Over the years, I have heard about this book many times. Most recently it was from Ryan Holiday. He raves about how this book (and this translation in particular) changed his life. I finally decided to give it a go.
Essentially it is the thoughts of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius. It was never meant to be published. He used it to think through things and remind himself of the kind of man he wanted to be. It reads mainly as a kind of list of aphorisms.
This book is unique. It is a glimpse into the thinking of an actual Roman Emperor. But I just couldn’t get through it. It was interesting, but very repetitive. I also appreciated the translator’s introduction and how it gave context. It really made the writing accessible to the modern reader. Maybe too accessible. It didn’t sound that surprising or out of the ordinary. That’s part of what made it so amazing and so dull. About three-quarters of the way through the book, I just couldn’t bring myself to pick it up any more and abandoned it.
My rating: 3/5
