Sometime ago I was at my mother's and she had there a book that someone had offered her, or someone had left there, or someone was about to through it away and she rescued. It was a book she clearly was not interested in. The book looked old, the edition was not very beautiful. The title, in Portuguese, could be translated as something like "For the sake of an inventory" and I think is the translation of the French title. The title of the English version is "The dark brain of Piranesi and other essays". It was the author, Marguerite Yourcenar (an anagram of her real surname, Crayencour), that made me pick it up immediately.
And it is true that it contains an essay about a series of Piranesi engravings representing imaginary prisons (Carceri d'Invenzione). The subject of this works is mysterious enough and I spent a great deal of time looking at these and other works of Piranesi that can be found easily on the Internet. But as magical as these engravings is the text of Marguerite Yourcenar, that speculates on the reasons that made Piranesi imagine those claustrophobic places.
There is also a beautiful essay about Thomas Man, and since I had reread The Magic Mountain not long ago, and because of that, the text resonated with a special meaning. The analysis of Thomas Man books is very deep and intelligent, but very clear and simple in some way.
There are other essays, one about the roman emperors, another about the women that lived in a famous French castle.
Then, because of that book I read again Memoirs of Hadrien and The Abyss, two books about two very intelligent and sensible men. The first was an emperor of a powerful empire, the Roman, a man of action that had in its hands the destiny of many people. The other, Zeno, was a physician traveling through a turmoiled Europe during the renaissance, keeping its distance from the political powers, a solitary man that cultivated a small number of friendships. Again the clarity of the writing, the precision, are impressive. And also the historical accuracy. Both men are curious about the world, are travellers, are tolerant and good. I imagine Marguerite Yourcenar a bit like them. About to leave this world, Hadrien tells his life, since the book is written in the form a letter to his successor, his public and private life, talks about politics and about love, friendship, the taste for hunting and for art. He talks about his efforts to make the world a better, less chaotic place, knowing that those improvements can not last. Zeno has a less glorious life, but interesting anyway, with his efforts for publishing his researches and escaping censorship.
I have the feeling that for a long time, the grandiosity of Memoirs of Hadrien prevented me from reading other of her books. It was the small book I found at my mothers place that broke the spell. As you can see I have a fascination for this woman and this text is just an invitation to read her books, specially Memoirs of Hadrien. In the mean while, I leave here a video, with French and Italian subtitles, in which Marguerite Yourcenar talks about what it is to be a writer.
And it is true that it contains an essay about a series of Piranesi engravings representing imaginary prisons (Carceri d'Invenzione). The subject of this works is mysterious enough and I spent a great deal of time looking at these and other works of Piranesi that can be found easily on the Internet. But as magical as these engravings is the text of Marguerite Yourcenar, that speculates on the reasons that made Piranesi imagine those claustrophobic places.
There is also a beautiful essay about Thomas Man, and since I had reread The Magic Mountain not long ago, and because of that, the text resonated with a special meaning. The analysis of Thomas Man books is very deep and intelligent, but very clear and simple in some way.
There are other essays, one about the roman emperors, another about the women that lived in a famous French castle.
Then, because of that book I read again Memoirs of Hadrien and The Abyss, two books about two very intelligent and sensible men. The first was an emperor of a powerful empire, the Roman, a man of action that had in its hands the destiny of many people. The other, Zeno, was a physician traveling through a turmoiled Europe during the renaissance, keeping its distance from the political powers, a solitary man that cultivated a small number of friendships. Again the clarity of the writing, the precision, are impressive. And also the historical accuracy. Both men are curious about the world, are travellers, are tolerant and good. I imagine Marguerite Yourcenar a bit like them. About to leave this world, Hadrien tells his life, since the book is written in the form a letter to his successor, his public and private life, talks about politics and about love, friendship, the taste for hunting and for art. He talks about his efforts to make the world a better, less chaotic place, knowing that those improvements can not last. Zeno has a less glorious life, but interesting anyway, with his efforts for publishing his researches and escaping censorship.
I have the feeling that for a long time, the grandiosity of Memoirs of Hadrien prevented me from reading other of her books. It was the small book I found at my mothers place that broke the spell. As you can see I have a fascination for this woman and this text is just an invitation to read her books, specially Memoirs of Hadrien. In the mean while, I leave here a video, with French and Italian subtitles, in which Marguerite Yourcenar talks about what it is to be a writer.
Your chronicle of your re-discovery of Marguerite Yourcenar is amazingly moving and strongly effective as an invitation to read her. I should... I will read her books. Thanks for the suggestion, Claudia!
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