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christian_mcguire's review
4.0
The Satyricon is a picaresque comedy novel written during the time of Nero. It's goofy, smutty, horny and genuinely very funny. It's accessible and modern-feeling, and is one of the oldest novels in history, or perhaps even the oldest. It is easy to get into, and is not very deep in themes but is fun. There isn't really much more to it than that, it's just escapist and comedic pleasure reading, and proof that the Romans were capable of such a thing. The star off is due to Petronius's prose being somewhat dry at times. I've encountered multiple translations and this dryness does not vary from translation to translation, which shows that it is a flaw of the original text. That said, I enjoyed the story and characters, I felt immersed in the world of the Pax Romana, and I laughed numerous times. For that reason, this is one of my favorite books that I read in 2020.
mirandaaaa's review
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
3.75
One of the saddest things that we only have fragments off. But I will say what we do have is very snazzy indeed. When one thinks of the Ancient Romans one thinks of somber occasions, gladiators and evil emperors but then you get this which could have been written last year. You get this kind of line "'Oh my! I think I've shit myself.' For all I know, he did. He certainly shat on everything else." which is just brilliant.
The dinner at Trimalchio's part is definitely the best part as it is hard to understand the story as the rest of the parts are slightly fragmentary. Moreover all the description of extreme excess is funny and like I said earlier very apt for today's world.
The dinner at Trimalchio's part is definitely the best part as it is hard to understand the story as the rest of the parts are slightly fragmentary. Moreover all the description of extreme excess is funny and like I said earlier very apt for today's world.
miserabella's review
5.0
(hi sorry for the load of reviews but i’m making sure i’ve written something for each book i read this yr)
HOW CAN I EVEN *BEGIN* TO SAY HOW MUCH I LOVE THIS !
HOW CAN I EVEN *BEGIN* TO SAY HOW MUCH I LOVE THIS !
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