Yourcenar, memorie di adriano

Altri libri di Narrativa francese. Patrick Modiano. Fred Vargas. Maurice Leblanc. Delphine de Vigan. Simone de Beauvoir. Marie Darrieussecq. Carole Fives. Jonathan Littell. Alice Zeniter. Jean-Baptiste Andrea. Georges Perec. Nel Einaudi acquista i diritti per la seconda edizione: Yourcenar vuole che sia Lidia Storoni Mazzolani a curarla. In queste lettere le due donne discutono su una serie di episodi inclusi nell'opera, sul suo status ibrido, sulla terminologia utilizzata, sul confine tra immaginazione e storia.

Infine, sempre sulla scelta del suo protagonista, Yourcenar precisa che «se quest'uomo non avesse conservato la pace nel mondo e rinnovato l'economia dell'impero, le sue gioie, le sue sventure mi sarebbero interessate di meno» 4. A Roma, la successione avveniva per adozione , metodo in cui lo stesso Adriano ravvisa la saggezza di Roma. La seconda scelta di Adriano cade dunque su Antonino , un senatore sulla cinquantina, di famiglia provinciale imparentata alla lontana con quella di Plotina.

E che Antonino sia, dunque. Il libro si suddivide in sei parti il cui titolo in latino rimanda a formule che vengono riprese all'interno del capitolo stesso. Animula vagula blandula Piccola anima smarrita e soave. La lettera comincia con un saluto : «Mio caro Marco», scrive Adriano con l'intento di informare il ragazzo delle sue precarie condizioni di salute.

Adriano rivela al nipote che da quel punto l'intento del suo scritto muta: l'oggetto del racconto diviene la sua vita. Animula vagula blandula Hospes comesque corporis Quae nunc abibis in loca Pallidula rigida nodula Nec ut soles, dabis iocos.

Varius multiplex multiformis Eclettico, versatile e multiforme. In questo capitolo Adriano rivela al lettore i suoi gusti letterari e filosofici. Nei confronti di Roma , Adriano ha un atteggiamento di amore e odio. Ovunque vada sente di essere un romano in esilio ma, allo stesso tempo, la vita a Roma lo logora.

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Analytics Analytics. Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. Advertisement Advertisement. The mentality of the Greek and Roman gods was such that they could cope with that kind of thing view spoiler [ burnt up mortal hide spoiler ] , or at least they could cope with it better than Yourcenar's Hadrian does.

Yourcenar's technique was to read, or rather steep herself in the writings of the Roman empire during the second century, there is not much surviving about Hadrian directly view spoiler [ and less than she thought that is reliable hide spoiler ] so this involved reading round him, this she felt enabled her to inhabit, as far as possible, the same mental world as Hadrian.

Hmm, just as the Simpsons view spoiler [ hmm, two simpsons references in one review, that's probably a record view spoiler [ and not a good one hide spoiler ] hide spoiler ] were still praying for the great depression to end, so too for me unbaptised and certainly not pagan, the human stands alone.

The great thing about this novel for me, is how Yourcenar was both inspired by Flaubert yet in her fiction transcends his statement. We see how Hadrian is initiated into Mithraism and the Eleusinian Mysteries and how their notions of life emerging from death intersect with his personal experience.

And this is a tremendous literary work - it is all about the intersections, everything is interwoven, this is the kind of book of which I can believe that Yourcenar sweated over adding a comma in the right place in the morning and in the afternoon realised that it had to be taken out again.

But appallingly anglo-centric as I am, Yourcenar's book led me not to think of Flaubert but of Gibbon's judgement in his the Decline and fall of the Roman empire that there was a happy era of human existence under the 'good' emperors around the time of Hadrian. Maybe this was an unconscious attraction for her, inspired in the inter-war period and completing her book after the Second World War she is writing about a world leader who drew back from conflict and war and presided, aside from a major Jewish revolt, over a period of peace and certainty, the age of the Pantheon when religious cults co-existed, apparently calmly, with philosophical speculation, it is not like view spoiler [ or does not seem to be hide spoiler ] the s and 40s in Europe, it is a safe haven.

