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Marco Aurelio. Guerrero, Filósofo, Emperador (2000)

by Frank McLynn(Favorite Author)

3.67 of 5 Votes: 2

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

La esfera de los libros

review 1: Frank McLynn is an author that is unfamiliar to me, but seems to divide opinion. People either enjoy this book or loathe him and/or his writing style. Before I delve into that, I will say that book is meaty and very comprehensive. I appreciated the attention to detail, but Marcus Aurelius: A Life is a commitment and is not a light 250 page biography you might expect or even want. For one thing, McLynn often likes to give the reader a wide scope on Marcus Aurelius. So he spends a couple chapters talking about Hadrian and Antoninus Pius which both had an influence on Marcus. He spends a chapter talking about his son Commodus as well. McLynn talks about the history of Romans vs. the barbarians and even the earliest days of Christianity and the resulting persecution. T... morehese diversions may aggravate some readers, but for those who truly want to know about Marcus Aurelius and the time he lived in, they are well worth it.For my tastes, the two or three chapters about Meditations by Aurelius were not all that enjoyable to read. The same can be said about the end of the book where the author almost seems like a modern Plutarch as he tries to find any kind of historical or philosophical figure who relates to Marcus Aurelius. Both of these sections are dry and a little difficult to get through. The author has a subtle British sense of humor which was nice, but his vocabulary is massive and he rarely chooses simple and direct wording. I think the biggest thing that McLynn does that leads to his somewhat negative reputation is his tendency to make extreme or dismissive statements. He is particularly harsh to Hadrian in this book which certainly offends some people. The author also makes claims that are foolish and he doesn't support (most likely because he cannot). For example, he claims that Marcus Aurelius was maybe the only emperor to not kill someone who spoke poorly of him when Nero did this quite often in the early part of his reign. It is certainly remarkable that Marcus Aurelius was so tolerant and forgiving, but if this idea was reframed and made a little less extreme, it would serve the author much better.Ultimately, Marcus Aurelius: A Life is best for anyone interested in learning more about both the man and the times he lived in. This book will appeal to anyone who has read a bit about Roman History and doesn't mind reading both good and bad parts of a long, detailed, and at times, challenging book.
review 2: This was a difficult book to rate.The sections that were actually about Marcus Aurelius were very good. However, there were way too many instances where the author got off topic and it dragged on and on and on.Out of 19 chapters, two were devoted to the author's own personal views on Marcus Aurelius' beliefs and philosophies. I don't find that necessary. (You're writing a biography. Just stick to the facts. Nobody cares about your opinions and personal beliefs.)One chapter focussed entirely on Marcus' son when he took over as emperor after the death of Aurelius.Another chapter was devoted to Aurelius' effect on the philosophical world up to the present time.And within many of the other chapters, he compares between Marcus and his times to past emperors, events and times for perspective. However, these comparisons went on for page after page after page.This work could easily have been cut in half. But I give it a decent rating since the actual biographical portion that dealt with the facts of Marcus Aurelius the man, the emperor and the philosopher was quite good. less

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