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A review by slichto3
Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar
3.0
To me, this book looks different in different lights. The ugly side: it's boring, tedious, and dull. It meanders and dwells on the mundane. But there is beauty as well: it feels perceptive, affecting, and authentic - authentic not because I think it accurately portrays Hadrian (I couldn't care much less about that), but because it feels like there is a genuine person behind this story. That might explain the duality I experienced - it's real in a way that makes it often boring.
The structure of the book is really all in the title: this is a fictional imagining of what the memoirs of the Roman emperor Hadrian would be like. Near the end of his life, Hadrian is writing his life story to his adopted grandson, Mark Aurelius, who will be his successor as emperor. Present day Hadrian is an oldish man. He can't move like he once did, he suffers regular attacks where he struggles to breath, and he's confronting his impending death. Then he gets to the rest of his life: a child growing up in Spain with parents that pass when he was young. Joining the Roman army, fighting in different spots. He rises through the ranks, does good work, and gets close to Trajan, the excessively militaristic (at least according to our storyteller) Roman emperor who precedes Hadrian. As Trajan ages, he hesitates on choosing a successor. Eventually he (maybe) chooses Hadrian. Hadrian becomes emperor. He loves, he loses, he ages, and then we get to our start.
Not that much really happens in this book. You could summarize it in a few short paragraphs. My biggest takeaway from Hadrian's rule: he goes around improving the infrastructure of places around the Roman empire. Good policy, but not an exciting read. This is exacerbated by the writing style: long sentences, gigantic paragraphs - those features make the book drag.
One other thing I struggled with: Hadrian is the one and only character. Other folks pop into the book, especially Antinous (Hadrian's way younger lover), but they are very faint stars against the all-encompassing sun of Hadrian himself. I really wanted to feel more of the world, and I think I would have felt even more into the book if there was more feeling and drama between characters. I guess I just wanted it to be more like Augustus :)
But damn if some of Hadrian's musings aren't compelling, particularly as regards lost love, aging, and facing death. It's real and relatable. I'm hooked by emotion in books, and these are the parts that really brought it - sadness, fear, dread.
I was talking to a friend recently who said this book was one of his favorites. He reread it recently, and I asked him about his thoughts and about the end. He told me that he actually had only re-read the beginning: he didn't like the sad parts. I was stunned. Those are the parts that really make the book! Then I read other reviews on this book - my gosh, it makes me feel like we're from completely different planets. There's a raving adoration on how accurate the portrayal of Hadrian is, and on how beautifully constructed the sentences are. Hah, I do not empathize.
Once I got farther in the book, though, I started to feel more comfortable with the style of prose, and even started to enjoy the contemplative nature of the book. It's pleasant. Every time I put this book down, I felt like I carried myself with more equanimity and dignity. I'd like to return to this book again at some point - maybe I'll get that same blind devotion to it on the second read.
Regardless, I'd have a hard time recommending this book. Folks recommended this to me when I said I loved Augustus. Very, very different book - their only tie is that they deal with ancient Rome. But read that, ignore this.
The structure of the book is really all in the title: this is a fictional imagining of what the memoirs of the Roman emperor Hadrian would be like. Near the end of his life, Hadrian is writing his life story to his adopted grandson, Mark Aurelius, who will be his successor as emperor. Present day Hadrian is an oldish man. He can't move like he once did, he suffers regular attacks where he struggles to breath, and he's confronting his impending death. Then he gets to the rest of his life: a child growing up in Spain with parents that pass when he was young. Joining the Roman army, fighting in different spots. He rises through the ranks, does good work, and gets close to Trajan, the excessively militaristic (at least according to our storyteller) Roman emperor who precedes Hadrian. As Trajan ages, he hesitates on choosing a successor. Eventually he (maybe) chooses Hadrian. Hadrian becomes emperor. He loves, he loses, he ages, and then we get to our start.
Not that much really happens in this book. You could summarize it in a few short paragraphs. My biggest takeaway from Hadrian's rule: he goes around improving the infrastructure of places around the Roman empire. Good policy, but not an exciting read. This is exacerbated by the writing style: long sentences, gigantic paragraphs - those features make the book drag.
One other thing I struggled with: Hadrian is the one and only character. Other folks pop into the book, especially Antinous (Hadrian's way younger lover), but they are very faint stars against the all-encompassing sun of Hadrian himself. I really wanted to feel more of the world, and I think I would have felt even more into the book if there was more feeling and drama between characters. I guess I just wanted it to be more like Augustus :)
But damn if some of Hadrian's musings aren't compelling, particularly as regards lost love, aging, and facing death. It's real and relatable. I'm hooked by emotion in books, and these are the parts that really brought it - sadness, fear, dread.
I was talking to a friend recently who said this book was one of his favorites. He reread it recently, and I asked him about his thoughts and about the end. He told me that he actually had only re-read the beginning: he didn't like the sad parts. I was stunned. Those are the parts that really make the book! Then I read other reviews on this book - my gosh, it makes me feel like we're from completely different planets. There's a raving adoration on how accurate the portrayal of Hadrian is, and on how beautifully constructed the sentences are. Hah, I do not empathize.
Once I got farther in the book, though, I started to feel more comfortable with the style of prose, and even started to enjoy the contemplative nature of the book. It's pleasant. Every time I put this book down, I felt like I carried myself with more equanimity and dignity. I'd like to return to this book again at some point - maybe I'll get that same blind devotion to it on the second read.
Regardless, I'd have a hard time recommending this book. Folks recommended this to me when I said I loved Augustus. Very, very different book - their only tie is that they deal with ancient Rome. But read that, ignore this.