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Memoirs of Hadrian

Marguerite Yourcenar,

Grace Frick (Translator)

Start date: March 1, 2020

Finish date: March 31, 2020

Discussion: 2020 Historical Fict. Tournament

Discussion leader: Christopher

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What Members Thought

Aug 30, 2018 Henk rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: owned

Deeply psychological portrait of an emperor's rise to power
“... the written reflections of a sick man who grants his memories audience.”

The story Marguerite Yourcenar tells as an author (whose voice is very skillfully hidden behind that of the emperor) is that of the life of Hadrian, who in his villa in Tivoli is looking back on his long life, his rise to power, his tragic love for Antinous and now his sick old years. The emperor is reflecting on his years past to benefit his successor, Marcus A Deeply psychological portrait of an emperor's rise to power
“... the written reflections of a sick man who grants his memories audience.”

The story Marguerite Yourcenar tells as an author (whose voice is very skillfully hidden behind that of the emperor) is that of the life of Hadrian, who in his villa in Tivoli is looking back on his long life, his rise to power, his tragic love for Antinous and now his sick old years. The emperor is reflecting on his years past to benefit his successor, Marcus Aurelius, and intertwines meditations on the nature of life and death and other philosophical topics into his life story.
Yourcenar conveyed for me successfully both the historical atmosphere and especially the voice of a narrator from the 2d century AD. The language and tempo Hadrian uses is archaic, winding, melancholic, very well fitting for someone whose own sunset is rapidly approaching. Of course Hadrian as narrator is influenced a bit anachronistically by our modern times, for instance the thought struck me that he was too modern in his views on economics, women's rights, emancipation of non-Romans and democracy, but it can’t be denied he was a very reform minded emperor who also admired the Hellenic world.

His rise to power is a nice mix of at first coincidences, later on reinforced by strong willed ambition, and could easily be remade into a Netflix drama series.
However the further I came in the book the more the view I had as a reader on Hadrian shifted and a sense of unease settled in about who he really is as a person. His musings look very self critical and openhearted at first, with a sharp eye on power abuse of his predecessors, but political killings soon are needed to propel Hadrian to the highest position. During his reign he often boasts about the restoration and building works he initiated, more often then not “bigger then ever before” but his banishment of critical writers get only a few lines. In the end he strikes a servant half blind in a fit of rage and keeps a life long vengeance to his brother in law who he executes many years after their first clash. This made him not necessarily unsympathetic but complex, and in a sense human because of that, an excellent showcase of what Yourcenar admits to have tried capturing in the appendix to the book, namely:
“...that what a human think he was, that what he wanted to be and that what he really was.”

What finally struck me most of this book is how difficult it is to really capture happiness. Although a whole chapter is called the Golden Years, dealing with the relationship with Antinous and the height of Hadrian's power as an emperor, the feeling of impending ending is always there and the qualities of Antinous are more eluded to than anything else. No person outside of Hadrian, even his favorite, gets to the depth, life like complexity as the emperor himself, which in a sense is also true for real life: how well can we really know an other person (not to speak of ourselves even).

The following quote from Hadrian fits nicely with that and seem an acknowledgement from Yourcenar that not everything can be captured in literature:
“I would not feel at home in a world without books, but reality is not there, because she does not fit into it.” ...more

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Jun 28, 2020 Irene rated it liked it

Maybe at a different time in my life I might have appreciated this more. The author assumes the voice of the Emperor Hadrian looking back on his life, narrating his rise to power and his accomplishments. At times, it read like a class report, listing various civic projects or military campaigns. At other times, the philosophical musings on the nature of the soul, the beauty of the male body of his young lover, the similarity between sleep and death, and so on seemed to drag the narrative. It nev ...more

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Apr 11, 2020 Jenny rated it really liked it

I really appreciate what Yourcenar accomplished here, her research and the philosophical tone of the novel. Very convincing as a memoir. But I didn’t connect with the subject itself so did not fully enjoy the story.

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Aug 09, 2010 Alasse rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 1001-books, letters-and-diaries

First of all, picking this book up right now - huge mistake. It's the sort of book that calls for reading every sentence twice. Though the kick-ass translation by Julio Cortázar did help with that, my brain has been too scattered lately to treat this book properly. It's a shame, really.

Memoires d'Hadrian is intended as a philosophical reflection on both history and individual human nature. Yourcenar covers just about every major issue you can think of - politics, sexuality and sensuality, mankin ...more

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Mar 05, 2020 Pamela rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: boxall-1001-read

Fictional recreation of the life and achievements of the Emperor Hadrian. In a letter to Marcus Aurelius, who will be his ultimate successor some day, Hadrian muses on his military successes, his restructuring and reform of the administrative and financial systems of the Empire, his love for Greek philosophy and arts, and the most significant love affairs of his life.

In many respects this is an impressive work. Yourcenar's research is thorough and carefully chosen, and supplemented where necessa ...more

1 like · Like · see review