tegeus-Cromis
a better poet than swordsman
- Joined
- May 17, 2019
- Messages
- 1,343
This is a weird one. My dad had it in a French translation, which is how I read it. I don't know if there ever was an English translation. It was definitely by an Italian author. The book was not very recent when I read it, so I'd guess the original was published in Italy sometime in the '60s or '70s.
Plot, as much of it as I can remember: modern-day Italian man is obsessed with ancient Rome. Somehow he is granted (I forget by what kind of supernatural being) his wish to live there. His consciousness will be transferred into the body of an ancient Roman. He will be able to live a whole life there, and return to the present upon his death. Only condition is, his death must be natural. If he commits suicide, he will not return to the present -- just perish.
He wakes up in the body of a twenty-something Roman patrician, who had been deathly ill. Essentially, his mind took over the Roman's body at the moment the Roman would have died. It takes him a long time to recover and to learn who he is -- everyone thinks that his near-death experience caused total amnesia. There will only be one woman, later -- his lover -- who figures out that he's someone else...
I forget much of the rest of the book, but remember something of the ending. Somehow he gets involved in a plot (?) against the Emperor, and when they are caught, the Emperor orders him to commit suicide. Yet he knows he can't do that, because then he won't be able to return to the present. I forget how exactly he gets out of this bind.
Plot, as much of it as I can remember: modern-day Italian man is obsessed with ancient Rome. Somehow he is granted (I forget by what kind of supernatural being) his wish to live there. His consciousness will be transferred into the body of an ancient Roman. He will be able to live a whole life there, and return to the present upon his death. Only condition is, his death must be natural. If he commits suicide, he will not return to the present -- just perish.
He wakes up in the body of a twenty-something Roman patrician, who had been deathly ill. Essentially, his mind took over the Roman's body at the moment the Roman would have died. It takes him a long time to recover and to learn who he is -- everyone thinks that his near-death experience caused total amnesia. There will only be one woman, later -- his lover -- who figures out that he's someone else...
I forget much of the rest of the book, but remember something of the ending. Somehow he gets involved in a plot (?) against the Emperor, and when they are caught, the Emperor orders him to commit suicide. Yet he knows he can't do that, because then he won't be able to return to the present. I forget how exactly he gets out of this bind.
