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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
Well, what do you know, Claudius as the hapless bystander looking on while his family make a mess of things and slaughter anyone in sight (including, almost, Claudius himself) turns out to be a lot more interesting as a narrator (in the first volume) than Claudius turned emperor (in this sequel) who does everything right and is ever so wise and just, except even he still can’t escape fate or his family or whatever it is (is it the wine after all), so he does some slaughtering himself (albeit wise and just slaughtering, of course!). And what’s with this Herod, who even wants to know about this supposedly charming rascal?
Weird.
Weird.
Sometimes you just get so tired with constantly trying to do the right thing that eventually you just want the world to burn.
Not quite as enthralling, in my opinion, as its predecessor I, Claudius. Still, I couldn't easily put it down once I had started, and read all 583 pages in short order. A worthy 5* book, if perhaps rounded up just a tad from 4.something.
adventurous
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Second both in sequence and ranking to I, Claudius.
dark
funny
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
informative
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
funny
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
funny
informative
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
CLAUDIUS THE GOD is the second part of Robert Graves' two-part fictional autobiography of the Roman emperor Claudius. I, CLAUDIUS was the first. Unlike the first book, which concentrated on the long chain of events that ironically brought Claudius to the throne, the second volume is more concerned with Claudius' own personal feelings on how he should reign, and events in the Near East and Britain which affect his rule.
Two things, however, stand between this book and a five-star rating. The first is that the initial 100 pages of the book are about the life of Herod Agrippa. As interesting as Herod is historically, concentrating solely on him for so long takes away from the focus on Claudius. The second gripe is that the last few years of Claudius' life, after his marriage to Agrippina, are glossed over in a few pages. This may be inspired by the historian Tacitus' comment that in his final years Claudius was merely the puppet of his slaves, freedmen, and wife, but it has a most disconcerting effect on a reader who up to that point has become used to hearing about things in detail.
I would recommend this series to anyone, and the two books do a wonderful job of bringing ancient Rome to life, but CLAUDIUS THE GOD is not quite as wonderful as I, CLAUDIUS.
For those who enjoyed this series, I would suggest reading Michael Grant's translation of Tacitus' ANNALS, published by Penguin.
Two things, however, stand between this book and a five-star rating. The first is that the initial 100 pages of the book are about the life of Herod Agrippa. As interesting as Herod is historically, concentrating solely on him for so long takes away from the focus on Claudius. The second gripe is that the last few years of Claudius' life, after his marriage to Agrippina, are glossed over in a few pages. This may be inspired by the historian Tacitus' comment that in his final years Claudius was merely the puppet of his slaves, freedmen, and wife, but it has a most disconcerting effect on a reader who up to that point has become used to hearing about things in detail.
I would recommend this series to anyone, and the two books do a wonderful job of bringing ancient Rome to life, but CLAUDIUS THE GOD is not quite as wonderful as I, CLAUDIUS.
For those who enjoyed this series, I would suggest reading Michael Grant's translation of Tacitus' ANNALS, published by Penguin.