Yourcenar's Hadrian's thoughts suggest a feeling that time is cyclical "this firmament will become again what it was in Hipparchus' time; it will be again what it is in the time of Hadrian" p. I recalled also Mary Renault who, like Yourcenar, lived in a same sex relationship and set some of her fiction in a past when certain kinds of same sex relationships were culturally sanctioned. Perhaps that fed into the appeal that Hadrian had to Yourcenar. Yourcenar's not-wife, Grace Frick, translated the book into English - a literal labour of love.

If for me this is a four star novel then Yourcenar's notes on her writing process which complete the volume are five star an utter delight, but maybe I think this is better than a four star novel. View all 32 comments. Apr 02, Sidharth Vardhan rated it it was amazing Shelves: woman-authors , list , bio-memoir , bestest , historical , list-world-library , sad-lonely-thinking-of-suicide , 4-europe , list Narrators of Proust and Celine look like so much like their mirror images; in other cases it is true to a lesser extent — but not in this case.

The only thing you will have guessed about Yourcenar by reading Memoirs of Hadrian, is that she is a genius. An innocent reader can easily be led to believe that is written by someone who if not a king, is a really old man living in ancient Rome.

The narrative is the first person — so we enter with a bit of suspicion about the reliability but soon that suspicion is removed. Hadrian is old and looking forward to his inevitable death. Not that Hadrian is your regular arrogant kings. Besides the hard qualities of builders, soldiers, and generals that you would expect from a Roman king; he has the soft qualities of being knowledgeable, philosophical, lover of arts, at times poetical and perhaps wise; which we associate with people of ancient Greece — and Goodreads.

His philosophical reflections and lyrical prose are almost seductive. Rowling once said, "To a well-organized mind, death is but the next best adventure.

Too often we forget its scheming. No one is worthy of it, and I am still unable to account for it. View all 6 comments. The statue of Hadrian, the 14th Emperor of the Roman Empire, was brought alive by the French author Marguerite Yourcenar in this novel. She climbed into his thoughts, philosophies and personality and wrote his memoir for him.

Hadrian was never a conqueror, but rather a strong leader who brought controversial changes to the Roman laws which made life more bearable and humane for the vast empire. By allowing Hadrian to be the protagonist of his own letter to Marcus Aurelius, the long forgotten man The statue of Hadrian, the 14th Emperor of the Roman Empire, was brought alive by the French author Marguerite Yourcenar in this novel.

By allowing Hadrian to be the protagonist of his own letter to Marcus Aurelius, the long forgotten man was recalled from the dead, his life and history revived. Like an archaeologist, the author uncovered the relics from the past that was buried deep in the mind of an emperor who thought differently about humanity, leadership and statesmanship.

Although this novel was published in , it was already finished in the s and became an instant success. Her hope was that Churchill could become the same kind of leader as the humane Hadrian was and bring peace to the world.

Hadrian was Spanish by birth, Roman by descend, Greek by culture, and a peacemaker by principle. The epistolary-style novel deserves the accolades it received.

It is a piece of linguistic art. Philosophical and introspective in style. The translation was brilliant. View all 10 comments. Shelves: wish-i-owned , happyendings , groups-of-people , love-and-other-indoor-sports , leetle-boys. This book is not nearly as funny as the similarly titled Diaries of Adrian Mole, so don't get them confused! In fact, this book is not funny at all, which is probably my only serious criticism of it.

Other than that, it is pretty fucking great. Um yeah, so it kind of makes my brain hurt that someone wrote this book. I'll probably write a real review soon, it being so good and all In the meantime though -- and in case I die suddenly or see something shiny and get distracted, and don't get arou This book is not nearly as funny as the similarly titled Diaries of Adrian Mole, so don't get them confused! In the meantime though -- and in case I die suddenly or see something shiny and get distracted, and don't get around to it -- I must note that I think the somewhat creepy, suspicious hype surrounding this book is well deserved, and then some.

