Cleopatra

by Carlo Maria Franzero

Genres: Ancient

Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1960

Reviews

[Mohsen]

کشش داستانی زیادی نداشت ولی تا خب به صورت نسبتا سرگرم‌کننده‌ای از تاریخ رم و مصر باستان اشنا می‌شویم

[Shahrzad Khajeheian · Rating 3 out of 5]

داستان زندگی آخرین فرعون مصر، کلئوپاترا، زنی زیرک، زیبا و جاه‌طلب، معشوقه‌ی سزار و آنتونی که از هیچ تلاشی برای رساندن پسرش "سزاریون" به فرماندهی رم فروگذار نکرد.

[Realini Ionescu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cleopatra by Carlo Maria Franzero was a source of inspiration for the motion picture that has won four Academy Awards, for cinematography (and it was mentioned color, since it was not such an old thing back in 1963) special effects, costumes and art direction…it was nominated for Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role for Rex Harrison as Julius Caesar, notwithstanding that, this is not the best feature you can watch – to look for better choices, you could visit my blogs, where I have more than five thousand notes on flics from The New York Times’ Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made site, novels from The Greatest Books of All Time and other lists https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20...



7 out of 10

Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton have been famous, married, they used to be the replicas of say Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, together and then divorced in both cases, tumultuous personalities and the most famous couples of their time

They have given audiences some monumental performances, in one case, they did it together https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... in the sublime

- Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf

Richard Burton has been an inspiration for this cinephile, his deep voice seemed to be the most impressive ever, his roles were overwhelming, even when the film was not formidable, like the Medusa Touch
We saw the latter with our Jewish-German friend, Marius, who used to bring movies from Germany, when we lived under the Ceausescu regime, and his translations were funny, he speaks about ten languages, but he speaks slowly

https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... Becket was outstanding - still is actually – and the duo Richard Burton and Peter O’Toole have been among the best ever
it seems they used to drink enormous quantities of alcohol, but then they are magicians on the screen think of this example https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20...

- Lawrence of Arabia is one of the top five, best ever

Alas, Cleopatra is not even in the same category, never mind if it is one of the best, it is not even good, a case where you have a wonderful cast, almost all the ingredients, including a lavish production with a gigantic budget
William Goldman explains in his fantastic book Adventures in The Screen Trade https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... that you never know what will work

Finally, there is another Elizabeth Taylor, almost unknown, that I rather prefer to the thespian – thiough the latter was also fantastic in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and A Place in The Sun, to mention just these two – divine author of Angel
https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... a novel that is not famous, albeit it is included in The 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read and Magister Kingsley Amis said this
“Angel Elizabeth Taylor powerful story, triumphant narrative skill, a wonderful eye and unfailing humor, though not of the 'robust' nor of the ‘savage' variety, often delightfully catty. But importance is not important. Good writing is.”

Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – I am on Goodreads as Realini Ionescu, at least for the moment, if I keep on expressing my views on Orange Woland aka TACO, it may be a short-lived presence
Also, maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the benefits from it, other than the exercise per se

There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...

Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works

‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’

[Huỳnh Huy · Rating 3 out of 5]

sách mang tính thông tin nhiều hơn là đi vào chiều sâu nhân vật.

[Marija · Rating 1 out of 5]

Poor attempt of presenting the attractiveness of huge historical figures in important historical event and their seductive technics. Ofc this is sarcastic review, the real review is don’t waste your time- this is the first book that is worse than the movie, in my opinion of course. Watch the movie though.

[Jovana Vesper · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well, even though this book is generally published with a picture from 1963 movie of the same name it has nothing to do with it. Such epic, magnificent and larger than life historical story should never be written like this. While reading it I had a feeling of watching a B production movie on fast forward.

[AndrewP · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cheesy novelization of the movie.