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John Williams' three novels are distinctly different from each other. Often, if you like one book by a specific author, it's safe to assume that if you pick up another, you will be served something similar - in topic, tone or language. But each of Williams' novels are - without compromise - true to their own, unique concept.
So is the case with Augustus. While Stoner is mostly a campus novel and Butcher's Crossing a western, Augustus is an epistolary novel on the rise and reign of Gaius Octavius, known as Emperor Augustus. In addition to letters, it also contains journal entries, military orders, reports and autobiography excerpts. The emperor himself is, for the most part, seen from the outside. The people telling the story are mostly nobles, politicians or military leaders, but there are also some regular citizens that gets to tell their stories. Together, these writings make a choir of voices that encompasses the whole of Augustus' life. The first half of the book describes Augustus' rise to power, the second half his reign and the life of his daughter, Julia.
The fact that Williams managed to put all of this together in a way that works so well, is nothing less than impressive. Not once while reading could I say to myself "this could have been handled differently" or "this should have been shortened down". I know that some of the historical events in the book are not accurate, but the world building is excellent and gives us a believable version of ancient roman society.
Augustus is, as far as roman emperors go, an enigma. He hid his motivation, his plans, his ambitions. He was a very private person, difficult to read. Maybe this explains Williams' interest in him? He would make a good candidate for a literary main character. An author can fill this character with his own imagination. His secrecy and historical unknowability makes him moldable.
In spite of all this, Augustus' only child, Julia, is maybe the most fascinating character in the book. Her journal entries looks back on her entire life, and like most of the other characters, it was a very intense and dramatic one. She tells us of her development from child to adult in more detail than the letters describing Augustus. We see her married several times and then discovering her own identity outside of the constricting life of a roman noble - a short lived freedom that is soon snatched away from her. All of this is framed with the experience and wisdom of the much older Julia, looking back on it all.
We can be certain that Williams' Augustus loves his daughter very much. And his closest friendships are also extremely important to him. But Augustus is very self disciplined, and sometimes cold - he is willing to do whatever needs to be done to keep the Empire together and secure his own power. He uses his family and friends as pawns, arranging marriages for them to secure allegiances - and he does this in several rounds. Both Julia and Augustus' sister suffers because of this.
Was Augustus a good guy or a bad guy? Was he a hero and the gathering force of the Empire, or was he a dubious, rotten aristocrat willing to do anything to gain power? The question of what power does to people is an important theme throughout the book. Without concluding definitely what kind of person Augustus was, the book brings out all the nuances and all the doubt troubling a person with so much power - and so much to lose.
It is exciting to see the power struggles in the Roman Empire, especially in the first half of the book.
Williams does try to describe a time where peoples' psyches and world view are distinctly different from our own, but at the same time keeping the characters recognizable for modern readers. For the most part, this works, but although the book is believable, it's definitely very difficult to know how people, so remote in time from ourselves, reasoned, thought and felt. The accuracy is difficult to determine. Not that it really matters. This is an excellent novel.
So is the case with Augustus. While Stoner is mostly a campus novel and Butcher's Crossing a western, Augustus is an epistolary novel on the rise and reign of Gaius Octavius, known as Emperor Augustus. In addition to letters, it also contains journal entries, military orders, reports and autobiography excerpts. The emperor himself is, for the most part, seen from the outside. The people telling the story are mostly nobles, politicians or military leaders, but there are also some regular citizens that gets to tell their stories. Together, these writings make a choir of voices that encompasses the whole of Augustus' life. The first half of the book describes Augustus' rise to power, the second half his reign and the life of his daughter, Julia.
The fact that Williams managed to put all of this together in a way that works so well, is nothing less than impressive. Not once while reading could I say to myself "this could have been handled differently" or "this should have been shortened down". I know that some of the historical events in the book are not accurate, but the world building is excellent and gives us a believable version of ancient roman society.
Augustus is, as far as roman emperors go, an enigma. He hid his motivation, his plans, his ambitions. He was a very private person, difficult to read. Maybe this explains Williams' interest in him? He would make a good candidate for a literary main character. An author can fill this character with his own imagination. His secrecy and historical unknowability makes him moldable.
In spite of all this, Augustus' only child, Julia, is maybe the most fascinating character in the book. Her journal entries looks back on her entire life, and like most of the other characters, it was a very intense and dramatic one. She tells us of her development from child to adult in more detail than the letters describing Augustus. We see her married several times and then discovering her own identity outside of the constricting life of a roman noble - a short lived freedom that is soon snatched away from her. All of this is framed with the experience and wisdom of the much older Julia, looking back on it all.
We can be certain that Williams' Augustus loves his daughter very much. And his closest friendships are also extremely important to him. But Augustus is very self disciplined, and sometimes cold - he is willing to do whatever needs to be done to keep the Empire together and secure his own power. He uses his family and friends as pawns, arranging marriages for them to secure allegiances - and he does this in several rounds. Both Julia and Augustus' sister suffers because of this.
Was Augustus a good guy or a bad guy? Was he a hero and the gathering force of the Empire, or was he a dubious, rotten aristocrat willing to do anything to gain power? The question of what power does to people is an important theme throughout the book. Without concluding definitely what kind of person Augustus was, the book brings out all the nuances and all the doubt troubling a person with so much power - and so much to lose.
It is exciting to see the power struggles in the Roman Empire, especially in the first half of the book.
Williams does try to describe a time where peoples' psyches and world view are distinctly different from our own, but at the same time keeping the characters recognizable for modern readers. For the most part, this works, but although the book is believable, it's definitely very difficult to know how people, so remote in time from ourselves, reasoned, thought and felt. The accuracy is difficult to determine. Not that it really matters. This is an excellent novel.