You know that one pair of pants you have that makes it look like you've got a terrific ass, even though in reality, most days, you might not in truth? This book was a bit like that, except instead of flattering your butt, reading it makes you feel smarter than you probably are. Not annoying smart, either -- or I'd at least like to think so -- but just more thoughtful and interested in abstract ideas and whatnot than you actually might be in normal life.

It did take me awhile to get truly absorbed, but all the "work" did pay off, and I really recommend it. A reader who, unlike me, knows anything AT ALL about the Roman Empire and what have you would get more out of this than I did and would feel up to speed.

I myself am fairly ignorant of the classical world, and what affection I've got tends to be for Greece. Fortunately for us, though, Hadrian felt the same about Greece being more appealing, that is; he was up on his Rome. Yeah and so, this a fabulous novel which really explores some fascinating territory and the potential of that form, and of our brains and humanity and mortality and whatnot. Human experience, blah blah blah blah History and something something, blah blah blah blah.

It's really good! I just can't be articulate about it, mostly because I'm embarrassed even to try. I would not recommend this to people who find that everything about the Roman Empire leaves them cold; for everyone else, though, I'd say give it a shot. For me this book was the level of "hard" where I found it hard to concentrate on reading while other people were talking.

It was the level of "good," though, where I'd tell them to shut up, or at least I'd get up and walk to the other end of the subway car where it was quieter. This book changed my thoughts, which is kind of all I want. I didn't just think about what was happening in the narrative -- just to clarify, nothing was happening; it was essentially Gilead , if you've read that, only instead of a dying Iowa preacher with heart trouble writing a letter to a young boy, it was a dying Roman emperor with heart trouble writing a letter to a young man -- I thought about the world and civilization and the experience of being a human being differently I mean, I can use that.

Who couldn't? At the end of this volume, in Yourcenar's "Reflections on the Composition of Memoirs of Hadrian," yeah, it's that kind of book she quotes this line from Flaubert's letters: "Just when the gods had ceased to be, and the Christ had not yet come, there was a unique moment in history, between Cicero and Marcus Aurelius, when man stood alone. It's about a lot of other stuff too, though. It's got what I think is one of the most unique and memorable literary love stories.

And pictures! It's got beautiful pictures. And it's just excruciatingly well-written During the first quarter of reading this, I noticed that I was getting really depressed about my life and lack of accomplishment and just feeling like a total loser all the time, and then I realized why: I was comparing myself to the Roman Emperor Hadrian!

Compared to Hadrian, I really am a big loser. I mean a BIG loser. But it's not a fair comparison. I was talking last weekend to this somewhat patrician gentleman I use the term "gentleman" loosely about this book, and he told me that they read this as undergraduates at Harvard, where according to him many readers suffer from the opposite problem.

Anyway, I'm rambling on, and I don't mean to. It's past my bedtime, and I can't say anything worthwhile about this book, so I'm just sort of yammering away uselessly. Where I think I might have been going with that I'm-no-Roman-emperor line was: Yourcenar's project has an inherent empathy problem, which she solves.

I'll never be the most powerful man in the world, and I won't even ever be the erudite and brilliant Marguerite Yourcenar, who was, the back cover informs us, "the first woman to be elected to the prestigious French Academy" and who, the cover further notes, in an intimidatingly sober tone, "writes only in French.

I've got a library card. Apparently, as I'm learning, that gets me close enough. Near the beginning of this book, in one of its many lyrical and precise descriptive passages, Hadrian writes about his intimations of mortality. Purporting to be the memoirs of the Roman emperor, Yourcenar's book pulls off the narrative voice so well that you sometimes have to remind yourself that it's fiction; every sentence seems heavy with the wise sadness of someone who has lived for a long time and through many momentous events.

