Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR’d book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Fiction / Romance / General; Fiction / Historical; Fiction / Christian / Historical; Fiction / Religious; History / Ancient / Rome; ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

QUO VADIS by Henryk Sienkiewicz
Quo Vadis is an 1896 historical novel by Henryk Sienkiewicz. I am specifically reviewing Jeremiah Curtin's translation. In first-century Rome, during the time of Nero, young tribune Marcus Vinicius falls in love with Lygia, daughter of a conquered barbarian king and hostage of the Roman government. As he pursues her, Vinicius begins inadvertently to learn about her Christian faith. Quo Vadis features a number of historical figures, including Emperor Nero, Petronius, Saint Peter and Saint Paul.

Sienkiewicz does a fine job of immersing the reader in the Roman culture of the day, and of developing Vinicius and Petronius, his two main characters. They are well-rounded, and their significant differences in personality contribute to a multidimensional view of the story. Petronius, the clever hedonist, is likeable from page one, but Vinicius is rather unlikeable, and Sienkiewicz does a fine job of changing and evolving the character as the story progresses.

Beyond that, Sienkiewicz's writing has a number of problems. Supporting characters are not nearly as well done - many are one-dimensional. Characters like Ursus and Lygia are astoundingly naïve - at times they seem like small children, and have to be dealt with by other characters as such. Lygia certainly has little going for her other than that she's extremely attractive. Also, Sienkiewicz's foreshadowing is profuse and heavy-handed throughout the novel. The parallels he draws between Nero's corrupt empire and the future Rome-based Catholic Church are similarly overt (but the comparisons between the decadent Roman life and the liberating Christian life are well done).

Pacing is Quo Vadis's biggest flaw. At times, particularly at the beginning, the novel absolutely crawls, and the reader has to put in a great deal of work just to get into the story. Throughout the book, Vinicius does a painful amount of moping and pining after Lygia, often for pages on end. The last hundred or so pages, though, make everything worthwhile - Sienkiewicz generates and maintains a great deal of suspense, and they absolutely fly by.

Perhaps what is most impressive here is Sienkiewicz's treatment of Christians and Christian martyrs. Here we have genuine, committed, upstanding Christians of integrity, who would rather love their enemies than retaliate against unjust persecution. At the same time, they aren't perfect people - some are naïve, some are petty, and so on. Sienkiewicz's handling of their noble, willing deaths is similarly noteworthy.

I have not read any other translations of this novel, nor have I read it in the original Polish, so about Curtin's translation I can only say this: the archaic pronouns thee and thou have (and had) long since passed out of common usage, and whether Curtin used them to make the book feel more period or more epic, I don't know - but their use is annoying.

On the whole, Quo Vadis is an impressive piece of epic historical fiction whose scope and story and treatment of Christianity overcome the author's flaws. It's one of those books that everyone should read once.
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Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
CONTENTSLife and Death:A Hindu LegendIs He the Dearest One?A Legend of the SeaThe CranesThe Judgment of Peter and Paul on Olympus ... Read more

Product Description
Publisher: Philadelphia : H. AltemusNotes: This is an OCR reprint. There may be numerous typos or missing text. There are no illustrations or indexes.When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. You can also preview the book there. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
General Books publication date: 2009Original publication date: 1894Original Publisher: Little, Brown and CompanySubjects: Fiction / GeneralFiction / LiteraryFiction / Short StoriesLiterary Collections / GeneralNotes: This is an OCR reprint. There may be typos or missing text. There are no illustrations or an index.When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. You can also preview the book there. ... Read more

Product Description
Originally published in 1897.This volume from the Cornell University Library's print collections was scanned on an APT BookScan and converted to JPG 2000 format by Kirtas Technologies.All titles scanned cover to cover and pages may include marks notations and other marginalia present in the original volume. ... Read more

Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

Product Description
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
Publisher: J.S. Ogilvie publishing companyPublication date: 1898Notes: This is an OCR reprint. There may be typos or missing text. There are no illustrations or indexes.When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. You can also preview the book there. ... Read more

Product Description
The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Fiction / Action ... Read more