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A review by alexandragriffin
Cleopatra: The Queen who Challenged Rome and Conquered Eternity by Alberto Angela
Did not finish book. Stopped at 56%.
When I went to search for a book on cleopatra, specially searching that name, was i looking for a book more about Julius Cesar and Marc Antony?
No, no I wasn’t.
The first third of this book has little to no mention of cleopatra aside from her “seductive curves”, or as a small aside about how Cesar loved her and nobody in Rome liked that. So the first 33% of the book is focused on Cesar and his death.
I figured I’d give it a shot after that, that maybe the author was just setting the stage for our girl’s grand entrance, right? Like, the author wants to heighten the drama after the love of Cleopatra’s life dies, she does some serious bad b*tch stuff right?
Wrong.
Very wrong.
We get a lot of focus on what Egypt was like at this time (which is interesting, yes, and would be forgivable, and dare I say it: enjoyable, had the rest of the book actually been about what the title says it’s supposed to be about: CLEOPATRA), and Marc Antony, and the other Greek powerful men of the time.
And then we’re back on to cleopatra’s seductive hips as she enters her bath water, and how cleopatra must hide her vulnerability and wear a mask, but don’t worry, this is just the tiniest of pit stops before talking about how much sex she’s having on her “honeymoon” down the Nile.
And then we’re back with Marc Antony and fighting a battle and being oh so smart, and that’s where I quit.
This book would be interesting if it wasn’t named so terribly - there’s little mention of the person this book is SUPPOSED to be about, most of that is the thirsty author focusing on her seductive qualities while occasionally mentioning how smart she was. If I was a person interested in the broader story of the end of the Ptolemaic era, wanting to know more about Egypt/Greece/cleopatra/cesar’s death/ Marc Antony, and also had a hard time with your typical non-fiction book, I might hav enjoyed this book.
But as a story that’s marketed to be primarily about cleopatra, it’s terrible and I couldn’t finish it.
No, no I wasn’t.
The first third of this book has little to no mention of cleopatra aside from her “seductive curves”, or as a small aside about how Cesar loved her and nobody in Rome liked that. So the first 33% of the book is focused on Cesar and his death.
I figured I’d give it a shot after that, that maybe the author was just setting the stage for our girl’s grand entrance, right? Like, the author wants to heighten the drama after the love of Cleopatra’s life dies, she does some serious bad b*tch stuff right?
Wrong.
Very wrong.
We get a lot of focus on what Egypt was like at this time (which is interesting, yes, and would be forgivable, and dare I say it: enjoyable, had the rest of the book actually been about what the title says it’s supposed to be about: CLEOPATRA), and Marc Antony, and the other Greek powerful men of the time.
And then we’re back on to cleopatra’s seductive hips as she enters her bath water, and how cleopatra must hide her vulnerability and wear a mask, but don’t worry, this is just the tiniest of pit stops before talking about how much sex she’s having on her “honeymoon” down the Nile.
And then we’re back with Marc Antony and fighting a battle and being oh so smart, and that’s where I quit.
This book would be interesting if it wasn’t named so terribly - there’s little mention of the person this book is SUPPOSED to be about, most of that is the thirsty author focusing on her seductive qualities while occasionally mentioning how smart she was. If I was a person interested in the broader story of the end of the Ptolemaic era, wanting to know more about Egypt/Greece/cleopatra/cesar’s death/ Marc Antony, and also had a hard time with your typical non-fiction book, I might hav enjoyed this book.
But as a story that’s marketed to be primarily about cleopatra, it’s terrible and I couldn’t finish it.