Meditations (The Barnes & Noble Library of Essential Reading)

Marcus Aurelius

ISBN 10: 076075229X / ISBN 13: 9780760752296

Published by Barnes & Noble, 2003

The item is very worn but is perfectly usable. Signs of wear can include aesthetic issues such as scratches, dents, worn and creased covers, folded page corners and minor liquid stains. All pages and the cover are intact, but the dust cover may be missing. Pages may include moderate to heavy amount of notes and highlighting, but the text is not obscured or unreadable. Page edges may have foxing age related spots and browning . May NOT include discs, access code or other supplemental materials. Seller Inventory # BVV.076075229X.A

Synopsis:

A private book of reflections that is written over a series of years in far-flung places as the author led the Romans in military campaigns, quashed revolts, and dealt with the other tribulations of governing the Empire. Best described as a spiritual journal, it contains a record of the author's philosophical exercises.

Review: One measure, perhaps, of a book's worth, is its intergenerational pliancy: do new readers acquire it and interpret it afresh down through the ages? The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, translated and introduced by Gregory Hays, by that standard, is very worthwhile, indeed. Hays suggests that its most recent incarnation--as a self-help book--is not only valid, but may be close to the author's intent. The book, which Hays calls, fondly, a "haphazard set of notes," is indicative of the role of philosophy among the ancients in that it is "expected to provide a 'design for living.'" And it does, both aphoristically ("Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now take what's left and live it properly.") and rhetorically ("What is it in ourselves that we should prize?"). Whether these, and other entries ("Enough of this wretched, whining monkey life.") sound life-changing or like entries in a teenager's diary is up to the individual reader, as it should be. Hays's introduction, which sketches the life of Marcus Aurelius (emperor of Rome A.D. 161-180) as well as the basic tenets of stoicism, is accessible and jaunty. --H. O'Billovich

Bibliographic Details

Title: Meditations (The Barnes & Noble Library of ...
Publisher: Barnes & Noble
Publication Date: 2003
Binding: Soft cover
Condition: acceptable