Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz

Quo VadisQuo Vadis: “It was close to noon before Petronius came awake, feeling as drained and listless and detached as always.”

Quo Vadis was part of the read-along hosted by Nick at One Catholic Life and, thanks to him, I’ve finally finished this book that I’ve long been meaning to read.  It was truly fascinating to be completely immersed in the Roman Empire under Nero, and Sienkiewicz did an outstanding job of describing it’s grandeur and excesses, it’s beauty and cruelty, in a way that remains with the reader long after he is finished the novel.  Perhaps it’s not surprising that Quo Vadis helped Sienkiewicz win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1905.

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Classics Club Spin #28

Rabbit Spinning

Another day, another spin and I’m in!  I haven’t finished my last spin ….. yet.  I’m still reading through The Merchant of Venice but at least I started and do plan to finish so it’s not a complete fail.  And I’ve discovered a new energy to read some of the books on my Classics Club list.  So a spin is just the thing.  Let’s see what comes up …..

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Greenmantle by John Buchan

GreenmantleGreenmantle: “I had just finished eating breakfast and was filling my pipe when I got Bullivant’s telegram.”

After his harrowing and unexpected adventures in The Thirty-Nine Steps, we find Richard Hannay with his friend, Sandy, convalescing at home from the Battle of Loos, a battle that made up part of the battles of the First World War.  But there are rumblings of a war in the East, a Holy War orchestrated by the Germans and their Turkish allies, that would bring about great unrest and tragedy.  Britain cannot afford distractions and therefore Hannay must penetrate the Eastern regions and discover the truth about the secret rumblings.

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