Sarah Bradford’s Lucrezia Borgia: Life, Love and Death in Renaissance Italy.
Begin: 03/7/07
End: 03/14/07
Quality: Seven Out of Ten.
Reason: Unread.
Genre: Historical Biography.
Original Language: English.
Date of Publication: 2005
Fog Index:21.3/2% are harded.
Flesch Index: 31.8/20% are harder.
Flesch-Kincaid Index: 17.4/3% are harder.
Complex Words: 19%/31% have more.
Number: First.
I randomly bought this a few weeks ago at Harvard Book Store. It was a completely random purchase. I won’t say that I am disappointed but in hindsight, it probably wasn’t a good purchase. I really should try and restrict the books that I buy to stuff I am going to want to read again and again.
That being said, I enjoyed it. It was hard to get into at first but it eventually picked up. The main problem is that I felt that Bradford had much too high a expectation of her readers. I had an extremely difficult time keeping up with the vast array of characters which she introduced us to at an astonishing rate. She did have a few genealogical tables in the beginning as well as a list of characters, but even with all those helpful guides, it was pretty tough.
I really grew to like Lucrezia. I never got the sense that this book really gave me any full understanding of her but it certainly made for an interesting read and did flesh her out a little bit for me. It really was a fascinating look at early renaissance society and the culture of the Vatican at the time. I would like to read more about this period and about people in the biography.
A couple of others things which I would like to point out.
I was a little shocked at the amount of esteem Lucrezia was held in by the men in her lives, powerful men.
I am okay with Popes being hypocrites. I am okay with Popes having sex. I am even okay with Popes acting more like a despot than a religious leader. I draw the line at Popes with venereal diseases.
The relationship between Lucrezia and Alfonso D’Este is almost sweet. They really loved each other in a time when that didn’t really happen. I mean they both had their other affairs but they really had almost a modern relationship.
The Catholic Church is just fucked up!
I randomly bought this a few weeks ago at Harvard Book Store. It was a completely random purchase. I won’t say that I am disappointed but in hindsight, it probably wasn’t a good purchase. I really should try and restrict the books that I buy to stuff I am going to want to read again and again.
That being said, I enjoyed it. It was hard to get into at first but it eventually picked up. The main problem is that I felt that Bradford had much too high a expectation of her readers. I had an extremely difficult time keeping up with the vast array of characters which she introduced us to at an astonishing rate. She did have a few genealogical tables in the beginning as well as a list of characters, but even with all those helpful guides, it was pretty tough.
I really grew to like Lucrezia. I never got the sense that this book really gave me any full understanding of her but it certainly made for an interesting read and did flesh her out a little bit for me. It really was a fascinating look at early renaissance society and the culture of the Vatican at the time. I would like to read more about this period and about people in the biography.
A couple of others things which I would like to point out.
I was a little shocked at the amount of esteem Lucrezia was held in by the men in her lives, powerful men.
I am okay with Popes being hypocrites. I am okay with Popes having sex. I am even okay with Popes acting more like a despot than a religious leader. I draw the line at Popes with venereal diseases.
The relationship between Lucrezia and Alfonso D’Este is almost sweet. They really loved each other in a time when that didn’t really happen. I mean they both had their other affairs but they really had almost a modern relationship.
The Catholic Church is just fucked up!
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