Huh. I always meant to read Claudius the God since I enjoyed I, Claudius so much and find Graves such a fascinating figure.

...might skip it now. Thanks for the heads-up. Was the adaptation of I, Claudius good?

The adaptation was fantastic.

Small scale as it's almost all filmed on sets. No crowd scenes. But the acting is the absolute best of British theater acting and the writing is superb. Streamlined from the books as it always has to be. But all the important stuff is there. That they could adapt Claudius the God in only three episodes tells you everything you need to know about how much important stuff was in the book.

Quite honestly, I'd say for the casual reader who enjoyed the first book to skip the second book and just watch the last three episodes of the adaptation if you want to know what happens in it.

Haven't read them for a long time but neither dragged for me.

I wonder if Graves intended the Herod bits to lead up to King Jesus? That's an extraordinary book, far more ambitious than the Claudius ones.

Many, MANY years ago, I got a wonderful book called The Gay Book of Days by Martin Greif. It had small essays on historical figures who were/might have been LGBTQ+. I've always remembered his essay on Robert Graves. Apparently, Graves once said that his novels were his dog-and-pony show and were intended to maintain his cat, which was poetry. That might have some bearing on the common observation that Claudius the God is 99% stuffing.

I think I, Claudius is the better of the two, but I really like them both.

Could be. In which case I wish that he'd put it in a separate book called I, Herod. Because, for me, all it does it clutter up the second book.

I'll have to Google King Jesus.

Sad to say that I didn't know he was a poet. If he weren't the writer of I, Claudius --- and had BBC not done that adaptation --- I doubt I'd even know of him.

Glad you did. Wish I did. But after this second reading I am quite sure that I don't.

I’ve heard that the sopranos was based on at least the first book, including some characters’ names. Any truth to this?

I'm just happy to see I, Claudius talked about. One of the best books ever written in the English language.

I thought Claudius, the God was okay but didn't live up to I, Claudius.

I read them both a long time ago, and agree with the fully. I, Claudius was one of the most engaging books I can remember reading. Seems weird to cal it a ‘page turner’ considering the topic but I couldn’t put it down. Claudius the God was a bit of a slog, and could’ve been several hundred pages shorter.

Never watched The Sopranos. Just scrolled through the cast list:

Livia -- evil matriarch who would do anything to put her blood in power. Does that seem like Livia Soprano?

It's been a while since I read them, but I don't agree with that assessment. I, Claudius is dense and often exciting but it can sometimes feel like a long list of things that happened. Claudius the God is paced a lot more slowly (often too slowly) but it allots it subjects more room to breathe. It works more as a character study. The ending represents a satisfying and genuinely affecting conclusion to Claudius's own character arc.

I would say that my biggest problem with both books is that our understanding of Roman history and how and why it was written has evolved a lot since the thirties, and it really shows, particularly with the characterisations of women like Livia and Messalina. I can't attribute that to Graves, though.

Now, if you see what a truly tedious Robert Graves novel looks like, read Count Belisarius...

No thanks. Claudius the God was more tedious than I care to experience again in pleasure reading. Don't need more. But if Graves wrote more books like I, Claudius that could be something I'd be interested in.

I listened to both audiobooks, I really enjoyed both of them. If I had to listen to one again, I would choose I, Claudius. But it always feels like the first book in any series has more heart.

So, Robert Graves is my favorite author, and I just read Claudius the God a couple days ago.

I think both of them were fantastic, but I Claudius is one of those 6/5 books for me, while Claudius the God was just 5/5. What makes the books absolutely incredible is Graves' prose, as well as the great narration that Claudius provides.

But, he's obviously more incisive (intentionally, I presume) about characters other than himself, which makes the first book, where he's less actually in the spotlight, more interesting from a content perspective.

Anyway, that's my two cents on the matter, but I agree that I Claudius was the stronger

I whole heartedly agree. I loved the series on TV when I was a kid. I read the books 20 years later and loved I, Claudius as much as the series.

Then I got so bored reading Claudius the God that I stopped. Much like the series, once Claudius is emperor, the story loses it's way and just kind of goes out with a whimper.

I’m ridiculously happy that someone else loves I Claudius.

Now, isn't that strange, I rather enjoyed Count Belisarius, but battled with 'Wife to Mr Milton'. And as for 'The White Goddess' - I struggled. But it was worth it.

'I keep my dog, prose, in order to feed my cat, poetry' is the exact quote - I always thought it was great. Thank you for reminding me.

You've never read Good-Bye to all That? The best WW1 book ever. It is because I read that book so often (decades ago) that I read the Claudius books, White Goddess, etc.
None as good as Good-Bye, imo.

No, only Graves I've read are the two Claudius books. And read those because the adaptation was so great that I wanted to read the source material.

Looks like a number of people do. So far it's got unanimous approval on this thread.

I really enjoyed Goodbye to All that, but felt there might be more to the story than was related.

Graves' prose is great. I agree.

It's his content that I didn't like.

I tried I, Claudius and found it unreadably mannered and pretentious. I think perhaps I may have been unfair to it, but it was such a letdown after Goodbye To All That, which is a genuinely extraordinary work and beautifully written.

The prose of Goodbye To All That is poetic, clear and immediate in how it anchors us in a vivid impression of time and place. It is also frequently funny.

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>"Nor had I any illusions about Algernon Charles Swinburne, who often used to stop my perambulator when he met it on Nurses' Walk,at the edge of Wimbledon Common, and pat me on the head and kiss me; he was an inveterate pram-stopper and kisser. Nurses' Walk lay between The Pines, Putney (where he lived with Watts-Dunton) and the Rose and Crown public house, where he went for his daily pint of beer; Watts-Dunton allowed him tuppence for it and no more. I did not know Swinburne was a poet, but I knew he was a public menace."

I really enjoyed Count Belisarius! Maybe I'm odd

I'm currently reading I, Claudius and it's just one of those books you can't put down. To think I'd initially tossed it cause "I couldn't get into it".

Reading the book and watching the BBC series concurrently makes for the best experience IMO.

The BBC adaptation for I, Claudius has Herod as a frequent character. The book didn't have Herod but I understand they took that bit from Claudius the God possibly.

I haven't seen the BBC series yet, I need to get around to that.

Definitely not lol