Meditations Paperback – 16 Feb. 2012

I am reviewing the paperback edition (2011) of Marcus Aurelius' Meditations in the Oxford World's Classics edition, translated by Robin Hard with an introduction by Christopher Gill. I do not understand the one-star reviews that appear to have become attched to this edition of the Meditations. Those reviews and the images associated with a few of them must be referring to a completely different edition, and not the one I have in front of me that I reently purchased via Amazon.The Oxford World 's Classics edition (2011) is about as close to a perfect edition as you can get as a general reader. The translation is modern and fluent. There are no gobbledygook mistranslations as mentioned in some of the reviews. Robin Hard's translation of the Meditations is based on the the recent text by J. Dalfen (Leipzig, 2nd edn.,1987) while following the earlier translation by A S L Farquharson (Oxford, 1944) here and there. It reads consistently well, with no inappropriate modern slang or grammatical errors. It is a solid and clear text. The 18-page introduction by Christopher Gill is excellent in my view, particularly where it focuses on the form, purpose and style of the book, Marcus's philosophy, and the book's core ideas and recurrent themes. The selection of letters between Marcus and Fronto is also judicious and useful in fleshing out other aspects of Marcus Aurelius's character and thought. The 30-pages of explanatory notes and the index at the end of the book are also very helpful.So, all in all, I am entitely satisfied with this edition. I was simnply amazed to see the negative reviews, and felt prompted to provide this review to put the record straight as far as this specific edtion goes. As I said earier, those negative reviews must be referring to other editions of the Meditations and not to this specific one. This paperback edition Is 176 pages of clear, erudite and thoughtful work. if you want an edition that gives you just what you need to start reading and appreciating Marcus Aurelius's Meditations then this one - the 2011 Oxford Wolrd's Classics by Robin Hard and Christoper Gill - would be a very good place to start. And at the price I paid (£5.76), I am very pleased with it.

A classic (literally) collection of self expression thoughts that can provide a grounded foundation for living and life in general

There is no concession to making sense of archaic utterances and grammar. But having tussled with the neditations, one mainly thinks “ Yes. I find tha worthwhile and mildly illuminating.”

Quote: When thou art troubled about anything, thou hast forgotten this, that all things happen according to the universal nature; and forgotten this, that a man’s wrongful act is nothing to thee;

It's perhaps churlish to pick fault in this as it's for free. This is, however, a transfer from an 1893 translation of Marcus Aurelius and therefore the language is a little old-fashioned for modern readers. The 'thees' and 'thous' make for a rather turgid read and tends to give a rather 'Victorian Values' feel to the whole enterprise. The introduction by a Victorian scholar has great curiosity value and is perhaps indicative of how empire was viewed a century ago. I doubt a modern scholar would be quite so dismissive of the 'rude barbarians' on the borders of the empire. These free Kindle editions of ancient authors, though, are a great way to sample these works before forking out cash on more modern translations.As to Marcus Aurelius himself, well he's everyone's favourite Roman philosopher-emperor!

Although it reads like someone's journal (because it was) and the points in each of the somewhat unnecessary chapters are largely disconnected with each other, the actual content within these short aphorisms is sublime. I see some decrying this as a jumbled mess of a philosophic work but it was never intended as a treatise; Aurelius wrote it for his own personal consumption, a collection of his personal viewpoints on topics such as metaphysics and ethics. More to the point, what he wrote was beautiful, practical stoic philosophy as applicable now as it was ~1800 years ago, with the obvious exception of his religion. I find the similarities between his type of stoic thought and the philosophy of the Taoists and Buddhists both compelling and strong yet he remains firmly within a Roman set.This isn't an organised discourse or a philosophic novel to get lost in; more metaphysics in bite sized chunks, but it is well worth a read. I read it in a succession of bus journeys to and from work, and there was something very profound and "right" about that in itself!Definitely recommended, though I concede its not the be all and end all work of the stoic thinkers

Even in the introduction, most of the sentences don't make sense - peppered with words that you'd expect a machine translation to provide instead of a proper translator. But it gets really bizarre in the text itself. In the very first paragraph of Book I is this gem:"Of my mom I actually have located to be non secular, and bountiful; and to forbear, not most effective to do, but to mean any evil; to content myself with a spare eating regimen, and to fly all such greater as is incidental to terrific wealth."It doesn't get any better. Regrettably I didn't start reading the book until a few weeks after purchase, so no chance to refund. My only comfort is to leave this review instead.

Love it!

The annotations of Marcus Aurelius himself...If you don't have any regards to the moral question of reading the private journal of a man who lived roughly two millenia ago (like other millions of people), than this is most definitely a great read.But don't worry, just like how grave robbing isn't immoral if the grave is older than 100 years old (the current official consensus in the US, provided that some legal requirements are met), reading someone's private journal from millenia ago certainly isn't, specially due to the fact that this wasn't any man... He was Marcus Aurelius, I'm not going to go over details, it's not like I need to, specially since you are reading reviews for this book, that is, if you are indeed still reading this, if you are... Thank you.Anyway, to the actual review:A short "book", good casual read, or else, a book you can go through in mere days (or hours, depending on your time/dedication/read speed).With that said, I do recommend that you instead, read just a little bit of it a day, and don't rush it. Take your time, digest it well, appreciate the book.These are the words, the... Meditations, of the wisest emperor of the mighty Roman Empire.His name, reverenced and respected to this day as the benign, wise ruler, an example, a legacy of the stoic philosophy.Now that I'm done praising him and stating things you already knew, proceeding to the review (don't you eye-roll on me, keep reading).The book, wasn't written as a concise piece. Again. They are annotations that Marcus Aurelius made through his meditations, so don't expect it to have a progressive continuous feel to it, another reason for you not to read it all at once or in big chunks.Take your time, enjoy the book, read it piece by piece, day by day, digest it well, ponder upon what you've read and learn.Mark the parts you felt were important so you can revisit it, this is the kind of book you'll find yourself consulting again in trying times, or times when you just need a good reread or some wisdom of the wise thinkers of old. (I swear I'll stop using the word wise, it's almost over).I highly suggest... No, I demand that you also read Seneca's letters from a stoic.It's a book that's more consistent, since it is... well... the letters written by a stoic (Seneca) (to his friend, dear Lucillius), it can also (must) be read in small, digestible portions, letter by letter, go read my review on it, it's more objective and better than thisnone, I promise.Live a good life, have a great day.

The modern translation is amazing, I already read the “original” one and this is great to understand some concepts inside. I recommend it!

Awesome

A good edition at a great price!

I am very happy with this book! Go for it, fingerprint publishing, book with gold lining makes it more awesome. Although translation can be a bit difficult to understand because it follows the early Greek dilect of English.