Memoirs of Hadrian

This book is the fruit of one of the most ambitious literary projects I have ever seen. At the age of twenty, Marguerite Yourcenar conceived the idea of writing the life of the Emperor Hadrian. She spent five years on the task, then destroyed the manuscript and all her notes. Over the next decade an......more

There is a word that keeps popping up in my reading. I’d go so far as to say that this word is the underlying descriptor for the majority of my favorite books, in some way. The thing is that I can’t tell you exactly what that word is, nor what it means. In Turkish, the word is hüzün, In Korean, it i......more

i asked all of you, if you could pick any book for me to read, what would it be? i guess you made the most of it because i don't think i'd ever have picked this up otherwise. this is clearly an objectively good book, but it's not one i ever would have read. that combination is making me feel like i ju......more

Through the mists of time the clouds lift (but only partly, always remain overcast they never give up their deep secrets), and the myths will continue such is history such was the Roman Emperor Hadrian of the second century, no Julius Caesar but who was? Sill a very capable man born in Italica, what......more

Memoriile lui Hadrian, o lungă epistolă testamentară către viitorul împărat și filosof Marcus Aurelius (120 - 180), mi s-a părut (și la prima lectură, dar și acum) o dureroasă meditație despre insinuarea destrămării și neființei în oameni și lucruri. Dar mai ales în oameni. Timpul e nemilos. Totul s......more