The Reading Room

I will try to keep up with what I am reading here.

Sunday, June 26, 2016

#20, Quo Vadis, by Henryk Sienkiewicz

Having read so many modern novels in which short declarative sentences are de rigeur, I grew impatient early on with the slow development in this book. The setting is Nero's Rome, the main characters love to write long, florid letters to each other, and descriptive passages linger over details. However, I made myself stick with it, and I found it worth the effort. I don't think this is a spoiler, but, just in case **SPOILER ALERT** once Rome began burning, the pace picked up significantly. The decadence of Imperial Rome is on full display, from bloody spectacles in the arenas to rampant political backstabbing to sycophantish courtiers to sybaritic feasts ending orgiastically. Over against this is set the chaste and simple Christian faith, and, indeed, one is shown the appeal this new faith held for a world weary of oppression and vice. Add the Apostle Peter, Paul of Tarsus, lovers threatened by the jealously of Nero's wife Poppaea and the mad whim's of Nero himself, and you've got yourself a story! If you are looking for a book to spend some time with, dig out this classic.