{"product_id":"9780141184968","title":"Marguerite Yourcenar - Memoirs of Hadrian","description":"\u003cp\u003eWritten by Marguerite Yourcenar. Themes include Fiction, Classics, Historical, Ancient, Literary.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFramed as a letter from the Roman Emperor Hadrian to his successor, Marcus Aurelius, Marguerite Yourcenar's \u003ci\u003eMemoirs of Hadrian\u003c\/i\u003e is translated from the French by Grace Frick with an introduction by Paul Bailey in Penguin Modern Classics.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn her magnificent novel, Marguerite Yourcenor recreates the life and death of one of the great rulers of the ancient world. The Emperor Hadrian, aware his demise is imminent, writes a long valedictory letter to Marcus Aurelius, his future successor. The Emperor meditates on his past, describing his accession, military triumphs, love of poetry and music, and the philosophy that informed his powerful and far-flung rule. A work of superbly detailed research and sustained empathy, \u003ci\u003eMemoirs of Hadrian\u003c\/i\u003e captures the living spirit of the Emperor and of Ancient Rome.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMarguerite de Crayencour (1903-88), who went by the inexact anagrammatic pen name 'Marguarite Yourcenar', was a Belgian-born French novelist and essayist, the first woman to be elected to the \u003ci\u003eAcadémie française\u003c\/i\u003e. Her first novel \u003ci\u003eAlexis\u003c\/i\u003e was published in 1929; in 1939 she was invited to America by her lover Grace Frick, where she lectured in comparative literature at Sarah Lawrence College in New York. When \u003ci\u003eMémoires d'Hadrien \u003c\/i\u003ewas first published in 1951, it was an immediate success and met with great critical acclaim.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIf you enjoyed \u003ci\u003eMemoirs of Hadrian\u003c\/i\u003e, you might like Robert Graves's \u003ci\u003eI, Claudius\u003c\/i\u003e, also available in Penguin Modern Classics.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'A timeless masterpiece ... every page is informed by her profound scholarship'\u003cbr\u003ePaul Bailey, author of \u003ci\u003eGabriel's Lament\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Yourcenar conjures worlds. She can make us \u003ci\u003eshare\u003c\/i\u003e passion - for beauty, bodies, ideas, even power - and consider it closely at the same time. She is that most extraordinary thing: a sensual thinker'\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eIndependent on Sunday\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFormat:\u003c\/strong\u003e Paperback\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAll books at Vastela are pre-owned. Condition varies from good to near-new. No book is sold in unacceptable condition.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Vastela Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":58030704886134,"sku":null,"price":4.9,"currency_code":"CHF","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0707\/7144\/1981\/files\/9780141184968.jpg?v=1780667210","url":"https:\/\/www.vastelabooks.com\/products\/9780141184968","provider":"Vastela Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}