Memoirs of Hadrian
Marguerite Yourcenar
1951
Around 350 pages
Most of the time, I have a blast with these entries, but every once in awhile we get a book that feels like it was created for the sole purpose of hurting college students. I had a professor, let's call him Ronald Judy (because that's his name, and he was an ass), whose arrogance left me in awe. He would stroll into class twenty minutes late and then keep us for an extra 30 minutes because he physically could not spouting his ego on us. Being hit over the head with Ars Poetica is one thing, because it's Greek and I guess they figured out the universe or something. But this is just pretend classical, so what gives?
Hadrian was an Emperor of Rome, roughly 2000 years ago. The novel is presented as a letter by Hadrian to his successor/adoptive grandson Marcus Aurelius. As he is dying, Hadrian thinks this is a good time to reflect on the events of his life. I guess by Machiavellian standards, Hadrian is a good emperor, but he's still a huge dick.
The real Hadrian did write an autobiography, but it has been lost. I never felt the pangs of this loss, but Yourcenar did. This just isn't my taste, I have a hard time relating to these ancient men who were obsessed with young boys and plagued by fits of rage and paranoia. And if I was going to spend the intellectual credit needed to get through a book like this, I would want it to be the real deal.
RATING: **---
Interesting Facts:
Yourcenar chose Hadrian as the subject of the novel because he lived at a time when the Roman gods were no longer believed in, but Christianity was not yet established.
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