Doomed Love (Penguin Great Loves) [Mass Market Paperback]

Virgil (Author)

Book Description

Series: Penguin Great Loves | Publication Date: December 18, 2007

Love can be surprising. Love can be heartbreaking. Love can be an art. But love is the singular emotion that all humans rely on most . . . and crave endlessly, no matter what the cost. United by this theme of love, the nine titles in the Penguin Great Loves collection include tales of blissful and all- encompassing, doomed and tragic, erotic and absurd, seductive and adulterous, innocent and murderous love. A deeply moving addition to the Penguin Great Ideas and Great Journeys series, each gorgeously packaged book will challenge all expectations of love while celebrating the beauty of its existence.

All books in this series: Cures for Love
Doomed Love
The Eaten Heart
First Love
Forbidden Fruit
The Kreutzer Sonata
A Mere Interlude
Of Mistresses, Tigresses and Other Conquests
The Seducer's Diary

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Publius Vergilius Maro (70--19BC), known as Virgil, was born in Mantua in the last days of the Roman Republic. In his comparatively short life he became the supreme poet of his age, whose work, the Aeneid, gave Rome a great national epic equal to the Greeks', celebrating the city's origins and the creation of its empire. In addition to this he was also the author of the Eclogues and the Georgics.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (December 18, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0141034785
• ISBN-13: 978-0141034782
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5.7 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #716,092 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars When Gods intervene..., June 5, 2008

By 

Mitsuki Shiroi - See all my reviews

This review is from: Doomed Love (Penguin Great Loves) (Mass Market Paperback)

DOOMED LOVE is a story of Gods, the fall of Troy and a love that just couldn't be because it wasn't meant to be in the destiny of Aeneas and Dido.

The book is four parts in total: the first one tells how Trojan hero Aeneas escapes from the sacking of Troy and makes his way to Italy. During the voyage that lasted six years, a storm drives him to Carthage, where he meets the queen, Dido.

The second part is where Aeneas recounts the fall from Troy to where he landed now. Under the influence of the Gods, Dido falls deeply in love with him.

The third part tells more about Dido's love for Aeneas. Juno seizes this oppertunity to make a deal with Venus (Aeneas' mother) to distract Aeneas from his true destiny (which is to start Rome). During a storm, Dido and Aeneas presumably sleep together, an event that Dido takes to indicate a marriage between them.

The final part is about Aeneas choosing the destiny that awaits him, leaving Dido heartbroken until she chooses her own end.

It's a dramatic love, doomed from the very start, but while it's short, it was definitely powerful. DOOMED LOVE is a short read, a mere 130 pages, but it instantly hooks you to the very end.

If you liked DOOMED LOVE, I'd definitely recommend for you to read more Virgil.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Just Read The Aeneid, January 25, 2009

By 

Sashasaurus (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Doomed Love (Penguin Great Loves) (Mass Market Paperback)

This book is the first half of Virgil's The Aeneid. You're better off investing the time in that classic so that you can continue reading the final six books through the rest of the adventure: yes, it is worth the time. Great taste of Greco-Roman myth and legend. If you're only interested in this book for a love story than use this for inspiration to continue reading: sometimes it is not as easy as just loving someone. Sometimes, things of greater cause and meaning can interfere with even the most pre-destined of loves.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars If You Like Shakespeare This Could Be For You, April 16, 2009

By 

kirsten tapp (New Zealand) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Doomed Love (Penguin Great Loves) (Mass Market Paperback)

It's a short book that would be idea for people who enjoy reading Shakespeare or even perhaps Jane Austen. Taking through the story of the Trojan Horse but from a different perspective gives you the tortured love with some action thrown in