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4.15 AVERAGE
4.15 AVERAGE
For 900+ pages I was surprised about how quickly the story took me in. I would agree with other reviews that at about the 800 mark it seemed to be dragging out. It was almost as though the author didn't want the character to end and prolonged it with as much detail as possible to stall the end.
I found Cleopatra to be a unique and engrossing character and would love to read more accounts of her life.
I found Cleopatra to be a unique and engrossing character and would love to read more accounts of her life.
I am still reading the novel, but I really like George's viewpoint here. Normally, we hear about Cleopatra while someone is talking about Julius Caesar in Rome. It is nice to see events the other way around, from Egypt's viewpoint. A fascinating read so far.
We use what we have, and I have been blessed indeed by what fate has send my way.
This was an amazing book about an extraordinary woman. I am intimidated by big books (this one was almost 1200 pages), as I am always scared that I'll get bored halfway through. This was definitely not a problem with The Memoirs of Cleopatra. I walked away feeling that I knew Cleopatra, Caesar, Marc Anthony, and that I had walked the streets of Alexandria and Rome.
The author writes beautifully, and I really appreciated the fact that she made these historical figures so human, and also that she downplayed events, with no unnecessary melodrama.
I can't remember when last I liked a protagonist so much. She was truly a phenomenal woman - she spoke eight languages, descended from the oldest royal house and ruled the richest country in the world. In this rendition of her life she is also kind, passionate and funny. I was touched by her love for two very different men, and how well Margaret George portrayed the love, balancing it with Cleopatra's ambition. Although I was thoroughly impressed with Caesar as a leader, I lost my heart to Marc Anthony.
I highly recommend this to anyone interested in Cleopatra, but also to anyone who enjoys well-researched and written historical fiction.
The Story: The mesmerizing story of Queen Cleopatra in her own words - from the young queen's earliest memories of her father's tenuous rule to her own reign over one of the most glittering kingdoms in the world - this is an enthralling saga of ambition and power. It is also a tale of passion that begins when the twenty-one-year-old Cleopatra, desperate to return from exile, seeks out the one man who can help her: Julius Caesar. And it does not end until, having survived the assassination of Caesar and the defeat of the second man she loves, Marc Antony, she plots her own death ...
I gave up after 70% of the book.
It's very well researched, well written, the characters are all very interesting, but it is so slow!!!
When I realised that Caesar was still alive after 200 pages, I started to wonder when he will be killed (it's not a spoiler, everybody knows that), and well, after 150 pages, Cleopatra, at last, meets again Mark Anthony.
I understand how much the author loves Cleopatra, and so am I, but really, after a while, reading this book was boring.
I don't know if I'll have the willpower to read the last 30% of the book one day.
It's very well researched, well written, the characters are all very interesting, but it is so slow!!!
When I realised that Caesar was still alive after 200 pages, I started to wonder when he will be killed (it's not a spoiler, everybody knows that), and well, after 150 pages, Cleopatra, at last, meets again Mark Anthony.
I understand how much the author loves Cleopatra, and so am I, but really, after a while, reading this book was boring.
I don't know if I'll have the willpower to read the last 30% of the book one day.
informative
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
While I really enjoyed this book, I think I would have enjoyed it even more if it were 300-400 pages instead of nearly 1,000. My favorite part was the part with Julius Caesar and that came at the relative beginning of the book.
This book is kind of a slog, but in a good way, if that makes any sense. It is very, very long and incredibly detailed. Cleopatra is a fascinating character, and the book takes you through mundane everyday minutiae plus the most momentous historic occasions. She is a living and breathing woman, wife, mother, shrewd politician, and determined warrior. The slog part comes in when you know only bad things are going to happen (spoiler alert for ancient history, I guess), but you still have hundreds and hundreds of pages to get there. The waiting is interminable, which is accurate to the feelings of the characters. It's profound and moving. Anyway, I'm glad I read this book. We saw a production of Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra a few years ago, so it was interesting to hear the same story from a different perspective.
Thank God! I finally finished this neverending book! It took me more than a month, but I perservered.
It wasn't a bad book. At moments throughout it was quite good. But the moments were too few. Many times I considered giving up on the book, but I just don't like to do that unless the book is truly atrocious - and this one wasn't.
George has channeled Cleopatra to give a new perspective - the first person perspective - to her well-known story. But it is a daunting task. After all, that story has been known and written about for over two thousand years. Shakespeare has written it, for heaven's sake! How can any mortal writer compete with that?
And yet it is such a captivating story that it must be a strong temptation for a historical fiction writer to give it a try. I think George's effort would have been more effective if it had not been so damned looooong!!!
Why must she report every single conversation that Cleopatra ever had? And yes, it no doubt took a long time for events to percolate to their climax in the ancient world when travel was only overland on one's own feet or through the power of horses or camels or on sea under sails or oars. Still, could she not have sped up the TELLING of the action a bit? I think some judicious editing could have made this a much more readable, coherent and, yes, interesting story.
It's impossible to make the story of Cleopatra, Caesar, and Antony dull and George hasn't. But one is left with the feeling that it could have been so much better.
It wasn't a bad book. At moments throughout it was quite good. But the moments were too few. Many times I considered giving up on the book, but I just don't like to do that unless the book is truly atrocious - and this one wasn't.
George has channeled Cleopatra to give a new perspective - the first person perspective - to her well-known story. But it is a daunting task. After all, that story has been known and written about for over two thousand years. Shakespeare has written it, for heaven's sake! How can any mortal writer compete with that?
And yet it is such a captivating story that it must be a strong temptation for a historical fiction writer to give it a try. I think George's effort would have been more effective if it had not been so damned looooong!!!
Why must she report every single conversation that Cleopatra ever had? And yes, it no doubt took a long time for events to percolate to their climax in the ancient world when travel was only overland on one's own feet or through the power of horses or camels or on sea under sails or oars. Still, could she not have sped up the TELLING of the action a bit? I think some judicious editing could have made this a much more readable, coherent and, yes, interesting story.
It's impossible to make the story of Cleopatra, Caesar, and Antony dull and George hasn't. But one is left with the feeling that it could have been so much better.
