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4.15 AVERAGE
4.15 AVERAGE
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
I read this book several years ago, but I still vividly remember the scenes from it.
Very engrossing, if a bit long-winded. (I like long winded!)
Very engrossing, if a bit long-winded. (I like long winded!)
I read this book for the first time right after it was published. I remember loving it, and decided to re-read it. This book is SOOOO LOOOOOOONG. While I appreciate the historical accuracy, I found the war scenes and the self-reflections of Cleopatra a bit long winded and tiresome (which is why this book is only getting three stars instead of four).
This book was huge and i was intimidated to read it. I finally worked up the guts and it did not let me down. Im so happy that i finally did. Well worth the wait.
My bookclub picked this book and with 12 days til the meeting I finally picked it up, giving myself the goal of reading 100 pages a day. With hours to spare, I finished it. And loved it. My paperback version was 960+ pages, and at times it was a little tedious but I loved learning about Cleopatra and thought the tone of the book was just perfect. I especially liked the author's notes where she explains what was actual and what was assumed.
So glad I re-read this. Amazing details, wonderfully colorful, poetic prose. Very enjoyable read.
This book is very long and detailed. George did a massive amount of historical research, down to the tiniest details, like what the import/export business was like in the time of Cleopatra, and the book is much better for it. It slows down toward the end, especially if you already know the ending, but as historical fiction goes, reading about one of the most fascinating women in history ranks high on my list of things to do.
Oh my gosh - great subject matter but LOOOOONG book. By the 800th page, I was thinking, ok, die already! But I did learn a lot about Cleopatra, Julius Caesar & Marc Antony.
George is very accurate in her historical background and overall, for me, that detracts from the fact this this is supposed to be a “Memoir”, and should contain more feeling, more passion, more of what Cleopatra was feeling, but it glossed over those sorts of things. For instance, when Antony married Octavia rather then Cleopatra, she was very blase` about it, and was just “Oh gee, Antony married her instead of me…la-de-da. For me, the most interesting character was that of Olympus, the physician. He was well-rounded, and just stood out. It made the book that much better for him to have the last word/scroll. Overall, read it if you want a nice historical background on Cleopatra and Antony, but don’t expect too much, you’ll come away disappointed
Although I read this book a long time ago, I wanted to put it up here because it was a great historical/fiction book. I love reading Margaret George's books and my only complaint is that there aren't enough of them.