I, Claudius

By: Robert Graves

Narrated by: Nelson Runger

Length: 16 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

Here is one of the best historical novels ever written. Lame, stammering Claudius, once a major embarrassment to the imperial family and now emperor of Rome, writes an eyewitness account of the reign of the first four Caesars: the noble Augustus and his cunning wife, Livia; the reptilian Tiberius; the monstrous Caligula; and finally old Claudius himself and his wife, Messalina. Filled with poisonings, betrayal, and shocking excesses, I Claudius is history that rivals the most exciting contemporary fiction.

©1934, 1961 Robert Graves (P)1987 Recorded Books

Great Book

This is a fantastic read. The "auto"biography is very colorful, personal and gave me the feeling I was seeing ancient Rome for the first time. While historical fiction, it is interesting to note the parallels between what was happening then and what is happening in our society today. Degradation, promiscuity, corrupt self-serving government, murder, intrigue, incest, disease...and in the middle of it all poor crippled Claudius, coming out the other side on top of it all.

Mr. Runger does a lively reading. Very easy listen. Perfectly suited to the entertaining content!

Not Quite The Miniseries

The thing that struck me was how different this book is from the miniseries. The TV show gave you the schemes as they happened, putting you in the same room as the players and giving them lots of juicy dialog. The book, however, tells the story from the perspective of an old man narrating things that happened a long time ago while he was on the other side of Rome. As you might expect from this vantage point, the story reads like a history, has little dialogue, and generally tries to put it's speaker in a good light. It's still fascinating, though, and I'll definitely be getting "Claudius the God."

I felt that Nelson Runger did an excellent job with the material.

Favorite Audiobook

Nelson Runger's performance is charming; each character oozes with personality. While Robert Graves took some historical liberties, the story was still strongly based in our historical evidence of the period. I've listened to this five times now, and I still cannot get enough. I highly recommend this book to any fans of Roman history, or just someone with a love of stories with political intrigue.

Usually interesting, sometimes a bit boring.

It was good listening for the most part. There were times when I sort of wished it would be over, but at least I learned a lot about ancient Rome.

Love the content but the performance isn't great.

What did you like best about I, Claudius? What did you like least?

I'm a Classicist so naturally I love this work. I know it's not completely true to the history, but it captures the spirit of Classics so well.

What did you like best about this story?

Everything.

Would you be willing to try another one of Nelson Runger’s performances?

The reading is monotone and there are mispronunciations that really irk me. Every time he says the name Agrippina, I cringe.

Was I, Claudius worth the listening time?

It was hard to listen to because of the performance. It made it seem longer than it is.

Rambling in Rome

Because it enriches the listener about ancient Rome this book is worth a listen (if you are interested in Ancient Rome) but it tends to ramble. Claudis' narriation babbles and seems to dwell on his handicaps rather than move the story along.

Poor editing

Borders audio has no excuse for not matching the book chapters with the audio version. Poor editing or no editing at all. Nelson Runger did a fair job of narrating but was very monotone. The book read like a history book but I would have to say I found it very interesting. Considering it was one of the first historical fictions ever written I would say it was worth the time to read.

Felt like I was there

I found this fascinating and so well done I felt like I was there. Made me want to study Roman history.

Should have gotten the Derek Jacobi version

What did you like best about I, Claudius? What did you like least?

Though Nelson Runger has a beautiful, resonant voice, he wasn't a good choice to narrate this book. I wish I had gotten the version narrated by Derek Jacobi, who is one of the most brilliant actors of all time and I'm sure did a better job handling the language. An abridged version with a brilliant narrator is light years better than an unabridged version with the wrong narrator.

Would you be willing to try another book from Robert Graves? Why or why not?

Probably not.

What didn’t you like about Nelson Runger’s performance?

Nelson Runger doesn't distinguish between various characters. Quite often I couldn't distinguish between Claudius' narration, Claudius speaking to another character, or any other characters speaking, for that matter. As a result, I was often confused, lost my place in the narrative, and got bored. There are times when his delivery is very stilted, which is frustrating because it's not simple language -- this book needed a more versatile and skilled narrator.

Could you see I, Claudius being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Already been done.

I loved this book!

I'm not a fan of fiction and generally avoid it, but this is such a great historical novel, I couldn't stop listening. Some folks said they had trouble keeping the characters straight, but if you're familiar with Roman history, you won't have much difficulty. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!