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.

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

Thoughtful in small amounts

Very good read.

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!

Brilliant book I love it

What a dreadful reproduction. I purchased because the price was so cheap. The text is so small to be barely legible. The cost was achieved by cramming as much on to one page as was possible so as to minimise the amount of material required. Spend an extra 50p and buy a different version of this book.

Clearly a reason it's still being read and sits on 1000s of table around the world. Just started to read it and it makes sense 2,0000 years after it was written.