A review by books_doodles
Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar

challenging slow-paced

5.0

For a long time I thought this book was a collection of autobiographical reflections by the Roman Emperor Hadrian himself. Something like “Meditations” by Marcus Aurelius. It was only about a year ago that I realized it was a fictional work. 

Something that fascinated me was the fact that this work almost never saw the light of day. 

Marguerite conceived her first writing project between 1924 and 1929, in which she wrote several versions of a narrative in which the main character was Antinous – a lover of Hadrian. The manuscript was rejected and it was only 5 years later that she returned to the project, with the theme being taken up and abandoned several times between 1934 and 1937. In this new version, Hadrian becomes the central focus. 

In 1939, with the beginning of the Second World War, the author moved to the USA, leaving the manuscript and notes in Europe. Between 1939 and 1948 the project was abandoned again. 

Finally, a suitcase with documents is sent to her from Switzerland. When she unfolds a yellowed sheet she reads “My Dear Marcus”, and the work begins again. 

Marguerite claims that she tried to redo from the inside what 19th century archaeologists did from the outside. 

This work thus takes the form of a long letter that Hadrian, feeling the proximity of death, addressed to his successor Marcus Aurelius, with the intention of contributing to his formation. 

This is the sharing of an autobiographical testimony, a political and moral testament; reflections on the circumstances that defined his life. 

This work, for me, was a pleasure as a reading experience. Not because I knew the life of Emperor Hadrian or the history of the Roman Empire, but because of the beauty of the author's writing. How she, wearing Hadrian's shoes, narrates and weaves reflections in his voice. 

I can only imagine the research work done by the author! The result is a very unique writing exercise. 

In addition to wanting to read more by the author, Marguerite also encouraged me to want to study the history of the Roman Empire. And I have a book of interviews in view to learn more about the author’s writing process.