pontalba

I've finished both I, Claudius and Claudius the God by Robert Graves. Both rereads, the former for our Book Discussion of this month. http://www.bookclubforum.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/12956-i-claudius-by-robert-graves-september-2014-reading-circle/#entry404896 Graves certainly knew how to research, and use the research in a wonderful manner. In the second book, the battles do become a bit tedious, but this is the (at least) third reading for me, so I may be excused for skimming them a bit this time. I love Graves attention to detail, and motivation of the characters. And, I haven't found, in my other reading, any discrepancies of fact as far as events and personages are involved. Claudius was a reluctant Emperor. He only wanted to restore the Republic, but he saw finally, that it was not feasible given the circumstances surrounding him. He was certainly a survivor. These books also have managed to restore me to reading. The first 7 months of the year, I read at a rapid rate, fell off in August, and have begun to come back. So, that's a good thing.

Interesting little book. Look forward to your review. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Going to review it?

Ooshie, I went right into the next book too, and have finished it. How did you find it on your second reading? The way the Roman aristocracy adopted out their children was very interesting to me. I'd read about it in other books on the time I've read, so it wasn't a surprise. A genealogists nightmare! In one of the Colleen McCullough books...First Man in Rome series, she tells how Julius Caesar's father didn't "farm" his children out like his own brother did. It seems it was as much a financial thing as anything else. While it's true that women didn't have all the freedom women have nowadays, if they were clever they could do alright. The thing that truly angered me was the marrying off of children, and the ease of divorce for no real reason. No reason other than the man wanting to marry someone richer. All in the connections! So very corrupt. But really, the corruption of today isn't any different, IMO. Just changed it's face a bit. I read long ago that Rome started falling apart when it's families started falling apart. One follows the other in any civilization.

I'm about 2/3rds of the way through Claudius the God, the sequel to I, Claudius. It picks up exactly where the first one left off, but digresses for about 50-odd pages into a description of King Herod Agrippa. Lovely background information. Interesting fellow. And, in this, the second book, he gives the "Roman" view of Jesus and His followers. Interesting to see it from the contemporaneous view.

About 2/3rds of the way through Claudius the God. Good sequel!

Hey Julie......I hope the knee is improving, as ordered! Let us know how you're doing. Sending all the good vibes to you!

Found my old review, post #22, toward the end of the post.....not a long one, very sketchy. Thought you might like to see our conversation at the time. http://www.bookclubforum.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/7824-pontalbas-2011-reading-list/page-2

Very glad you made it to the Book Fair! That was an excellent thing, going by yourself, Gaia.

Great review, Ruth! I haven't read it yet, but you make me even more determined to do so! Also, Love your review of the Burton book. Sounds like a must-read, for sure.

I read it a couple of years ago, and thought it was nice and twisty. Finished I, Claudius, and probably will go on to Claudius, the God.

As far as I know, B&N books cannot be downloaded to the Kindle. No, I don't have a Nook, but have a Nook app on my iPad. I haven't seen anything that I can't get at the same or cheaper price on Amazon though. Have you investigated Book Bub? I subscribe to their newsletter and have gotten some good deals like that. You can go to their site and choose which genre you are interested in and they'll send various selections from whoever you choose.

Wow. Just Wow! Finished a little while ago. Considering the non-fiction book I read before, I think I've revised my opinion of Livia. Of course I can't find the cursed book at the moment, so will rely on memory. Barrett spoke of two historians, one Suetonius, but the other was, I believe contemporaneous. I wish I could remember which one, but I'll find the book! One of them wrote very disparagingly of Livia, and one supported her. Barrett takes the side of the supporting historian and defends Livia quite strenuously. Barrett chronicles the terrible hardships that Livia and her father and (first) husband (father of Tiberius and Nero Claudius Drusus, known as Germanicus) endured at the hands of Octavian aka Augustus Caesar. Her second husband. I've always had a hard time reconciling the fact of that treatment, and her marriage to the person that was actually her tormentor. I originally read the Graves books back in 1978, and twice subsequently, but not within the last 20 years. However I only read the Barrett book last October. It really drove home how Livia had been treated. So, when I came to page 341 of I. Claudius...the section where Livia explains and confesses to all her crimes to Claudius one statement stood out like a beacon to me. Claudius asked: (page 341-342 or 73%) ""I asked whether she had had no compunction about murdering Augustus and either murdering or banishing so many of his descendants. She said: "I never for a moment forgot whose daughter I was." And that explained a great deal. Livia's father, Claudian, had been proscribed by Augustus after the Battle of Philippi and had committed suicide rather than fall into his hands."" It wasn't just her father Augustus persecuted, he and his soldiers chased her and her young children down, attempting to kill them, Livia was in hiding in bad circumstances for some time. Talk about determined single-minded! No wonder she'd have no children by Octavian/Augustus! It all fits so very neatly. So, to answer one of the question posed, I have to say for her grit and determination, Livia is my favorite character. Not the one most liked, but definitely the most memorable, IMO. Certainly one of the "bad" Claudians, but one has to wonder if she'd been left to her own how she would have turned out. For likability, I'd have to say Claudius's brother Germanicus was the most likable, and the most honest and the very best of the Claudians.

