Hadrian the Seventh (New York Review Books (Paperback)): Rolfe, Fr., Theroux, Alexander: 9780940322622: Amazon.com: Books

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Frederick Rolfe

Hadrian the Seventh (New York Review Books (Paperback)) Paperback – March 12, 2001

by Fr. Rolfe (Author), Alexander Theroux (Introduction)

98

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One day George Arthur Rose, hack writer and minor priest, discovers that he has been picked to be Pope. He is hardly surprised and not in the least daunted. "The previous English pontiff was Hadrian the Fourth," he declares. "The present English pontiff is Hadrian the Seventh. It pleases Us; and so, by Our own impulse, We command."Hadrian is conceived in the image of his creator, Fr. Rolfe, whose aristocratic pretensions (he called himself Baron Corvo), religious obsession, and anarchic and self-aggrandizing sensibility have made him known as one of the great English eccentrics. Fr. Rolfe endured a lifetime of indignities and disappointments. However, in the hilarious and touching pages of this, his finest novel, he triumphs.

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Print length

424 pages
Language

English
Publisher

NYRB Classics
Publication date

March 12, 2001
Dimensions

4.95 x 1.09 x 7.96 inches
ISBN-10

0940322625
ISBN-13

978-0940322622
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Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Make that Pope Hadrian the Seventh. Rolfe offers up a British pontiff who wants to redesign the crucifix, redecorate the Vatican, and canonize capriciously. Hadrian is a little-disguised version of Rolfe, one of English literature's great eccentrics. This was originally published in the early 1900s.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

It is extraordinarily alive, even though it has been buried for twenty years. Up it rises to confront us…Only a first-rate book escapes its date…The book remains a clear and definite book of our epoch, not to be swept aside.
— D.H. Lawrence

Frederick Rolfe alias Baron Corvo is certainly one of the most fascinating of those various literary curiosities of England.
— Saturday Review

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ NYRB Classics; Revised ed. edition (March 12, 2001)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 424 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0940322625
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0940322622
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 15.3 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4.95 x 1.09 x 7.96 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,239,559 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #9,060 in Fiction Satire
- #27,239 in Classic Literature & Fiction
- #54,422 in Literary Fiction (Books)

Customer Reviews:
98

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Frederick Rolfe
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Customer reviews

3.7 out of 5

98 global ratings

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This 1925 novel seems to predict the 2014 Pope Francis!

Reviewed in the United States on May 19, 2014

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Great story about an "accidental" pope whose iconoclastic behaviors earn him praise ... but also enemies. Who'd have thought a Pope would live simply, lovingly, and unfazed by power and wealth? Well, Frederick Corvo did. This is a riveting novel. And prescient! Very highly recommended.

One person found this helpful

The literary equivalent of outsider art

Reviewed in the United States on March 24, 2001

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There's no denying that Frederic Rolfe--the self-styled Baron Corvo--created something truly one-of-a-kind in memorable with HADRAIN THE SEVENTH, his fantastic account of an embittered marginalized crank being called upon to serve as the first English pope in centuries. In many ways, the bizarrity of this fantasy, and its undeniable stylistic maturity and complexity, make it something akin to "outsider art," the products of painters, fabricworkers and sculptors whose artworks seem a product of insanity or neurosis. The problem with Rolfe's book, however, is that as fascinating as it is intitally the novelty quickly wears off, and then you're left with chapter upon chapter left of Pope Hadrian flouncing through the Vatican making sweeping edicts and then exploring their ramifications upon Jesuitical belief--hardly the stuff of hours of reading delight.

16 people found this helpful

Pontifex Maximus?

Reviewed in the United States on November 4, 2006

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Yes, well, um, quite...This eccentric, dainty, precieuse story really has not much to do with Roman Catholicism or the Papacy...It has almost everything to do with its eccentric, dainty, precieuse author, who certainly was an odd fish--It is his confession, vindication and divine wish-fulfillment all in one. Or was he really all that odd? His is the story of the eminently talented, gifted, sensitive soul left to drift in the world, his talents unappreciated by the vulgar herd, left with only his pride as consolation. He very much resembles Baudelaire's description of the poet whose "great wings prevent him from walking"--And this book encompasses his vision of what he would do could he but fly. But it must be said that this literary flight is, simply put, more odd and curious than grand or tragic or majestic or poetic. It is, like its author, idiosyncratic to the core.

Reading this book, for me, was like rummaging in a linguistic attic, chancing upon a forgotten turn of English or Ancient Greek and smiling wistfully before putting it aside again. Ultimately, this book is, like its author, a curiosity whose "caviare" as D.H. Lawrence puts it on the back cover, can and will be appreciated only by the few with a taste for the peculiar.

16 people found this helpful

Powerful portrayal of suffering faith

Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2018

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You'll need several dictionaries to comprehend the magnificent writing style of the author. A fascinating read with much theological food for thought.

Reviewed in the United States on August 7, 2022

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Got to page 200. I tried, honestly, but life is too short for this. Kept a running list of vocab and arcane words as I read. I appreciate the lesson Mr. Rolfe I really do. But this isn’t ultimately the reason I read novels. On to something with more life, verve! It’s almost like Rolfe was writing only for himself, paying no attention whatsoever to how he might imagine a reader would experience the text…

James C. Casterline

How to fix a church

Reviewed in the United States on October 5, 2014

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This is an interesting, entertaining, well written and improbable novel from 1904. The writer was a failed candidate for priesthood who writes a novel about a fictional failed priest candidate who becomes pope, fixes the church, rewards the deserving, etc. Everything goes well until he is assassinated, oops, spoiler alert. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book but you have to understand the writer and his starting point/ultimate goal. It shouldn't be taken too seriously. I urge the purchase and reading of this book.

3 people found this helpful

teddybear in the kitchen

Reviewed in the United States on October 22, 2014

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one of my all time favorite books and was so very happy to find it on Kindle!

One person found this helpful

Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2015

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One of my favorite gay novels of all time.

One person found this helpful

Top reviews from other countries

k richards

All fine.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 19, 2022

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Fine.

Romain

Racist and horribly written

Reviewed in Germany on December 6, 2021

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If you want a racist book to please english nationalists and catholics extremists you have it. If you like good books, then buy something else.

Kalyan Ray

Interesting

Reviewed in India on March 12, 2019

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Interesting

Joy Overs

Purchased as a gift for a friend

Reviewed in Australia on June 19, 2020

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Receipent very pleased with gift and has been looking for this book for some time thank you

rhpebworth

Strange book!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 21, 2014

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What a strange book! Felt compelled to get into and then finish it. It is easier if the reader has at least a background knowledge of the Catholic church. Hadrian is a somewhat revolutionary modern(ish) Pope, although I found many of his motives somewhat cryptic.There are some very good characters, and on occasion I laughed aloud. But the book still remains something of a mystery to me. The author was, I think, fantasising about how his own life could have been fulfilled given a set of almost impossible circumstances. His style can sometimes be a little convoluted, even obtuse. Fascinating none the less. I've never read anything quite like it.

2 people found this helpful

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