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4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
"Mínima alma mía, tierna y flotante, huésped y compañera de mi cuerpo, descenderás a estos parajes pálidos, rígidos y desnudos, donde habrás de renunciar a los juegos de antaño. Todavía un instante miremos juntos las riberas familiares, los objetos que sin duda no volveremos a ver... Tratemos de entrar a la muerte con los ojos abiertos..."
Casi se puede oír a Marguerite Yourcenar llorando sobre la máquina de escribir la muerte de su mejor amigo.
AL DIVINO ADRIANO AUGUSTO
HIJO DE TRAJANO CONQUISTADOR DE LOS PARTOS
NIETO DE NERVA
INVESTIDO POR LA XXII VEZ
DE LA DIGNIDAD TRIBUNICIA
TRES VECES CÓNSUL DOS VECES VENCEDOR
PADRE DE LA PATRIA
Y A SU DIVINA ESPOSA
SABINA
SU HIJO ANTONINO
A LUCIO ELIO CÉSAR
HIJO DEL DIVINO ADRIANO
DOS VECES CÓNSUL
Casi se puede oír a Marguerite Yourcenar llorando sobre la máquina de escribir la muerte de su mejor amigo.
AL DIVINO ADRIANO AUGUSTO
HIJO DE TRAJANO CONQUISTADOR DE LOS PARTOS
NIETO DE NERVA
INVESTIDO POR LA XXII VEZ
DE LA DIGNIDAD TRIBUNICIA
TRES VECES CÓNSUL DOS VECES VENCEDOR
PADRE DE LA PATRIA
Y A SU DIVINA ESPOSA
SABINA
SU HIJO ANTONINO
A LUCIO ELIO CÉSAR
HIJO DEL DIVINO ADRIANO
DOS VECES CÓNSUL
Comparisons to I, Claudius crept up on me while I was reading Memoirs of Hadrian. Whereas Graves' novel - which I also adore - tends to lay on the murders and the intrigue pretty thickly amidst an examination of ambition and desire, Yourcenar is more philosophical. There are still plots and assassinations, suspected poisonings and massacres - this is Ancient Rome, after all- but her emperor is more given to quiet contemplation and engagement, compared to Claudius' detached bemusement and horror at the machinations of his family. Hadrian is full of somber fear of death, of aching grief for young loves who somehow preceded him to the grave.
Looking back from the verge of the tomb, he examines what his reforms and victories will leave his people, positing the best ways to achieve good government, balancing war and diplomacy. It's less of a romp (compared to I, Claudius) and more of moving contemplation. The character is so touchingly and convincingly realized I had to keep reminding myself that after all these are fictional memoirs and not the true reflections of the real-life Hadrian. That's not to say he's portrayed as perfect - he certainly makes his way pretty voraciously through a bevy of pulchritudinous boys - but as a 60-year-old man he has perspective on his life.
Perhaps most attractively of all for those with Machiavellian tendencies, Hadrian can feel sad that he had to kill certain relations and religious leaders, but ultimately justify exactly why it was necessary and even unavoidable. Then there's the bracing view of Christianity in its early days, seen as just one more Judaic cult among many.
Memoirs of Hadrian should be read with a bottle of wine on a patio or terrace in the countryside somewhere; a place where one can gaze out across rolling greenery in between passages, just as Hadrian might have done from his villa as he wrote his memoirs.
Looking back from the verge of the tomb, he examines what his reforms and victories will leave his people, positing the best ways to achieve good government, balancing war and diplomacy. It's less of a romp (compared to I, Claudius) and more of moving contemplation. The character is so touchingly and convincingly realized I had to keep reminding myself that after all these are fictional memoirs and not the true reflections of the real-life Hadrian. That's not to say he's portrayed as perfect - he certainly makes his way pretty voraciously through a bevy of pulchritudinous boys - but as a 60-year-old man he has perspective on his life.
Perhaps most attractively of all for those with Machiavellian tendencies, Hadrian can feel sad that he had to kill certain relations and religious leaders, but ultimately justify exactly why it was necessary and even unavoidable. Then there's the bracing view of Christianity in its early days, seen as just one more Judaic cult among many.
Memoirs of Hadrian should be read with a bottle of wine on a patio or terrace in the countryside somewhere; a place where one can gaze out across rolling greenery in between passages, just as Hadrian might have done from his villa as he wrote his memoirs.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Une longue lettre d'Hadrien mourant à Marc-Aurèle, qui nous fait revivre le règne d'Hadrien. Étonamment, c'est très humain et passionnant. Ça demande de la concentration par contre!
informative
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
possibly the greatest book of all time i think
This isn't a book you read for its plot - if you do, you'll be quite disappointed and possibly a little bit bored. If that's your reading preference.
In all other aspects, it's a masterpiece. Marguerite Yourcenar spent a good few years (if not more than that) analysing the emperor Hadrian's life, and her perspicacity and intellect make each sentence flow into one another with a grace I seldom see in writing of others. How impressive, to try to be as objective, or subjective from the point of view of your subject, so as to remain impartial and believing when imparting views you yourself could not and did not have? I am awed by her skill.
I don't know of any other writer who could have done such a great job. (Maybe Margaret Atwood? Because she is skilled, and there is such a great sense of a contained ego from her).
And to add that Marguerite Yourcenar was a bisexual woman in a lifelong relationship with a woman, and the first woman to be admitted to Académie française? What a lady.
In all other aspects, it's a masterpiece. Marguerite Yourcenar spent a good few years (if not more than that) analysing the emperor Hadrian's life, and her perspicacity and intellect make each sentence flow into one another with a grace I seldom see in writing of others. How impressive, to try to be as objective, or subjective from the point of view of your subject, so as to remain impartial and believing when imparting views you yourself could not and did not have? I am awed by her skill.
I don't know of any other writer who could have done such a great job. (Maybe Margaret Atwood? Because she is skilled, and there is such a great sense of a contained ego from her).
And to add that Marguerite Yourcenar was a bisexual woman in a lifelong relationship with a woman, and the first woman to be admitted to Académie française? What a lady.
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A