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4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
Note of 1949: the more I strive for an exact portrait the further I diverge from the kind of book, and of man, who would please the public. Only a few students of human destiny will understand.
This short paragraph from the afterword of Yourcenar's Memoirs of Hadrian encapsulates for me both this book and its magnetic effect. Clearly her magnum opus, this densely written, nuanced, deeply insightful portrait of a man who ruled the Roman empire of two millennia past is anything but a conventional novel. Instead, the author set herself to the challenge of inhabiting a man separated from her by culture, language, technology, and worldview across a span of centuries -- and has somehow succeeded.
With a command and absolute understanding of the complexity of language necessary to evoke a deeply thoughtful, passionate, fully human character through the written word alone, she manages to transport us to a time and place that is both familiar and utterly different from our own world. I can only admire with gratitude the artistry and extraordinary empathy that brings to life such an extraordinary figure as Hadrian, separated from us by so much time.
Excelente lectura.