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Showing posts from July 8, 2024

MEMOIRS OF HADRIAN BY M. YOURCENER (PART TWO)- BOOK REVIEW

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Hello readers! In this post, I'll continue my review of Memoirs of Hadrian , a historical fictional biography written by Marguerite Yourcenar.  As  I already said (in the first part of my review), I was absolutely enchanted by this historical novel that read like a genuine memoir. Yorcenar used a first person epistolary narration in the Memoirs of Hadian . The Roman emperor writes his story in a form of a long letter to his adopted grandson Marcus (Mark) who is also his future successor. The letter is both intimate and instructional. While Hadrian often drifts into personal digressions and philosophical arguments in the letter, he does address Marcus directly on a number of occasions, adding to credibility of this narrative letter.   Being somewhat familiar with the life of Hadian, I still found the plot very interesting and engaging. While Marguerite Yourcenar did a tremendous amount of historical research for this novel, she also introduced her own ideas and employed some artisti