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A review by teresatumminello
Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar
3.0
When I’d read the excellent and lyrical GR reviews of this novel, I thought the book sounded like it’d be for me. Now that I’ve finally read it, I think it might not be. I wondered about this in the early pages, but continued on as it’s so well-written. Also, I was reading with a group and the daily pages were very manageable. A schedule, especially for a book I might otherwise put aside for “later,” works well for me.
In the beginning I felt I was reading an advice piece— self-help, as one of the reading participants said—and aphorisms are not something I necessarily enjoy. But that’s only at the start and, even so, it’s beautifully written and insightful. The novel is written in the form of a letter (to Hadrian’s successor Marcus Aurelius) and I never believed in the book-as-letter, unless Hadrian is writing it for posterity and that doesn't seem to be the case.
Though you don’t need to be a student of Roman history to enjoy this, it would’ve helped me if I had been, especially when Hadrian’s running through his accomplishments or invoking the past. Successful historical novels are said to wear their historical details lightly, which I found both true and not true of this work.
The writing is so good that many times I felt it was Hadrian writing, though at other times I got pulled out of Hadrian’s head, knowing it was Yourcenar’s (which of course would be true for any writer of any work). I especially felt this way with the predictions and foreshadowing, though that’s also unfair as Hadrian was a student of history and could see trends just as well as historians today. The ending is especially beautiful, but I know I didn't get as much out of the whole as others in the group did.
Intriguing and perceptive notes can be found in Yourcenar’s Reflections on the Composition... at the end of the book. Some of these I enjoyed greatly, stopping for my own reflections. With some of them I felt my failures as a reader being targeted: “The utter fatuity of those who say to you, ‘By Hadrian you mean yourself!’” I’d never say that to her, but I’m guilty of thinking it. But don’t mind me: I’m a barbarian.
In the beginning I felt I was reading an advice piece— self-help, as one of the reading participants said—and aphorisms are not something I necessarily enjoy. But that’s only at the start and, even so, it’s beautifully written and insightful. The novel is written in the form of a letter (to Hadrian’s successor Marcus Aurelius) and I never believed in the book-as-letter, unless Hadrian is writing it for posterity and that doesn't seem to be the case.
Though you don’t need to be a student of Roman history to enjoy this, it would’ve helped me if I had been, especially when Hadrian’s running through his accomplishments or invoking the past. Successful historical novels are said to wear their historical details lightly, which I found both true and not true of this work.
The writing is so good that many times I felt it was Hadrian writing, though at other times I got pulled out of Hadrian’s head, knowing it was Yourcenar’s (which of course would be true for any writer of any work). I especially felt this way with the predictions and foreshadowing, though that’s also unfair as Hadrian was a student of history and could see trends just as well as historians today. The ending is especially beautiful, but I know I didn't get as much out of the whole as others in the group did.
Intriguing and perceptive notes can be found in Yourcenar’s Reflections on the Composition... at the end of the book. Some of these I enjoyed greatly, stopping for my own reflections. With some of them I felt my failures as a reader being targeted: “The utter fatuity of those who say to you, ‘By Hadrian you mean yourself!’” I’d never say that to her, but I’m guilty of thinking it. But don’t mind me: I’m a barbarian.