Europe through literature discussion

Hi all!

This thread is for the discussion of our Nov/Dec 2021 read of Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz

- Feel free to discuss anything you like about the novel! The following questions might get you started:

What made you want to read the story?

How do you like the characters? The plot? The atmosphere? The writing style?

For all of you who are looking for some background information on Henryk Sienkiewicz, there is a fairly new interactive website by NPLP (New Panorama of Polish Literature) also in parts translated into English:

https://nplp.pl/en/kolekcja/postmoder...

Hi everyone.
I just finished the book today and I really loved it. I like books about history and even if it's fiction, this novel brought me closer to the world of the old Roman empire. It was really deep and epic. I just loved the philosophical dialogues and the standpoints on Religion, the Roman society and everything that evolved around that.
The perspectives from different points of view, the unpredictable reactions of a mad Emperor, his servants, "friends", the two lovers and all the people around them within the Christian community, their interactions and inner conflicts kept it interesting all the time and kept me engaged to keep reading more and more. The characters were very realistic and progressed in a natural way, which was logical since most of them are inspired by real people.
Although, the love story felt like a copy of Romeo and Juliette's romance, it melted into an allegory of spiritual demand for love and compassion of Christ' teachings and made it bigger then a usual love relationship between a man and a woman.
At some points it had very brutal scenes, which clearly isn't for everyone's stomach, but it gave it much tension and atmosphere, as it made me feel that I really was present in the Colosseum while watching the bloody "games". Although the book has around 500 pages, I managed to read it pretty fast.

Armin wrote: "Hi everyone.
I just finished the book today and I really loved it. I like books about history and even if it's fiction, this novel brought me closer to the world of the old Roman empire. It was re..."

Armin, thanks a lot for sharing your thoughts in such details! To be honest, this title was not exactly on my TBR but after having read your review I am really tempted to add it :))

No problem, you're welcome, I'm glad I provoked such a positive reaction :)
I had it on my TBR list already and it fit into my current mood to read it.

Hi,

Thanks for sharing. I enjoyed the book too, though not as much as you did, probably because I'm not religious.

I loved Petronius and his style. I guess I could relate more to him than to any other character in the book.

From my 21st century feminist perspective, though, I could never see the "love story" part as anything other than a toxic relationship. Romeo and Juliet are stupid children who don't know what they are doing. This is different. These are adults. He is a possessive misogynist who contemplates beating and raping her and takes serious steps to achieve just that. She is a religious zealot who uses his obsession with her to start converting him when he is sick and delirious. Both are super creepy.

Well, I'm not that religious either, and I'm not even Christian, but still consider the story about the prosecution of the Christians and their community very moving.

Petronius was also the favorite character of mine. I mean he was the most realistic guy (and probably the one of the few that were sane).

I see why you didn't fell for the love story, but I loved how it progressed in something more then just the usual, classical romance and how Marcus transformed into the opposite of his primary misogynist character.

I'm a bit behind, having only just finished with Poland (I might have to skip Romania for now and come back to it later!)

Quo Vadis was a re-read for me, as I read it a long time ago as a teenager when I borrowed the book from my grandma. I still have the same copy, which made the reading experience quite interesting as it is now rather fragile.
It really is a beautifully written book and I enjoyed it just as much second time around, if not more now that I am older and wiser and understand more of the context. It's taken me a while to read, but it was quite appropriate finishing it in Holy Week, as it made some parts of the biblical story come to life a little more.

Here is the review I wrote: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Helen wrote: "I'm a bit behind, having only just finished with Poland (I might have to skip Romania for now and come back to it later!)

Quo Vadis was a re-read for me, as I read it a long time ago as a teenager..."

Thanks, Helen, for sharing your thoughts! I wonder if it becomes obvious in the reading process that the female character can be read as an allegory of Poland as a country being suppressed as it is often said to have been the author's intention?

How interesting; I didn't know that. It sheds a whole new light on the story!

The book covers a lot, and the story of the Roman suppression of Christianity can be interpreted in many ways. When I was reading it, it reminded me mostly of the German Nazi and Stalinist regimes of WW2. Probably because it were the most recent known dictatorships. But since the book was written way before that, it makes sense that it was an allegory of Poland as a country being suppressed by Russian domination (as it says on the book description on Amazon).