Curt's Read-Bag: Conspirata
Book: Conspirata: A Novel of Ancient Rome
By: Robert Harris (Simon & Schuster, 340 pp.)
Concerning: This sequel to Robert Harris' Imperium depicts Cicero's tumultuous, one-year term as consul of Rome, which leads to the zenith of his career and popularity, followed by a precipitous fall as the likes of Julius Caesar, Pompey and Crassus attempt to subvert the Roman Republic for their own ends. Narrated by Tiro, Cicero's personal secretary, confidant and slave.
Quotation: "There was a time when Cicero could have spotted such an obvious trap a mile off. But I fear there is in all men who achieve their life's ambition only a narrow line between dignity and vanity, confidence and delusion, glory and self-destruction."
Verdict: I haven't done a " Curt's Read-Bag" in a while, but I read Imperium about three years ago and wanted to look up the entry, so I figured I'd do a post on Conspirata. And man oh man, is it ever awesome: I practically tore through it. The previous book was quite good, but Conspirata reads like a house (or Republic) on fire. Of course, since I liked the predecessor, I'm already favorably disposed towards it, but it also has the advantage of recounting even more portentous events from the very beginning (with a human sacrifice on the eve of Cicero's inauguration), and Julius Caesar taking an increasingly active role in the narrative. It also appeals to me because most of the intrigue involves the political process and attempts to subvert it, as opposed to the more lurid sex-and-poison goings-on in, say "Rome" and "I, Claudius." Harris's Cicero books have a little of that, but mostly off-stage. Supposedly it's the second book of a trilogy. I want the third one now.
Incidentally: Harris's novel The Ghost has been adapted for the big screen as The Ghost Writer, directed by Roman Polanski, starring Pierce Brosnan and Ewan McGregor.
By: Robert Harris (Simon & Schuster, 340 pp.)
Concerning: This sequel to Robert Harris' Imperium depicts Cicero's tumultuous, one-year term as consul of Rome, which leads to the zenith of his career and popularity, followed by a precipitous fall as the likes of Julius Caesar, Pompey and Crassus attempt to subvert the Roman Republic for their own ends. Narrated by Tiro, Cicero's personal secretary, confidant and slave.
Quotation: "There was a time when Cicero could have spotted such an obvious trap a mile off. But I fear there is in all men who achieve their life's ambition only a narrow line between dignity and vanity, confidence and delusion, glory and self-destruction."
Verdict: I haven't done a " Curt's Read-Bag" in a while, but I read Imperium about three years ago and wanted to look up the entry, so I figured I'd do a post on Conspirata. And man oh man, is it ever awesome: I practically tore through it. The previous book was quite good, but Conspirata reads like a house (or Republic) on fire. Of course, since I liked the predecessor, I'm already favorably disposed towards it, but it also has the advantage of recounting even more portentous events from the very beginning (with a human sacrifice on the eve of Cicero's inauguration), and Julius Caesar taking an increasingly active role in the narrative. It also appeals to me because most of the intrigue involves the political process and attempts to subvert it, as opposed to the more lurid sex-and-poison goings-on in, say "Rome" and "I, Claudius." Harris's Cicero books have a little of that, but mostly off-stage. Supposedly it's the second book of a trilogy. I want the third one now.
Incidentally: Harris's novel The Ghost has been adapted for the big screen as The Ghost Writer, directed by Roman Polanski, starring Pierce Brosnan and Ewan McGregor.