Memoirs of Hadrian | 
 enlarge | Author: Marguerite Yourcenar
Creator: Grace Frick
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Category: Book
List Price: $15.00
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Rating:  58 reviews
Sales Rank: 94274
Media: Paperback
Pages: 408
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.5 x 1.1
ISBN: 0374529264
Dewey Decimal Number: 843.912
EAN: 9780374529260
ASIN: 0374529264
Publication Date: May 18, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
DIVBoth an exploration of character and a reflection on the meaning of history, iMemoirs of Hadrian/i has received international acclaim since its first publication in France in 1951. In it, Marguerite Yourcenar reimagines the Emperor Hadrian's arduous boyhood, his triumphs and reversals, and finally, as emperor, his gradual reordering of a war-torn world, writing with the imaginative insight of a great writer of the twentieth century while crafting a prose style as elegant and precise as those of the Latin stylists of Hadrian's own era./div
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| Customer Reviews: Read 53 more reviews...
 Memoirs of Hadrian October 24, 2008
V. M. Chapman (Slovenia)
Memoirs of Hadrian br / br /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.
Notes on maturity August 3, 2008
Gary Ware (Lake County, California)
A profound account of one of the great romances as well as br /the experience and meaning of maturity.
A masterpiece. February 4, 2008
David M. Giltinan (San Francisco)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
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? br / br /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. br / br /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. br / br /An extraordinary book. 5 stars, only because it's not possible to give it more than 5. br / br /* A *sodden* cliche, but I don't know how else to put it. br / br / br /
Memoirs of Hadrian July 12, 2007
Aldo Gebbia (Italy)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
It is a great book, truly fascinating. It blends touching insights of the human soul with chapters that would fit well as a textbook in a MBA program.
Enlightened Caesar March 27, 2007
Justin Mclaughlin (Minturn, CO United States)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Margarite Yourcenar's "Memoirs of Hadrian" is written as a letter from the dying Roman Emperor Hadrian to his successor Marcus Aurelius. Hadrian chronicles his life, from his boyhood in the Spanish provinces and his studies in Greece, to military service, his eventual rise to power, his accomplishments while in power, and his deep love affair with the beautiful youth Antinous. br / br /There are, in my opinion, 2 great strengths to this book. (1) is that Yourcenar has immersed herself in classical study and thus expertly pulls material from original sources. She does this so well, and to such an extent, that Hadrian's world is chalk full of place and regional names long lost to us; Hadrian intricately describes cities, their architecture and their art works, as well as details the practices of various religious cults and arcane forms of worship. The effect is mesmerizing. The reader soon begins to understand, or behold, the complexities and pluralities that were the Roman experiment. Much time is given to the frontier - Asia, Egypt, ancient cities in the Middle East, Tukey, and further afield, where Hadrian spent much of his life holding the empire together. As historical text this book feels flawless. Another (2) great accomplishment is Hadrian as a character. Through his thoughts, regrets, remembrances, we get a window into the universal human truths - how all humankind must deal with love, ambition, religion, decay, death: the domain of all good literature. br / br /At times the book feels too much of a "display" of names, places, and happenings, and not enough of the "meat," or the essence of life. It would be doubtful that Hadrian would feel the need to be this detailed in writing to a then alive successor. This tendancy toward copius detail, almost superflous detail, fatigued this reader in places. Overall it didn't dominish the book much -- a superb novel by the first woman inducted into the French Academy. br / br /
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