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Title: The Ides of March : A Novel by Thornton Wilder ISBN: 0-06-008890-7 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 16 September, 2003 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.43 (7 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A unique historical novel of the last year of Julis Caesar
Comment: I think most people know the story of Julius Caesar's death: stabbed 23 times on March 15th during a session of the Senate. What Thornton Wilder has done with his novel is to give the reader a glimpse in to the human side of Caesar, through journal entries and correspondence from him and those surrounding him. We learn of the statesman, who tries his best to govern his people; of his "divinity" and his tolerance of the belief in gods and goddesses; of the family man living in a tepid marriage with his wife Pompeia; and of his attraction to intellectuals, whether if be the poet Catullus, whose poetry he highly regards even if it mocks him, and the beautfiul Egyptian Queen Cleopatra, whom he considers almost an equal in terms of ability to rule. Wilder also lets us in on public opinion concerning the Dictator, as Caesar was also known, through intercepted correspondence of Clodia Pulcher and others. Caesar becomes more of a human figure in the hands of Wilder. He has his foibles and his share of indecisions, just like any other person. He also tries to do what he believes to be the right thing in terms of treating others. A unique historical novel.
Rating: 3
Summary: A different historical novel
Comment: Contrary to what we could think, this novel is not dedicated to Julius Caesar's death, as Shakespeare did in his tragedy. It does not talk about his life, either. It just tells us about his last eight months.
He does it with a tecnique different from tradicional historical novel from the XIXth century and it's different, too, from the pseudo-memories, which is the favourite form of historical novel in the XXth century. Thornton Wilder prefers to juxtapose in four books a series of documents from different sources: letters, political pamphlets, inscriptions, poetry... He does not follow a chronological order but, as a kind of consecutive focusing, each book starts before and ends later than the previous one. And the very core, the central point, is September 45 BC, when an attempt against Julius Caesar's life was made. This way of telling the story is very pleasant but it asks a little effort from the reader to organize those materials in his mind.
Anyway, Thornton Wilder is not strictly historical, and he tells us beforehand. Some events happened years before 45 or 44, some characters were already dead. I think he does not really want to talk about Caesar or his time. He prefers to talk about loneliness: of a ruler that can trust no one, of man in front os his own mortality, of the absence of gods (lived not dramatically but with no consequence, either).
In the last part of the book I think he tells exactly what he's worried about: the mistery of life is very huge. It's so big that we have not a definitive idea about it, is life good or bad? tidy or chaotic? To sum it up, has it got any sense at all?
It looks as if Caesar was only worried about posthumous glory, the way future generations were going to remember him. It sounds a very poor reward, but it is more that what the majority of us will achieve.
I liked some femenine portrays in this book. Not Cleopatra or Clodia Pulcher, the first one is a mistery in herself (a Greek princess in an Egyptian kingdom), the second one so evilishly depicted by Catullus poetry that we could never get what she really was. The great women are the Roman matrons, the ones that had such a big influence in the Roman Republic, and the respect towards them as the real shadow cabinet.
Why should anyone read this book? Because it's very entertaining and you could learn some philosophy and a little bit (not too much, really) history.
Rating: 4
Summary: FINE STORYTELLING
Comment: Fine blend of history and storytelling. Captivating story told through letters between and among key Roman characters. Fun and entertaining read. Don't have to be a history or antiquities buff to enjoy.
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Title: Theophilus North: A Novel by Thornton Wilder ISBN: 0060088923 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 15 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: Heaven's My Destination : A Novel by Thornton Wilder ISBN: 0060088893 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 16 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: Eighth Day by Thornton Wilder ISBN: 0848806697 Publisher: Amereon Ltd Pub. Date: 01 December, 1998 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
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Title: The Bridge of San Luis Rey (Perennial Classics) by Thornton Wilder ISBN: 0060088877 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 15 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $11.95 |
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Title: The Collected Short Plays of Thornton Wilder Volume I by Thornton Wilder, Donald Gallup, A. Tappan Wilder ISBN: 155936131X Publisher: Theatre Communications Group Pub. Date: 01 May, 1997 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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