ALL CAPS ! today i am on fire because such wrote tumblr user ofwoodsandwaves : “i haven’t heard of memoirs of hadrian before actually, is it that good ?” and reading those words made me combust. people not having even heard of memoirs oh hadrian is one of the worst tragedies of my existence.
tl;dr : memoirs of hadrian is the most amazing book, it was actually life-changing for me, as in, i know for a fact that i wouldn’t be who i am today if i hadn’t read it, it had an undeniable influence on how i look at the world, other people, everything. it’s so beautiful and so whole, and everyone should read it.
the not-too-long version :
memoirs of hadrian (here on goodreads) in a novel published in 1951 by french writer marguerite yourcenar. the writing is incredible, poetic yet crystal-clear — i do not know about the quality of the available english (or other) translations, though, but from the quotes i’ve read it seems there is a good one.
who is it for ? e v e r y o n e — but also people who love classics, ancient rome, and all of you children who loved the song of achilles so much.
memoirs of hadrian is a fictional autobiography — an actual one was written, but is lost —, told from the point-of-view of a dying emperor hadrian, recounting his life to his adoptive grandson, marcus-aurelius. it’s a notable effort of historical accuracy, as well as a striking, intimate and convincing portrait of a man, bringing ancient times closer to us in a subtle yet efficient way.
here on tumblr, i (and others) produce content mainly related to the relationship between hadrian and his young lover antinoüs, who drowned in the nile and mysterious circumstances, and was subsequently deified — because what’s not to love ? antinoüs died, and so hadrian had a billion statues of him erected, named a city after him, and a constellation as well, made him into a god — i mean, your faves could never, right.
but hadrian’s time with antinoüs actually only makes up maybe ¼ of the book, and the other ¾ are just as beautiful and touching, because this is not just a book about romance, or political intrigue, or power, but about life, ours and that of all other things, a wonder of depth and finesse, to read and re-read all life long.
all in all read it, it will make you richer. to help the convincing process : here is my tag, containing mainly a few choices quotes ; other quotes on goodreads.
