I, Claudius

Thoughts about this book?

Cheap middlebrow fanfiction, laughable to think they were venerating this a few years ago and discussing the prospect of introducing this into English classrooms

What's a book that does something similar but better?

Augustus by John Williams

Entertaining political intrigue and details about Roman life.

It's 100% plot though, only the episode with the demonically possessed house got an emotional reaction out of me. The sequel, Claudius the God, just sent me to sleep. It's a blow-by-blow account of what Claudius did as emperor and is really dry and boring.

How much better is it? A roman era historical novel by John Williams sounds interesting.

It's really good. I don't know how accurate it is but I thought it was entertaining. Claudius would have been a shitposting god

It's considered to be his best work. I'd recommend it.

I want to read it, despite fpbp being correct.

Hi Alex

Thought it was fucking hysterical, and good middlebrow fiction. Nothing particularly profound, but an enjoyable read.

...

>not watching tv adaptation

agree

Terrible piece of literature. Also very boring and a waste of time if you want to learn roman history when you could read Tacitus who is more entertaining and a better writer.

or Suetonius, who is writing salacious slander anyways.

It's a great deal of fun, and it's well written enough. Probably best for young boys.

its a wonderful read. he manages to create deeply human characters like he did with Stoner but builds those characters out of history

The second one is better with the lulz with Mesalina

I'm interested in checking him out, but I've heard that reading his stuff in Latin can be a pain. Did you read him in Latin, and if so, how was it? If you read a translation, which one do you suggest?

I read the Michael Grant translation and didn't have any problem with it but I don't know how it compares to other translations.

It's a realistic game of thrones but for people who aren't desperately retarded

>It's 100% plot though,
But that's a good thing if the plot is interesting

ah alright, I'll check it out. Thanks!

"Then exaggerate your limp, stammer deliberately, sham sickness frequently, let your wits wander, jerk your head, and twitch with your hands on all public or semi-public occasions. If you could see as much as I can see you would know that this was your only hope of safety and eventual glory."

Great for kids.

Is there a realistic game of thrones for people who are desperately retarded?

Retards Guide to the War of the Roses

Historical fiction and science fiction are two genres I simply refuse to touch. Absolute pleb tier garbage.

what do you fucking read then? instruction manuals?

"Im not a masscult-midcult brainlet because e-magazines (I added an e- because I assume you're 16 and read tiger beat online) told me how not to be!" That's you, that's how you sound

Haven't read it yet, but Graves did great translations

Set a lot of precedents for historical fiction as a genre and Graves gets points for copying Claudius's writing but overall it reads more like a textbopl than a story. I recommend Robert Harris's Cicero trilogy as an alternative

An excellent depiction of how a roman would think and write. I found it pretty entertaining, though others are right in that it's mostly plot.

Got about 60 pages in and had desire to read any further, mostly for reasons others have elucidated above. I liked the part were he caught the baby wolf falling from the sky though.

I Claudius is one audiobook I revisit constantly, usually after another finishes and I toss it on to occupy the time. But I was curious about how much of it ,if anything,was "true". And what sources Robert Graves used to write it.