The novel took more than twenty years to write and the quality shows in every line, every phrase. It's not a perfect book, perhaps — although it's short, it is dense like the book Alice's sister was reading, it contains no pictures or conversations , and I found it dragged slightly in the back end — but that's admittedly perhaps because I was reading it in French. Though the book is a life story, it is also tightly-controlled.

This is not a sprawling epic, but rather a thematic portrait of a man at the end of his life dwelling mostly on those experiences which have come to preoccupy him, primarily his own impending death and the moments of love which — just perhaps — will have made it all worthwhile.

For Hadrian, in Yourcenar's conception of him, love and death are closely intertwined. Perhaps that is why he can't leave either of them alone.

Architecture sets him off: his passages on the immortality of buildings represent a great meditation on architecture to be set beside that of Hugo in Notre-Dame de Paris. Hadrian does not draw conclusions from this catalogue of mortality, but the reader is well able to if he or she wishes. Being a god, in short, calls for more virtues than being an emperor. This book evokes the idea perfectly. There is a looming sense of disaster in all this brooding on death, a disaster which finally comes with the fate of Hadrian's beloved Antinous.

There is something exceptionally artful in the way that Antinous's story takes up only a small part of the novel, while the ramifications are yet so infused in every sentence Hadrian writes.

Yourcenar — or Hadrian — is coy about the physical side of their relationship, but the book is full of brilliant and perceptive comments on love as an emotion. It's a union that means Hadrian is reluctant to ignore death or pass over its unsavoury features: he's determined to consider it as fully as he can, and understand what he himself is facing.

On the contrary, it's life-affirming, moving and thought-provoking — and built from a prose style which, on occasion, looks something like genius.

View all 21 comments. What are masterpieces? Let us name a few In feeling, these masterpieces contain the maximum of emotion compatible with a classical sense of form. Observe how they are written; many are short and compressed, fruits of reflective and contemplative natures, prose or poetry of great formal beauty and economy of phrase.

Th What are masterpieces? There are no novels, plays or biographies included on the list, and the poetry is of the kind that speculates on life. They have been chosen by one who most values the art which is distilled and crystallized out of a lucid, curious and passionate imagination. In such a philosophy pleasure would be a more complete but also more specialized approach to the Other, one more technique for getting to know what is not ourselves.

I have supposed, and in my better moments think so still, that it would be possible in this manner to participate in the existence of everyone; such sympathy would be one of the least revocable kinds of immortality. There have been moments when that comprehension tried to go beyond human experience, passing from the swimmer to the wave. But in such a realm, since there is nothing exact left to guide me, I verge upon the world of dream and metamorphosis. Borges once wrote that the powerful recurrence of human dreams is greater miracle than any of the biblical levitations or apparitions.

View all 5 comments. 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. 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. Bittersweet, philosophical and lush — I will be reading this one again. View all 15 comments. Mar 22, P. An ambitious inner portrait of Emperor Hadrian by thoughtful Marguerite Yourcenar.

Histoire de la Rome antique A small-sized, infinitely gorgeous miscellany about who the Romans were. Histoire de la Rome antique Tout petit livre de la collection « Que-sais-je? She first has the idea of writing a book about Hadrian when she is in her twenties, but after several attempts realizes that she is too young: 'There are books which one should not attempt before having passed the age of forty….. It took me years to learn how to calculate exactly the distances between the emperor and myself.

But Hadrian does not let go of her. He pops up here and there over the following years. Finally, she realizes that Mark stands for Marcus Aurelius and that she has a fragment of her manuscript in her hands, which she had believed to be lost. From this point on, she takes up her work on Hadrian again. With some meticulous research, she is able to bring to life an emperor about whom, unfortunately, so little is known. He reflects on his own life and on life in general, as well as his approaching death.

Reading these lines, it is easy to forget that this letter was written by an author who lived in the twentieth century. Her prose is tranquil, composed and occasionally formal — just as one would expect from a valedictory letter written in Latin. It contains some of the most beautiful and poignant quotes that I have ever read: 'I am not sure that the discovery of love is necessarily more exquisite than the discovery of poetry.

