A Good Book I Didn't Finish

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Meditations


Marcus Aurelius


In order to eat an apple, first pick up the apple. Then bring your hand, with the apple still in it, to your mouth. Open your jaws wide, put the apple between your open jaws and press them closed, thereby biting off a piece of the apple. Now remove your hand, with the rest of the apple, from your mouth …

Would you read a book like that? More precisely, how long would you read a book like that for?
The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius is a rare one in my experience. First, I seldom leave a book unfinished. Very seldom. Second, I’ve never done it to a good book. But here you have it, a good book that I’m leaving unfinished.

I agree with nearly everything that is written in the book. Which is why I find it tedious. I read about 15% of it word by word, then a further 15% skimming. Then from 30% I made two almost random jumps to about 2/3 of the way through and to about the final 10% of the book, just to check for any changes. There were none in tone, style or content.

The message of the book (spoiler alert!) in three sentences:
  1. Be good, don’t be vain or evil!
  2. You are mortal and everything around you is in permanent change.
  3. Suppress your emotions, always follow the path of reason.

For the second review in a row, I find myself writing “too many words to convey a point”. The words are well chosen, precise. Observations are acute and to the point. It’s just that I know all this. More than that, I aspire to practice all this and have for a long time. Just like you know how to eat an apple, without having to read about it, page after page after page.

If you want to know, how to lead a decent human life – here it is, in a not too thick a book. No narrative, just simple directions. Do this. Don’t do that. It’s a manual. Just don't expect to fall off your chair.


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