Sub rosa librorum

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 i...

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance Robert M. Pirsig This is a difficult review to write. I have started twice and both times found my mind walking multiple paths and selecting none. This is the third attempt. Part of the reason, why this is difficult, is that the book has at least four interwoven narratives. There’s the road trip. There’s the life of Phaedrus. The father-son relationship. And the story of Quality. These narratives intertwine, one becomes a metaphor for the other, merge and separate again. Admittedly, the fame and influence of the book derived from the narrative of Quality, but should that be the one to review? Or should all four be reviewed? Should you choose to pick up the book, please allow me to give you two warnings. First, it’s no quick read. At times, I was captivated, turning page after page into the wee hours of the night. At others, while remaining a good read, it slowed down to the point where I had days, perhaps as much as a week betw...