We both have the same problem, Gaia. It's very annoying. It's kind of weird, sometimes the screen seems too sensitive, and then on other occasions not sensitive enough.

Yays!

Fantastic! It just gets better and better as you progress. Highly recommended!

Drat! That isn't fair! Well, you've got a lot on your plate at the moment, but you can always reply to a thread, it'll remain open after the month is over. So, down the road you can comment, if you wish.

Thanks, Anna. I thought the non-fiction one on Livia was a bit dry, and as it turned out, about a third of the book consisted of end notes. Interesting, but.....oy. Re Under the Dome...I really did enjoy it, but I've read that the TV series is different, and not very good. It seems that those that liked the book, dislike the series. Which fits, IMO. lol so I guess I won't be getting the TV series. heh. I think that is a logical view for a child to hold. And as far as singing lyrics that one doesn't agree with, at least to some extent, makes sense as well. I'm not saying that we have to agree and support all songs we sing, but if they go against the grain (so to speak) why would we sing them? I know it's not as cut and dried as that, but that is a basis I think. Ahh, the book was 30% off to begin with, then another 10% for Members. We have a Member Card with Barnes & Noble. So, anything we buy at B&N is automatically at least 10% off to begin with. Twinkletoes is fine now, and has even gotten used to getting the pill. Thanks. Glad you found the thread, I'll go and take a look now. *keep getting this....... "You have posted a message with more emoticons than this community allows. Please reduce the number of emoticons you've added to the message." Am eliminating.......drat!!

I ran across something interesting this morning. http://www.amazon.com/dp/1250062187/ref=pe_385040_30332200_TE_item The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert. I've preordered it in paperback as I thought the hard back too expensive. the PB won't come out till January.. The synopsis from Amazon......"From the author of Field Notes from a Catastrophe, a powerful and important work about the future of the world, blending intellectual and natural history and field reporting into a compelling account of the mass extinction unfolding before our eyes. Over the last half a billion years, there have been five mass extinctions, when the diversity of life on earth suddenly and dramatically contracted. Scientists around the world are currently monitoring the sixth extinction, predicted to be the most devastating extinction event since the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs. This time around, the cataclysm is us. The Sixth Extinction draws on the work of scores of researchers in half a dozen disciplines–geologists who study deep ocean cores, botanists who follow the tree line as it climbs up the Andes, and marine biologists who dive off the Great Barrier Reef. Elizabeth Kolbert, two-time winner of the National Magazine Award and New Yorker writer, accompanies many of these researchers into the field, and introduces you to a dozen species–some already gone, others facing extinction–that are being affected by the sixth extinction. Through these stories, Kolbert provides a moving account of the disappearances occurring all around us and traces the evolution of extinction as concept, from its first articulation by Georges Cuvier in revolutionary Paris up through the present day. The sixth extinction is likely to be mankind's most lasting legacy; as Kolbert observes, it compels us to rethink the fundamental question of what it means to be human." I just thought that anyone interested in the Weisman book might like to take a look at it.

They're gorgeous dogs. Great review, Gaia. Feel much better, very soon!

Oh, misery! Hope it's sorted soon!

This was one of the books on Livia, non-fiction, that I read last year. http://www.amazon.com/Livia-First-Lady-Imperial-Rome/dp/0300102984/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1409714354&sr=1-2&keywords=Livia I'll have to go through and find which (ancient) historian took which side regarding Livia. If I remember correctly, only one of them was contemporaneous. Not absolutely sure on that though. It's interesting that Barrett seems to come down on Livia's side, almost completely. I'm 13% in, and am finding that I remember less than I thought I did! Hah!

Thanks, Devi!

We've just gone through the 7 seasons of Prime Suspect. It's the Jane Tennison series from BBC, not that new, I think it finished in 2006 or 2007. Absolutely wonderful detective show. Helen Mirren plays Jane, and as the series wasn't done every year, it's over a 15 year period or so. Started in 1992 -3 I think. She plays a character that eventually becomes a Superintendent of police. The very first female DCI actually. Great progression, great acting, fantastic stories. Love it, miss it already!

She was. I was lucky to be able to get her, really. I have. Read it last April....review, ......... http://www.bookclubforum.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/12437-pontalbas-2014-reading-list/page-14 I liked it, but didn't love it. I think I must have gotten it through an Amazon preview sort of thing, in fact it was probably one of the free ones I've gotten from Amazon Prime. They send me a choice of 4 ebooks every month for being a Prime Member. The book I was thinking of over on the I, Claudius thread was this one...non-fiction. http://www.amazon.com/Livia-First-Lady-Imperial-Rome/dp/0300102984/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1409713137&sr=1-2&keywords=Livia I read it last October, my review, here. http://www.bookclubforum.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/11186-pontalbas-2013-reading-list/page-22 I know, I love first person! I know a lot of people don't though.

About 13% into my reread of I, Claudius for the September Reading Circle.....I love it even more this time around! It just breezes along! I'd bought a kindle copy as they were on sale a week or two ago. I have the old hardbacks from ages ago though.