Rating: 
Summary: Incredibly Rewarding
Review: Many people are disappointed with Stoicism, calling it emotionally narrow and unsatisfying. Indeed, it seems ridiculous to us now, when kissing our mother or spouse so say to ourselves "I am only kissing a human being", so if those people die, we will not be attached to them, and therefore feel no loss. This is what Epictetus, the man through whose Discourses Marcus Aurelius learned the principles of Stoicism, advised one to do in his Handbook.
That being said, I feel that there are few works that have ever been more rewarding for me to read. The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius are amazing on two levels. The first is that of a philosophical doctrine, the level on which it is usually considered. The Meditations can be seen as sort of a run-on of the Epictetian brand of Stoicism, which is different in many aspects from early Greek Stoicism. If one (for the most part) likes what Epictetus has to say in the Handbook, but doesn't really feel like sitting through the Discourses, Marcus Aurelius is a nice alternative.
The second level is that of a personal struggle. Most people don't admit it, but the reason that Marcus Aurelius stays with the reader more than Epictetus does is because in Marcus Aurelius the reader sees a man with an enormous amount of power in his hands wrestling with himself, trying not only to do his job correctly, but live correctly as well.
The Meditations are very intimate, and could be considered a sort of philosophical diary, but for some reason, they never really get this treatment from readers.
I would recommend this not only to students of philosophy, but to students of Roman history and political science as well. How many times in history do we have a written account of what it takes to be a good emperor? Most of all, however, I would recommend this to anyone struggling to find inner peace, not that I'm suggesting that it should be taken in a dogmatic manner, but at the very least, a troubled mind will find a companion in Marcus Aurelius.
As for the translation, I have not seen another that even comes close. This book is worth every cent of the price and much much more.
Rating:
Summary: A classic for more than a thousand years
Review: Here was a man who had probably double the power of any modern American president and some, yet thought it was almost impossible to be a good man and a powerful/rich one. Someone (I think it was Swift but I'm probably wrong) who was described as the first pagan Christian Roman emperor. Actually I think he was just an intelligent man who, being born into politics and family turmoil, realised the shortcomings and responsibilities of being in the first family. He also needed something to confide in. I like it, I have problems agreeing with everything but sometimes I like to copy the style in evaluating my own life, who to thank, what to learn from etc.
Rating:
Summary: Best translation of this classic
Review: This is my favorite translation of the meditations, an opinion further solidified yesterday when I went to the book store to get a last-minute graduation gift for a young man, and all they had was "The Emperor's Handbook" by the Hicks brothers. It was good, but I think it lacked the manliness and concise clarity of the Hays translation. I have not read the original Greek, (trying to learn some now!), so I'm no authority, but I imagine this is how a man like Marcus Aurelius might write to himself in this circumstance.As for the greatness of the original work itself, all I can add to the other fine reviews here are two quotes I have always loved from Clifton Fadiman's "The Lifetime Reading Plan": ". . . during the last ten years of his life, by the light of a campfire, resting by the remote Danube after a wearisome day of marching or battle, he set down in Greek his Meditations, addressed only to himself but by good fortune now the property of us all," and, "Through the years The Golden Book of Marcus Aurelius, as it has been called, has been read by vast numbers of men and women. They have thought of it not as a classic but as a well spring of consolation and inspiration. It is one of the few books that seem to have helped men directly and immediately to live better, to bear with greater dignity and fortitude the burden of being merely human. Aristotle one studies. Marcus Aurelius men take to their hearts."
|
