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A review by andrez
Memorias de Adriano by Marguerite Yourcenar
Ah, what can I say about this book?
This consists of a (tremendously long) letter from the bed-ridden, almost dying emperor Hadrian to his successor, Marcus Aurelius. There, he narrates his life starting from his childhood, describes his ascent to power as well as his love for Antinous.
First of all, Yourcenar writes excellently. For a lover of prose like myself, this dialogueless work was a heavenly read. The writing is fluid, worth being savoured, and often beautiful. Not rarely, I wanted to grab a pencil and underline whole blocks of text just so that I'd find them quickly when I next flipped the pages.
This was recommended to me by my mother, and her description of the book was "it's not something you would usually want to read, but the main character's so interesting he automatically makes the story interesting as well." Ah, mom, wise as ever, I see. Hadrian certainly is a fantastic character. The way he expresses his ideas, his forward thinking and open mindedness, his points of view, the way he sees himself and the world that surrounds him, even the way he felt love, every single one of those things completely entranced me. For the duration of 312 pages, History, no, Hadrian, came alive to me.
Definitely a masterpiece.
This consists of a (tremendously long) letter from the bed-ridden, almost dying emperor Hadrian to his successor, Marcus Aurelius. There, he narrates his life starting from his childhood, describes his ascent to power as well as his love for Antinous.
First of all, Yourcenar writes excellently. For a lover of prose like myself, this dialogueless work was a heavenly read. The writing is fluid, worth being savoured, and often beautiful. Not rarely, I wanted to grab a pencil and underline whole blocks of text just so that I'd find them quickly when I next flipped the pages.
This was recommended to me by my mother, and her description of the book was "it's not something you would usually want to read, but the main character's so interesting he automatically makes the story interesting as well." Ah, mom, wise as ever, I see. Hadrian certainly is a fantastic character. The way he expresses his ideas, his forward thinking and open mindedness, his points of view, the way he sees himself and the world that surrounds him, even the way he felt love, every single one of those things completely entranced me. For the duration of 312 pages, History, no, Hadrian, came alive to me.
Definitely a masterpiece.