Memoirs of Hadrian: And Reflections on the Composition of Memoirs of Hadrian

Memoirs of Hadrian: And Reflections on the Composition of Memoirs of

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In her magnificent novel, Marguerite Yourcenar recreates the life and death of one of the great rulers of the ancient world. The Emperor Hadrian, aware his demise is imminent, writes a long valedictory letter to Marcus Aurelius, his future successor. The Emperor meditates on his past, describing his accession, military triumphs, love of poetry and music, and the philosophy that informed his powerful and far-flung rule. A work of superbly detailed research and sustained empathy, Memoirs of Hadrian captures the living spirit of the Emperor and of Ancient Rome.

Marguerite Yourcenar (8 June 1903 - 17 December 1987) was a Belgian-born French novelist and essayist. Winner of the Prix Femina and the Erasmus Prize, she was the first woman elected to the Academie francaise, in 1980, and the seventeenth person to occupy Seat 3.

Author: Marguerite Yourcenar
Format: Paperback, 288 pages, 130mm x 199mm, 216 g
Published: 2000, Penguin Books Ltd, United Kingdom
Genre: General & Literary Fiction

Vendor: Book Grocer
SKU: 9780141184968-RETAIL
Categories: All Best Sellers - Individual titles Classics of Literature Customer Favourites - 5 Star Books Fiction Historical Fiction Modern Fiction (post 1945) Non-Secondhand Books
Tags: Classic fiction general and literary Historical fiction March-2025 Modern and contemporary fiction general and literary Paperback RR
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RobC
Wonderful book. Staggering display of knowledge of the time.

Beautifully written, imagined 'letters' written by the emperor to his successor, an historically reimagined memoir that might have been. Unique and moving, especially about the tribulations of old age and how this changes his perspective on his own life, and his own life and troubles as emperor of a vast realm. I am still reading it, but now understand why it has such a good reputation, and why she was elevated to the Academy in France. Recommended.

Description

In her magnificent novel, Marguerite Yourcenar recreates the life and death of one of the great rulers of the ancient world. The Emperor Hadrian, aware his demise is imminent, writes a long valedictory letter to Marcus Aurelius, his future successor. The Emperor meditates on his past, describing his accession, military triumphs, love of poetry and music, and the philosophy that informed his powerful and far-flung rule. A work of superbly detailed research and sustained empathy, Memoirs of Hadrian captures the living spirit of the Emperor and of Ancient Rome.

Marguerite Yourcenar (8 June 1903 - 17 December 1987) was a Belgian-born French novelist and essayist. Winner of the Prix Femina and the Erasmus Prize, she was the first woman elected to the Academie francaise, in 1980, and the seventeenth person to occupy Seat 3.