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Memoirs of Hadrian
by Marguerite Yourcenar
| List Price: |
$15.00 |
Unavailable for
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Paperback
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Grace Frick
Written in the form of a testamentary letter from the Emperor Hadrian to his successor, the youthful Marcus Aurelius, this work is as extraordinary for its psychological depth as for its accurate reconstruction of the second century of our era. The author describes the book as a meditation upon history, but this meditation is built upon intensive study of the personal and political life of a great and complex character as seen by himself and his contemporaries, both friends and enemies. Marguerite Yourcenar reconstructs Hadrian's arduous early years, his triumphs and reversals, and his gradual reordering of a war-torn world.
| Customer Reviews: |
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| Journey in the depths of a pagan mind |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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Born in Italica, Hispania Ulterior, adopted by Greek culture, soldier and commander in Dacia , Syria and Partia, poet and philosopher in Athens, Caesar in Rome, the land of his ancestors, pacifier of the empire, builder and renovator, seeker till the end, a man achieved the ideal of classical antiquity: harmonious self realization, material, cultural, spiritual.
And yet as he has found a peaceful secular equilibrium in the Roman koiné, and spiritually in that wise detachment that allows one to contemplate oneself fully live - the distillate of aristocracy - he cannot help gazing deeper inside, as once he did, in Germania Superior, gaze beyond the eastern frontier of the empire, and fantasized of those uncharted lands, populated by blond savages.
Life and discovery, beauty and contemplation, action and power, war and conquest, peace and law, command and service, love and death, pleasure and pain, orphic mysteries, classical spirituality, awe and marvel, through the eye of a pre(anti)-christian, ancient man, as imagined (suspected? investigated? researched? recreated?) by an erudite, intelligently lyric woman.
A timeless (in every sense) masterpiece, which I could just not put down, and will read again and again.
(this review referred to the Italian version of Einaudi, curated by Yourcenar).
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| One of the great books... |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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This is a great novel, and I might add, a great novel about two men in love with one another....written by a woman.
The love story of Hadrian and Antinous will never die out of human memory, and Marguerite Yourcenar is testimony to that fact.
Other reviewers have already pointed out the superb scholarship that went into the making of this book, the excellent writing, and all the rest.
I only have one question: why are the best tales of male love written by women? It seems to be a very odd situation: in general, men are the most famous writers, but in the niche of male love, we find such writers as Anne Rice, Mary Renault, Marguerite, and now the "gay manga" from Japan -- stories of male love written for girls! By women!
Well, I am puzzled, but I am not about to look a gift-horse in the mouth. This book, along with "The Last of the Wine" and "The Persian Boy," are among the most moving and excellent novels ever written.
Unless, of course, you find history to be a bore.
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| Memoirs of Hadrian |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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Memoirs of Hadrian
One of the best books that I have read. The book fascinates in terms of history, the great man that was Hadrian, and it is especially impressive in what it tells us about human life, in a very profound, sincere, and touching way. Besides,it is superbly written.
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| Notes on maturity |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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A profound account of one of the great romances as well as
the experience and meaning of maturity.
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| A masterpiece. |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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This is an unlikely candidate to be on my list of the 5 best books I've ever read. But it is near the top of that list. An "autobiographical" account of a long-dead Roman emperor (not even one of the glamorous, or truly depraved ones), written by a 20th century Frenchwoman - who'd have thunk it?
Other reviews here pay tribute to the depth of scholarship underpinning this book, as well as to Yourcenar's brilliant writing. But it would be wrong to pigeonhole the book as catering only to those interested in the history of the Roman Empire. That's what's so stunning about the book - it has a universal wisdom that should appeal to any reader. The journey with Hadrian as he revisits his life in memory is remarkably moving.
I beg, I implore you - buy, steal, or borrow a copy of this book. It will draw you in. It may not change your life, but it will definitely make you think. All I know is that I find myself re-reading it every three to four years. Why? Because each time I learn something more about what it is to be human.* And come away reinvigorated to face the questions in my own life. I find this book far more spiritually inspiring than any of the more overtly spiritual books I've read.
An extraordinary book. 5 stars, only because it's not possible to give it more than 5.
* A *sodden* cliché, but I don't know how else to put it.
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