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The Glory of the Empire
The Glory of the Empire: A Novel, a History | Jean D'Ormesson
4 posts | 2 to read
The Glory of the Empire is the rich and absorbing history of an extraordinary empire, at one point a rival to Rome. Rulers such as Basil the Great of Onessa, who founded the Empire but whose treacherous ways made him a byword for infamy, and the romantic Alexis the bastard, who dallied in the fleshpots of Egypt, studied Taoism and Buddhism, returned to save the Empire from civil war, and then retired to learn to die, come alive in The Glory of the Empire, along with generals, politicians, prophets, scoundrels, and others. Jean dOrmesson also goes into the daily life of the Empire, its popular customs, and its contribution to the arts and the sciences, which, as he demonstrates, exercised an influence on the world as a whole, from the East to the West, and whose repercussions are still felt today. But it is all fiction, a thought experiment worthy of Jorge Luis Borges, and in the end The Glory of the Empire emerges as a great shimmering mirage, filling us with wonder even as it makes us wonder at the fugitive nature of power and the meaning of history itself.
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KVanRead
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#150PnPCoverParty Did you know that the Empire in an #EmpireWaist was Napoleon‘s? According to this blog post I found it was “a reflection of the values of the new French state: simple fabrics and lines were far more egalitarian than complex court dress, their unrestrictive shapes were literally liberating, and the overall look was evocative of ancient Athens, where Democracy was born.” (Link in comments.) @CrowCAH @LeahBergen

tournevis This was, of course, an illusion of equally, since Bonaparte's Code Civil from 1804, stripped women of most of the property and legal rights they had enjoyed for three centuries under the Ancien Regime, which were considerable, placing them on par with other European women, in other words, by erasing women's legal personalities to basically nothing. 6y
LeahBergen I always rather liked the idea that this style harkened back to Grecian fashion. 6y
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KVanRead @tournevis Nice! In that case I‘ll keep my corset and my legal rights and they can put there Empire waists you know where!😳 6y
CrowCAH Ow that is sooo interesting; thanks for sharing!!! 6y
KVanRead @CrowCAH You bet!😊 6y
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vivastory
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A quick library run.

saresmoore The Glory of the Empire sounds AWESOME! 7y
vivastory @saresmoore it really does. Nyrb never disappoints. Today I ordered 7y
saresmoore @vivastory Hooray! That will be an exceptional buddy read, I think. 7y
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vivastory @saresmoore Agreed. I've been wanting to read jansson ever since you raved about her. 7y
saresmoore Spoiler: There's more raving to come via a certain podcast. Haha! I probably should've picked some books I hadn't already gushed over. 7y
LeahBergen @saresmoore I heard about the podcast and I'm soooo excited! 😍 Shhhh! 7y
LeahBergen @vivastory Mine is waiting on my shelf! 7y
vivastory @saresmoore I'm really looking forward to the podcast! @LeahBergen Will this be your first Jansson? 7y
LeahBergen It will be my first adult Jansson. I read some of the Moomin books as a kid. 7y
batsy Oh, Margaret the First! I want so much to read that. Look forward to your thoughts. 7y
vivastory @batsy It sounds great. I'm really looking forward to it. 7y
Aluciddreamstate @vivastory you will love delicious foods. One of my favorites. 7y
vivastory @Aluciddreamstate It's been on my tbr for awhile, i forgot about it until i read a list on electric lit of creepy corporations 7y
55 likes13 comments
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Jessicav
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Has anyone read this? It might be my new obsession. A novel, written as though it were a history of an imaginary empire with fake bibliographic sources and everything. My history degree is packed away in a box somewhere but my love for it is not.

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JWoollen
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"Historians" cited include J. R. R. Tolkien, Marcel Pagnol, and Marguerite Yourcenar, so I'm in.

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