About this title: Translated by Stanley F Conrad. Set around the dawn of Christianity with amazing historical accuracy Quo Vadis? won Sienkiewicz the Nobel Prize. Written nearly a century ago and translated into over 40 languages, Quo Vadis, has been the greatest best-selling novel in the history of literature. Now in a sparkling new translation which restores the original glory and splendour of this masterpiece, W S Kuniczak, the most acclaimed translator of Sienkiewicz in this century, combines his special knowledge of Sienkiewicz's fiction with his own considerable talents as a novelist. An epic saga of ...
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Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Incorporated
Date Published: 2000
ISBN-13:9781577487777ISBN:157748777X
Description: Good. A copy that has been read, but remains in clean condition. All pages are intact, and the cover is intact (including dustcover, if applicable). The spine may show signs of wear. Pages can include limited notes and highlighting, and the copy can include "from the library of" labels. ******PLEASE NOTE****** Orders placed after Dec. 7 cannot be guaranteed delivery before Christmas unless you select EXPEDITED shipping! Thank you & Happy Holidays! read more
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Bantam
Date Published: 1960
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Signed by previous owner. Nice soft cover, lightly read, light shelf wear to cover, slight slant to book, light creases on spine, light aging, stk #2388L7. 503 p. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: The Federal Book Company
Date Published: 1897
Description: Fair. Acceptable, no markings/writing, text is clear & clean, yellowed pages, picture on front cover torn, loose binding, hardcover, copyright 1897. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Incorporated
Date Published: 2000-07-01
ISBN-13:9781577487777ISBN:157748777X
Description: Very Good. This book is in excellent condition with tight solid pages and binding, pages are bright and clean. No names, no marks, no stickers. Very light edge wear. We recommend EXPEDITED MAIL for even faster delivery! Careful packaging and fast shipping. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
""Quo Vadis" is an epic. Set in Rome in the first century, it tells of the love between a young and hansome Roman Tribune named Vinicius and a barbarian princes who is held in Rome as the political hostage hostage of the empire. Living in a Christian household, Lygia has become Christian herself. Vinicius' patron Petronious, a cynical, worldly aestete with great influence in the Imperial Court, suggests that Emperor Nero move her into his palace so that Vinicius might court her more easily. However, the utter decadence and depravity of the Court, culminating with the lewd and drunken advances of Vinicius--is more than her innocence and Christian perspective can bear. She runs away to the fledgling Christian Church of Rome, causing Vinicius, mad with grief, to seek her wildly and at great expense. As he comes closer and closer to finding her, he and Petronius come into contact with Christian ideals, so wildly and intriguingly different from the Roman fascism and hedonism depicted by the story.
Henry Sienkiewicz carefully mixes the dramatic action of his characters with the history of first century Rome, particularly as it concerns Christians. Vinicius is a sympathetic character even when shown in the depth of his brutality and casual sin while Petronius is amusing and witty and even a bit touching in his concern for his ward. Lygia is genuinely conflicted between the dictates of her religion and her love for Vinicius, and though she is appalled and frightened by the unaccustomed evil she encounters at the palace and while on the run, she is strong-willed and clear-headed throughout. Jeremiah Curtin's translation carries the original Polish into dignified and descriptive English; the prose is worth reading for that fact alone.
A stirring tale (almost a "caper") of love, crime, pursuit, and tragedy; a penetrating look into human nobility and human sin; a thoughtful and wrenching exegesis of Christanity; a drama of sacrifice and victory: "Quo Vadis" is a book almost too big to describe. It is both entertaining and deadly serious, and is a book I will return to again, soon."
"It is a shame that this book, which was a best seller when it was published in 1895 and earned the author a Nobel Prize, is so little known today. Sienkiewicz was fastidious in his research and does an amazing job of bringing to life the decadence and excess of Imperial Rome during the time of Nero. The beginning can be a bit tedious because of the Latin names used. The edition I have has a summary list of characters in the back to help keep them straight. The literary quality here is exemplary. This book is on most "Catholic" great read lists and the only issues I had with the book were a couple of instances where the treatment of Peter was much more in line with Catholic tradition than Biblical teaching.
This is certainly not something to pick up for "light" thoughtless reading, but is a compelling story that is definitely worth consideration."
"Near the end of Quo Vadis Petronius (Arbiter) writes a letter in reply to his nephew Vicinius who has fled Rome with his bride, Ligia. In the letter Petronius discusses his philosophy and his fate contrasting it with the Christian belief that Vicinius has accepted. He says:
"There are only two philosophers that I care about, Pyrrho and Anacreon. You know what they stand for. The rest, along with the new Greek schools and all the Roman Stoics, you can have for the price of beans. Truth lives somewhere so high that even the gods can't see it from Olympus."(QV, p. 566)
It is interesting to note that Pyrrho is noted for a philosophy of skepticism that claims the impossibility of knowledge. For him our own ignorance or doubt should induce us to withdraw into ourselves, avoiding the stress and emotion which belong to the contest of vain imaginings. This theory of the impossibility of knowledge suggests a sort of agnosticism and its ethical implications may be compared with the ideal tranquility of the Stoics and Epicureans (who were more popular among Romans). This certainly contrasts with the Christian spiritual view that emphasizes belief in the supernatural. It is a philosophy that, at least for Petronius, lets him face death unequivocally with a sort of stoicism that provides a potent example in opposition to the Christian view. It also is an example of the breadth of beliefs shown by Sienkiewicz in his portrayal of the culture and character of the Roman world.
This contrast of philosophies underlies the novel and made it more interesting to me than the simple love story that it also presents. In Quo Vadis we are presented with an historical novel of depth that shows us the corruption and depravity of Nero's Rome while it presents the worlds of aesthetics and skepticism represented by Petronius and that of the young Christian sect whose believers include Peter and Paul, of biblical fame, and Ligia, the barbarian princess who becomes the focus of young Vicinius' amour. It is perhaps not a coincidence that the nineteenth century had several writers (Bulwer-Lytton, Kingsley, and Wallace) including Sienkiewicz who reacted to the prevalence of anti-christian views among the romantics (Shelley, et. al.). This is seen in the pronounced admiration for the poor Christians and the sensational nature of the culmination of the story involving the Neronic destruction of many of the Christians in terrifically brutal games. In spite of this Sienkiewicz through vivid detail creates a believable historical setting for his love story; and overcoming his biased portrayal of the Christians and the contrast with the irrationality and evil of Nero, he succeeds in telling a moving and thoughtful portrayal of Rome in the first century A.D."
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