Reviews - The Memoirs of Hadrian

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543 reviews for:

The Memoirs of Hadrian

Marguerite Yourcenar

4.12 AVERAGE

jaz01's review against another edition

4.0

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

patchworkculture's review

3.0

challenging reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Memoirs of Hadrian was quite different than my usual reads. The first few pages made me long for my own copy so I could underline a few phrases. I liked the tone, to hear Hadrian speaking as in a letter or diary. That lasted only in the philosophical moments of abstract wondering or reference to human nature. I was not as interested in the conquests and politics because the names and places were unfamiliar. Anecdotes about the government and society just kept coming, reminding me of an acquaintance who chains story after story together without pause for breath. I couldn’t decide how I felt about Hadrian. Sure, it’s nice to see a man pass through different phases of life, adopting new habits and interests over time, but my hazy image of him is a man of contradictions. He opposed the endless wars of his predecessor and wanted a peaceful empire where citizens could maintain aspects of their cultures. He was in favor of treating all men like humans but he berated a servant for disregarding hierarchy and became a stickler for rank. He improved women’s lives by banning marriages of non-consent, but it was a passing observation for him to acknowledge the smallness of women’s worlds, relegated to the domestic realm. It wasn’t until the author’s notes at the end that I remembered this was a fictional historical reconstruction, and not his actual voice. Yourcenar and Frick remained as true as existing documentation allowed them, but there was obviously an element of invention. I’m still glad to have read the book—I appreciated finding anything familiar and hope I retained enough to help me with a few trivia questions here and there.

Content Warnings

stcloud_17's review against another edition

5.0

challenging informative inspiring slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

dvrlingkenobi's review against another edition

3.75

reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

cserras's review against another edition

3.25

slow-paced

kalebarroko's review against another edition

5.0

I don't think I'll ever find the words to express how much this book means to me. I read it at the perfect time, at the perfect pace, absorbing everything it had to offer as if it was never enough. The narration is graceful and poetic, but compelling at the same time, of a density you never get tired of. A French woman from the 20th century makes you relate to a Roman emperor as if she had known him in person, as if she had been him. His loss, his desires, his battles and his virtues and flaws all of it composes a reality that trancends time. And there is of course Antinoo. A story like that couldn't have been anything but queer, in every sense of the word.
Unforgettable as well Julio Cortázar, whose ability to see the beauty in every single letter on the text as if it was something to carefully hold and transmit makes him the only man ever allowed to translate a woman; the only man ever really.