All the splendor and corruption of ancient Rome come to life in Robert Graves' masterpiece, I, Claudius : From the Autobiography of Tiberius Claudius
. From the pomp and paranoia of the Emperor Augustus to the excesses and depravity of Caligula, secrets are spilled from behind the walls of palaces and prisons alike as Claudius writes his history of the Roman Empire as he lived it. And what a life it was!What I loved most about this book was the way the narrative came off as almost chatty, like Claudius was your pal filling you in on all the scandalous gossip. I, Claudius completely lacks the pretentious air about it that often surrounds books of this sort. Though the reviews I'm reading say it doesn't measure up to it's predecessor, I'm off to order Claudius the God
right now. I don't think I'm quite ready to say goodbye to him.
Pomp and paranoia, excess and depravity - I'll have to read this book.
ReplyDeleteCharley ~ Four ingredients I always look for in a good book. Enjoy! :-)
ReplyDeleteLezlie
I have been wondering if this book is any good since I watched the series on video a while back. I think I'll give it a go!
ReplyDeleteChain Reader ~ I hope you like it as much as I did. I need to watch the PBS series. It has been highly recommended to my by a number of people.
ReplyDeleteL.
Great reveiw Lezlie! I added this to my TBR.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Teddy! I hope you like it.
ReplyDeleteLezlie