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4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
L'imperatore Adriano, ormai vicino al momento della morte, ripercorre la propria vita indirizzando una missiva al suo nipote adottivo Marco Aurelio, un ultimo dono e un'ultima lezione al futuro imperatore romano.
Dalla giovinezza con i suoi eccessi e dall'adozione da parte di Traiano, all'assunzione al ruolo di imperatore, i viaggi nell'Impero, gli scontri con gli avversari a Roma, la ricerca di vie diverse dalla guerra per dirimere le questioni.
Ma anche riflessioni filosofiche, religiose.
La vita politica e l'amore.
Le memorie di un uomo che, scelto per un compito immane, ha deciso di lottare per consolidare l'Impero, pacificarlo all'interno e all'esterno, renderlo stabile e duraturo.
Un po' pesante l'inizio, poi scorre che è un piacere.
Dalla giovinezza con i suoi eccessi e dall'adozione da parte di Traiano, all'assunzione al ruolo di imperatore, i viaggi nell'Impero, gli scontri con gli avversari a Roma, la ricerca di vie diverse dalla guerra per dirimere le questioni.
Ma anche riflessioni filosofiche, religiose.
La vita politica e l'amore.
Le memorie di un uomo che, scelto per un compito immane, ha deciso di lottare per consolidare l'Impero, pacificarlo all'interno e all'esterno, renderlo stabile e duraturo.
Un po' pesante l'inizio, poi scorre che è un piacere.
Jestem w olbrzymim szoku jak szybko się ją czyta, owszem zrobiłem sobie kilka dni przerwy, ale jak dziś zacząłem to praktycznie ją połknąłem. W przeciągu 10 minut potrafiłem przeczytać po 30-40 stron!
Książka napisana w nieco nudny sposób, ale jest to jej jedyna poważna wada. Sama książka zawiera mnóstwo mądrości życiowych i pięknych sentencji oraz prawie najbardziej wzruszajacy wątek miłosny (nic chyba nie pobije Achillesa i Patroklosa w „Pieśni o Achillesie”). Naprawdę przyjemna książka, polecam :)
Książka napisana w nieco nudny sposób, ale jest to jej jedyna poważna wada. Sama książka zawiera mnóstwo mądrości życiowych i pięknych sentencji oraz prawie najbardziej wzruszajacy wątek miłosny (nic chyba nie pobije Achillesa i Patroklosa w „Pieśni o Achillesie”). Naprawdę przyjemna książka, polecam :)
Fue un libro muy difícil para terminar
Me obligué a terminarlo por que es considerado una de las obras literarias más importantes de la historia.
Me interesó mucho y me hizo buscar muchos nombres y lugares, eso siempre es bueno.
Pero la verdad es que me perdía entre nombres, lugares y un monólogo monótono sin fin.
Tal vez si lo releo en otra etapa de mi vida lo aprecie más.
Me obligué a terminarlo por que es considerado una de las obras literarias más importantes de la historia.
Me interesó mucho y me hizo buscar muchos nombres y lugares, eso siempre es bueno.
Pero la verdad es que me perdía entre nombres, lugares y un monólogo monótono sin fin.
Tal vez si lo releo en otra etapa de mi vida lo aprecie más.
challenging
informative
reflective
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
Meticulously researched novel told from the perspective of the Roman emperor Hadrian. I didn't love the book the way a lot of people seem to (check that average rating!). The procession of references to long-dead cities and minor historical figures of the time left me feeling confused (wait...who was that guy again...is he the governor of...oh right) and occasionally a bit bored. I would have preferred a book which focused more on the central tragic relationship between Hadrian and Antinous, rather than trying to incorporate a passage about every single thing Hadrian is recorded as having done in his life.
Also, the Hadrian of this book did not ring true to me: he's too much of a twentieth-century liberal humanist with twentieth-century humanist preoccupations. It's possible that this was an intentional move on the part of the author, encouraging us to view our preoccupations as the same as his, or Hadrian as a man born in the wrong century? This desire to make him relevant to the 1950s reader extends to several passages in which he reflects on the possibility of the empire collapsing into warring states, etc, which felt a bit on the nose.
This review feels overly negative, so I should say there were things I liked: I felt it gave me some sense of what it must have been like to occupy that position, of the politics and the culture of the time, and of Hadrian's personal preoccupations and legacy. A good book, but not a great one.
Also, the Hadrian of this book did not ring true to me: he's too much of a twentieth-century liberal humanist with twentieth-century humanist preoccupations. It's possible that this was an intentional move on the part of the author, encouraging us to view our preoccupations as the same as his, or Hadrian as a man born in the wrong century? This desire to make him relevant to the 1950s reader extends to several passages in which he reflects on the possibility of the empire collapsing into warring states, etc, which felt a bit on the nose.
This review feels overly negative, so I should say there were things I liked: I felt it gave me some sense of what it must have been like to occupy that position, of the politics and the culture of the time, and of Hadrian's personal preoccupations and legacy. A good book, but not a great one.
Muy bien escrito, reconozco la belleza del leguaje, aunque no me atrapó del todo.
lots felt like a true contemplative reflection, after some reflection of my own i felt it was too dominated by the romance for my liking
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What an extraordinarily wonderful book. I read it first about 15 years ago, and loved it then, but I loved it even more this time. Yourcenar spent more than 20 years working on this book, and at one point she said she needed to have lived longer before she could write it properly, and I feel the same is true of my experience reading it.
The book itself is completely engrossing and exquisitely written (credit must go as much to the translator, Grace Frick, as to Yourcenar herself). Hadrian's external and interior worlds are so finely drawn, that, as other reviewers have noted, I frequently forgot I wasn't reading an actual memoir written 2000 years ago. At the end of the book, after an incredibly detailed bibliographic note, are Yourcenar's random musings on the process of researching and writing it, and these notes are as enjoyable and affecting as the book itself.
I was struck on this reading how Yourcenar depicts Hadrian as very aware of himself as a fully modern man, and of his times as fully modern times (but without any anachronism), and he speaks often of the vast stretch of history before his time. It seems to me that historical novels don't often convey this kind of sensibility, and it was part of what made so many centuries completely disappear.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough.
The book itself is completely engrossing and exquisitely written (credit must go as much to the translator, Grace Frick, as to Yourcenar herself). Hadrian's external and interior worlds are so finely drawn, that, as other reviewers have noted, I frequently forgot I wasn't reading an actual memoir written 2000 years ago. At the end of the book, after an incredibly detailed bibliographic note, are Yourcenar's random musings on the process of researching and writing it, and these notes are as enjoyable and affecting as the book itself.
I was struck on this reading how Yourcenar depicts Hadrian as very aware of himself as a fully modern man, and of his times as fully modern times (but without any anachronism), and he speaks often of the vast stretch of history before his time. It seems to me that historical novels don't often convey this kind of sensibility, and it was part of what made so many centuries completely disappear.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough.