Hay obras que son grandes en su pequeñez, y obras que son pequeñas en su grandeza. “Memorias de Adriano” me parece de estas últimas. Es una novela cargada de virtuosismo, pero no de genialidad. La autora se sumerge completamente en el personaje, y construye un relato extremadamente complejo y perfecto, por el cual merece admiración. Pero es una admiración fría porque, al menos que uno sea un auténtico fanático del mundo clásico, no llega dentro del lector, ni atrapa, como sí lo hacen otras novelas que probablemente requirieron menos esfuerzo de escribir, y que son, no obstante, más cautivadoras. No quiero decir con ello que no sea una buena lectura, sino que es quizás demasiado trabajosa, demasiado sofisticada, para lo que termina siendo en conjunto.

Marguerite Yourcenar's book "Memoirs of Hadrian" is definitely one of those novels that I can appreciate without having enjoyed.

It is very clear how much work Yourcenar book into the book, in which Hadrian, a Roman emperor tells his life story via a letter. It clearly has been meticulously researched and fills in the gaps on Hadrian's life quite well.

I found the book deadly boring though... probably because this time period really doesn't interest me in the slightest and I didn't find the ins and outs of Roman politics at all interesting. For the right audience, I can see how this would be a terrific book.

Bellissimo, me ne avevano parlato come di un libro noioso, da leggere con wikipedia alla mano, ma la Yourcenar ci fa entrare in un mondo così lontano, ma al contempo attualissimo in modo lieve, sembra quasi che Adriano parli proprio con noi lettori, uno per uno.
Le vicende che fanno da sfondo poi possono essere più o meno conosciute, io le ignoravo quasi tutte, ma questo non mi ha impedito di apprezzarne le storie, anche se quello che più mi ha affascinato è la profondità che l'autrice infonde in questo personaggio, le sue molteplici sfaccettature, la sua introspezione costante ma sempre brutalmente sincera.
Per me un capolavoro.

Not sure why but I have been thinking about this book lately. I read it in 2007 while I was in Rome. I had finished all the books I bought to travel with so I found a bookstore with one row or so of English language book. I had just seen the Pantheon and thought "Oh the man who build it, let me read about him."

Well the book has more depth, emotion and insight than I expected, it has become a favorite I plan on re-reading soon.

Especially worth reading if you are interested in human insight of a leader but also the impact of romance, love on a man that has no peer. Also what it is like being a 'foreigner.' All in all just a great story of being human.

I don't think I have ever read a book quite like this. Yourcenar does an amazing job making you believe that you are reading the actual memoirs of this incredible historical figure. I knew very little about his life (or much about this era really) going into it. There are times when the book feels bogged down in administrative details about the running of the state that I found less interesting, but in other sections you get beautiful philosophical musings about the nature of life, love, and governance that I really appreciated.

Written as a deathbed letter to Marcus Aurelius, “Memoirs of Hadrian” is a poetic and elegiac novel about the life of one of Rome’s “Five Good Emperors”. More interested in the cultural flourishing of his Empire than in adding to it, Hadrian’s life is mostly spent in travels, in exploration and while some armed conflict did mark his reign, it is not what he is remembered for. History knows him more as a philosopher, a moderate ruler who tried his best to preserve peace and who wanted nothing more than to leave an ordered realm to his successor.

Yourcenar focuses mostly on his inner thoughts, and the book can be a bit confusing if one doesn’t have much background information on the history of Hadrian’s reign to put those thoughts in context, and I had to look up things on Wikipedia a few times, as I was more familiar with the history of the Republic and the early years of the Empire than with the middle period. What is striking in her interpretation of Hadrian is his deeply rooted understanding of the temporary state of his Empire, but also of the world. He knew Rome would one day end, just as it had one day began, and chose to focus on using his time as ruler to make it as good as he could.

Having read John Williams’ “Augustus” just not long ago (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1908237482), I was unable to avoid comparing the two works, and I confess a preference for Williams’ work. As beautiful as Yourcenar’s prose is, an as detailed as her story may be, I did not feel as transported by it as I had been by the polyphonic novel about the first Emperor. The period, however, is very interesting, as it is sort of an in-between: the Mystery cults are slowly dying, and while Christianity is gaining momentum, it is still a fringe religion, barely a century old, so there is a sort of spiritual void in Hadrian’s world, which he seeks to fill with poetry, hunting and visiting and restoring as many of the old temples as he can. Yourcenar also chose to focus on a few more nebulous aspects of Hadrian’s life, such as his relationship with Antinous, instead of focusing on the more famous historical events, such as the building on the Wall, which is an interesting exercise in historical speculation, but which I found just a little bit frustrating, as I craved more details about known events – whilst knowing that this was not her goal at all. I think I was craving a bit more emotion, and besides the passages about Antinous’ death, Hadrian as written by Yourcenar is almost always even tempered, which makes for a very interesting story, but not one that gripped me.

That aside, I can’t praise the gorgeous writing enough: the prose is rich and delectable, like a good caramel. As Candi’s review points out so well, it is a book to be savored slowly. And really, when you think about it, it’s the right way to read a man’s reflections on his life, without rushing, noting the flaws but letting them be gently washed over by the flow of words. Bittersweet, philosophical and lush – I will be reading this one again.