the book has received are more than merited.
The English translation of the book was also impressive. Reading this at times I forgot that it was a translation, translated from French by Yourcenar's partner Grace Fick who worked in collaboration with the writer and who the writer also acknowledges for her role in the writing of the book (not related to the translating). This was brilliant, it was with a mixture of awe, admiration and envy that I read this.
federica1994's review against another edition
inspiring
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
jimena's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
anael21's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0