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Hadrian the Seventh
The 100 Best Novels
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Week 37 - Hadrian the Seventh by Frederick Rolfe
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Never heard of the book or Frederick Rolphe, I'll check out the links.
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I'll do the same Pink!
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Pink wrote: "Never heard of the book or Frederick Rolphe, I'll check out the links."Me neither!
Leslie wrote: "Pink wrote: "Never heard of the book or Frederick Rolphe, I'll check out the links."Me neither!"
Me neither!
And another person whose not heard of this book or author. I have to admit, reading the blurb it's probably not going to make it on to the tbr.
Pink wrote: "Never heard of the book or Frederick Rolphe, I'll check out the links."Ditto times 3.
Heather, I agree. I can't say that it appeals to me and seems a rather random inclusion on this list. Maybe we're all missing out on a masterpiece.
Some of the choices seem strange to me to include in a 100 best novels list. This is one; there are others, too, which greatly surprise me being on such a list, but I won't mention them here so we don't get into an off-topic squabble (which we probably would, for example, if I said that I wouldn't put Little Women even on the list of the best 10,000 novels).
@Everyman, yes that probably wouldn't be a popular comment, lots of people love Little Woman on here!!
I think the key thing to remember is that this is this one journalists personal choice which is why there are a few differences compared to the usual top 100 book lists
I think the key thing to remember is that this is this one journalists personal choice which is why there are a few differences compared to the usual top 100 book lists
from the article:
Frederick Rolfe, who also styled himself "Baron Corvo" (and sometimes gave his full name as Frederick William Serafino Austin Lewis Mary Rolfe), is one of the strangest fish in the exotic aquarium of Edwardian literature. His masterpiece, Hadrian the Seventh, is both a book of its epoch – orchidaceous, eccentric and weirdly obsessive, some would say mad – as well as being, in DH Lawrence's summary, "the book of a man-demon".
read the full article here
more on Frederick Rolfe here