#Classic Mémoires d’Hadrien
- Author: Marguerite Yourcenar (1903-1987)
- Genre: historical novel
- Title: Mémoires d’ Hadrien
- Published: 1951
- #Classic
- #WITMonth
- #WomenInTranslation
- I was a little disappointed with this book.
- I had the impression I was reading pages from an
- encyclopedia in the first person.
- Strong point: I did learn a lot about Hadrian and the people around him.
- Weak point: Most of my knowledge was gleaned from wikipedia!
- Yourcenar’s writing style is dense and her rich
- vocabulary weighted down the narrative.
- I had to look up so many words.
- I missed an easy reading flow I expected in a historical novel.
- The book was a bit too philosophical for my taste.
- Best chapter: unfortunately it was the last one
- …so it took me 7 days to reach this point!
- Hadrian feels his health is rapidly failing and he
- walks the reader through his choices for succession
- …and thoughts about his approaching death.
- It was quite moving.
- Will read M. Yourcenar again?
- ….I think not, this was enough for me.
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