A lot of history packed into a short novel.
This fictional biography portrays Julius Caesar as a brilliant military leader and strategist.
In his debut novel, Paone casts himself as a high school Latin teacher forced into early retirement by declining interest in his subject. He moves to Rome and, in a scene reminiscent of Indiana Jones, discovers a hidden trove of scrolls from Caesar’s time. He uses the scrolls to write an account of the final years of Caesar’s life, starting with his rise to military power and subsequent civil war against Pompey the Great. The story begins in earnest with Caesar’s arrival in the famed city of Alexandria in 48 B.C.: “It is the center of all Greek learning, with its fabulous library and academy where scholars from all over the world study, discuss everything, and write books.” The Alexandrians present Caesar with the severed head of his enemy Pompey, but rather than gaining his admiration, the greeting repulses him. He takes Cleopatra’s side in the war between brother and sister for the throne of Egypt. While under siege in Alexandria, the two rulers begin a love affair and lifelong friendship, engaging in intellectual debates and strategizing how to expand their power. Caesar also befriends two Chinese scholars, who show him a new weapon and tell him tantalizing stories about the Far East. (In an intriguing subplot, after hearing about Caesar, operatives of the Chinese emperor hatch a bizarre scheme to topple him.) Paone relies heavily on dialogue to provide historical context and explain the complex relationships among the many characters, which tends to bog down the action. Occasionally putting modern terms—e.g., “weirdo” and “bookworm”—into the mouths of ancients seems anachronistic. Regardless, Caesar truly comes to life on the battlefield; at the battles of the Nile and Zela, he brilliantly outmaneuvers his enemies. After Caesar returns to Rome, a group of conspirators plot against him. Cicero, portrayed as a self-serving ditherer, is the most interesting of the bunch, but he enters the book too late to fully develop as the story rushes on to Caesar’s well-known ending.
A lot of history packed into a short novel.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-0974636696
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Belmar Publications
Review Posted Online: Nov. 6, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
Coelho's placebo has racked up impressive sales in Brazil and Europe. Americans should flock to it like gulls.
Coelho is a Brazilian writer with four books to his credit. Following Diary of a Magus (1992—not reviewed) came this book, published in Brazil in 1988: it's an interdenominational, transcendental, inspirational fable—in other words, a bag of wind.
The story is about a youth empowered to follow his dream. Santiago is an Andalusian shepherd boy who learns through a dream of a treasure in the Egyptian pyramids. An old man, the king of Salem, the first of various spiritual guides, tells the boy that he has discovered his destiny: "to realize one's destiny is a person's only real obligation." So Santiago sells his sheep, sails to Tangier, is tricked out of his money, regains it through hard work, crosses the desert with a caravan, stops at an oasis long enough to fall in love, escapes from warring tribesmen by performing a miracle, reaches the pyramids, and eventually gets both the gold and the girl. Along the way he meets an Englishman who describes the Soul of the World; the desert woman Fatima, who teaches him the Language of the World; and an alchemist who says, "Listen to your heart" A message clings like ivy to every encounter; everyone, but everyone, has to put in their two cents' worth, from the crystal merchant to the camel driver ("concentrate always on the present, you'll be a happy man"). The absence of characterization and overall blandness suggest authorship by a committee of self-improvement pundits—a far cry from Saint- Exupery's The Little Prince: that flagship of the genre was a genuine charmer because it clearly derived from a quirky, individual sensibility.
Coelho's placebo has racked up impressive sales in Brazil and Europe. Americans should flock to it like gulls.Pub Date: July 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-06-250217-4
Page Count: 192
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1993
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
