From the Bookshelf of Reading List Completists…

I, Claudius (Claudius, #1)

Robert Graves

Start date: July 1, 2021

Finish date: July 31, 2021

Discussion: Group Reads

Why we're reading this: July 2021 Completest Poll Winner
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What Members Thought

Jul 19, 2021 Matthew rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audio, completist-book-club, audible, 2021, historical-fiction, classic

I need to read up on the background behind this book as I am not sure how much is fiction and how much is just actually history told as a story by a character who lived it. To me, Historical Fiction means a fiction story set in a historical time period and maybe told with real historical figures. In this case I am thinking it is more than that; not really a fictional story at all but could possibly be characterized as non-fiction.

I was fascinated by this story. It is a time period that I am awar ...more

61 likes · Like · see review

Oct 19, 2019 Jason rated it really liked it

Shelves: own

The onerous debauchery and heinously plotted carnage of Roman history told from an endearing perspective with an understated style. There is even humor to be found between the poisonings, beheadings, banishments, and other distasteful embarrassments. It can make an historical fiction fan of even the most grudging.

How about we allow the narrator himself to make the sale:

“I, Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Germanicus This-that-and-the-other (for I shall not trouble you yet with all my titles) who wa

...more

10 likes · Like · see review

Aug 17, 2021 Eileen rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, audiobook, historical-fiction, history, 2021, 2021-ng-group-challenge, conqueryourtba-2021

3.5 stars, rounded up to 4

So I need to start out by saying that history is totally not my thing. And this is definitely a history book. A lot of names and places are mentioned, and many of the people share at least one part of the same name. This is why I always struggled in history growing up. Except my teachers didn't usually make history terribly interesting. At least to me. I always struggled to recall names of people and places, let alone dates (even though I was a math person), so when som 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4

So I need to start out by saying that history is totally not my thing. And this is definitely a history book. A lot of names and places are mentioned, and many of the people share at least one part of the same name. This is why I always struggled in history growing up. Except my teachers didn't usually make history terribly interesting. At least to me. I always struggled to recall names of people and places, let alone dates (even though I was a math person), so when someone asked me how one event led to another, I'd get really confused because I couldn't immediately see the connection.

I definitely needed to use gradesaver to help me keep track of all of the characters because there are a ton of them and many of them have similar names and naturally, I had trouble keeping track. In spite of all of the above, I found Claudius to be a pretty sympathetic character, and there were times when I actually laughed out loud because of something he observed rather dryly. I read up on Claudius and Robert Graves and it seems like he tried to incorporate many historically accurate events and people into his "autobiography" but that he didn't always include all the sources because the sources he tended to favor fit in with the story he wanted to tell. I am not enough of a historian (far from it) to be able to tell the difference, but I will say that despite the fact that I sometimes found my attention wandering or getting completely confused about what was going on (which is why I would have to pause and look up the events for clarification) that I did want to see how Claudius would eventually become emperor, as foretold at the beginning by the oracle. The autobiography is written by Claudius later on in life when he is already emperor, so you know that's how it's going to end, but I wanted to why and how, especially with so many plots and machinations and people dying right and left. Overall, I'm glad I tackled this book, but it will probably be some time before I tackle the next book in this series. My brain can only handle so much history before it needs a break! However, if you are a fan of history and you have not yet read this, you should definitely check it out! ...more

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