I have read the French version as well as the English translation, and the elegance and beauty of the prose in both is awe-inspiring. It is difficult to describe the emotions that this book evokes in the reader. For this reason, I recommend it highly to anyone who likes in-depth reading.

You will start asking questions about your own life, your own views, and the way you deal with challenges. None of my literary friends here in Zurich have heard of her, and her books are not stocked in the local bookshops. It is more a reflection on life and politics, with no plot to speak of. It is not a fast read; at least, I did not find this to be the case. I would not recommend it as a beach read or an airport novel. Rather, this is a book to be savoured in front of the fire, with a delicious cup of tea or a glass of red wine.

In your favourite wing chair, under your favourite tree. View all 27 comments. Contemplating on his brief life and all of its random yet heavy choices, he finds it impossible to bring all the contradictions in his life into accord, and yet he tries to find peace in death without too much obsessive concern with people and things yet unborn.

What eases death for him the most is the rememberance of t "I was beginning to find it natural, if not just, that we should perish. What eases death for him the most is the rememberance of the death of the beloved Antinous who had "served to enrich but also to simplify my life. The isle of Achilles, also the isle of Patroclus, has become a secret abode for him: "I shall doubtless be there at the moment of my death. At a certain time, a civilization will demand no more refinement or success or life, because it finds itself already belonging more with the dead than with the living.

View all 8 comments. Chavez wanted Obama to learn from Literature of the exploitation of Latin America. He had hope the young President would be open-minded, and a reader. I just want them to be wise. It may be too late for that in this day and age of handlers and YouTube and issue-driven voters. But think: Hadrian followed Caligula, Claudius and Nero. Why read, and for that matter, why write a book about a long-ago Emperor?

The lessons are anecdotal. Returning the daughter of an Asian ruler, captured in her infancy, without haggling, serves a better end than sending in the legions. Absorb the knowledge of a colony instead of its tribute. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Even: let execution suffice when execution after torture seems, you know, excessive. This is a Novel in Memoir form.

But there are epistolary novels and novels in diary form, so why not this? Historians propose to us systems too perfect for explaining the past, with sequence of cause and effect much too exact and clear to have been ever entirely true.

It is also respectful. The language, though, the language is lush. The written word has taught me to listen to the human voice, much as the great unchanging statues have taught me to appreciate bodily motions. Although a weaver would wish to mend his web or a clever calculator would correct his mistakes, and the artist would try to retouch his masterpiece if still imperfect or slightly damaged.

Nature prefers to start again from the very clay, from chaos itself, and this horrible waste is what we term natural order. No, Hadrian was in love with Antinous, a lovely teenage boy. Yourcenar spares us the sex but not the obsession. This time Divinity did not cure, it killed. And so the Memoir is tinged with regret, for being almost wise. I wrote many lessons down. I also found my mind wandering often through the obligatory historical chronology.

But after I turned the final page, the importance of this started to play with the light. Oh how I wish our leaders were wise. Or almost wise. Right, Hadrian? View all 20 comments. Written in epistolary form, Hadrian writes to his adopted grandson Marcus Aurelius.

This book begins as an update after Hadrian sees his physician Hermogenes and later develops into the reflection and recollection of his life. This book is beautiful, from beginning to the end, beautiful. From his childhood in Spain, to his army life, to the beginnings of his political life, his ascent to power and career successes, his policies as well as love for art and Greek culture, his finding his love Antin Written in epistolary form, Hadrian writes to his adopted grandson Marcus Aurelius.

From his childhood in Spain, to his army life, to the beginnings of his political life, his ascent to power and career successes, his policies as well as love for art and Greek culture, his finding his love Antinous, loss and the grief he suffers, and later old age and approaching death. This was a wonderful, wonderful reading experience. Of course Hadrian has always been considered a great statesman and was indeed an impressive figure.