Scan barcode
A review by raulbime
The Abyss by Marguerite Yourcenar
5.0
"It might also have brought me to this point by other ways. We know less about the routes and aims of a man's life than a bird does about its migrations."
Zeno was born into the wealthy Ligre family in Bruges, Belgium. He is a child born out of wedlock however, which despite, and also because of, his privileged background, limits his chances in life to the clerical path. Zeno however is determined to learn and gain knowledge beyond what the authorities of his time have fixed for him. And this book, perhaps in a symbolic way, begins with Zeno and his cousin and heir to the Ligre fortune, Henry, meeting in different paths, the latter headed for war, the former to learn alchemy. Two different but dangerous paths in the time this book is set in.
It is sixteenth century Europe. The continent is rife with fanaticism and the religious and political powers are burning and burying alive those suspected of heresy and magic among other crimes. Enslavement and colonization by European powers across other continents is booming. One of the most violent times in recorded history and enters Zeno, an alchemist, physician and philosopher. A man determined to learn and spread truths about the universe and the human body and soul, even though this poses constant dangers to him and will end up being his undoing.
I couldn't help but like Zeno. Determined to learn and know as much as he can about everything he can, including himself, and not giving in to strong external pressures or self-deception.
" What I do not know, I know full well that I do not know, and I envy those who will eventually know more; but I know also that, exactly like me, they will be obliged to measure, deduce, and then mistrust the deductions so produced; they will have to make allowance for the part which is true in any falsehood, and likewise reckon the eternal admixture of falsity in truth."
Yourcenar writes the best historical fiction I've read thus far. What she was able to do brilliantly with Hadrian, she does with Zeno. The [b:Memoirs of Hadrian|12172|Memoirs of Hadrian|Marguerite Yourcenar|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1416448158l/12172._SX50_.jpg|1064574] is a favourite and one of the best books I've read. And so before reading this book I was wary that it wouldn't come close to Memoirs. And in the end it really didn't need to, perhaps it's even complimentary to Memoirs in certain ways, so that I shouldn't even have to choose which I like best.
I was completely transported to Europe at the end of the middle-ages, with its inquisitions and trials, wars, plagues: its social and political context wonderfully furnished. That together with all the characters in this story, in their generosity, jealousies, pettiness, triumphs, failures, losses, bravery, cowardice and in short, in their humanness, have made this an unforgettable story and the best book I've read this year so far.
Zeno was born into the wealthy Ligre family in Bruges, Belgium. He is a child born out of wedlock however, which despite, and also because of, his privileged background, limits his chances in life to the clerical path. Zeno however is determined to learn and gain knowledge beyond what the authorities of his time have fixed for him. And this book, perhaps in a symbolic way, begins with Zeno and his cousin and heir to the Ligre fortune, Henry, meeting in different paths, the latter headed for war, the former to learn alchemy. Two different but dangerous paths in the time this book is set in.
It is sixteenth century Europe. The continent is rife with fanaticism and the religious and political powers are burning and burying alive those suspected of heresy and magic among other crimes. Enslavement and colonization by European powers across other continents is booming. One of the most violent times in recorded history and enters Zeno, an alchemist, physician and philosopher. A man determined to learn and spread truths about the universe and the human body and soul, even though this poses constant dangers to him and will end up being his undoing.
I couldn't help but like Zeno. Determined to learn and know as much as he can about everything he can, including himself, and not giving in to strong external pressures or self-deception.
" What I do not know, I know full well that I do not know, and I envy those who will eventually know more; but I know also that, exactly like me, they will be obliged to measure, deduce, and then mistrust the deductions so produced; they will have to make allowance for the part which is true in any falsehood, and likewise reckon the eternal admixture of falsity in truth."
Yourcenar writes the best historical fiction I've read thus far. What she was able to do brilliantly with Hadrian, she does with Zeno. The [b:Memoirs of Hadrian|12172|Memoirs of Hadrian|Marguerite Yourcenar|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1416448158l/12172._SX50_.jpg|1064574] is a favourite and one of the best books I've read. And so before reading this book I was wary that it wouldn't come close to Memoirs. And in the end it really didn't need to, perhaps it's even complimentary to Memoirs in certain ways, so that I shouldn't even have to choose which I like best.
I was completely transported to Europe at the end of the middle-ages, with its inquisitions and trials, wars, plagues: its social and political context wonderfully furnished. That together with all the characters in this story, in their generosity, jealousies, pettiness, triumphs, failures, losses, bravery, cowardice and in short, in their humanness, have made this an unforgettable story and the best book I've read this year so far.