About this title: Boethius composed the De Consolatione Philosophiae in the sixth century AD whilst awaiting death under torture, condemned on a charge of treason which he protested was manifestly unjust. Though a convinced Christian, in detailing the true end of life which is the soul's knowledge of God, he consoled himself not with Christian precepts but with ...
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Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Date Published: 2000-03-30
ISBN-13:9780192838834ISBN:0192838830
Description: Good. All books in Acceptable-Good condition. Books may NOT include Online Access Codes (InfoTrac, MyEconLab). Books MAY contain highliting/bent pages. We ship M-F. read more
Binding: PAPERBACK
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN-13:9780192838834ISBN:0192838830
Description: Good. 0192838830 US STUDENT EDITION. BOOK IS A GOOD CONDITION. WILL SHIP WITHIN 24 HOURS WITH DELIVERY CONFORMATION AND TRACKING NUMBER. read more
Description: Very Good. New Ed. 2000 Paperback. Orders usually ship on or before next business day. May have highlighting. We send best copy available. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Date Published: 2000-03-30
ISBN-13:9780192838834ISBN:0192838830
Description: Good. Excellent customer service. May ship from alternate location depending on your zip code and availability. Satisfaction guaranteed! ! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Date Published: 2000-03-30
ISBN-13:9780192838834ISBN:0192838830
Description: New. New Book. Excellent customer service. May ship from alternate location depending on your zip code and availability. Satisfaction guaranteed! ! read more
"I listened to this as an audiobook. (from librivox.org - free, volunteer driven, public domain audiobooks)
The book itself: I rather enjoyed this text. Boethius' use of Platonic dialogue as the vehicle for is philosophical points, intermixed with solid classical poetry (that served to reinforce/illuminate points just made) was refreshing and interesting.
That he is exploring themes of justice and free will make the book still relevant philosophically. Also, he spends much time on the good way to live, and it was interesting to see how his well thought out postulations match with modern (well thought out) conceptions of the right life.
The audiobook: This book featured a variety of narrators (as many of librivox's audiobooks do) and many were quite good and no one was unlistenable (which is key). Many of the readers sounded British which was fun, because for me it added an air of sophistication to the text which was appropriate and, well, I'm generally a sucker for accents.
""It is a sad business, and I am prompted to sing."
Boethius, an imperial official in the waning days of Rome, wrote this book to console himself when he was a political prisoner under Theodoric the Ostrogoth - so it isn't exactly a book you'd expect to be brimming with relevance. However, for readers living through their own middle ages, it definitely proffers a kind of curious comfort. Boethius begins with a poem recounting how in his "salad days" he was rich and "whimsical Fortune smiled for a little while, but then she turned away ... and my bitter life drags out its long unwanted days." This is the timeless tune of philosophical melancholy.
The book is composed as a serious, at time exhaustive, conversation between the prisoner and his Lady Philosophy. Many years ago Paul Piehler published an elegant study of medieval allegory entitled The Visionary Landscape, and argued that allegory "offers its readers participation in a process of psychic redemption closely resembling modern psychotherapy. This process typically includes the phases of crisis, confession, comprehension and transformation." For post-Jungians like me, Boethius's personification of Philosophy also evokes the writings of James Hillmann.
C S Lewis (in The Discarded Image - another excellent, obscure little book) wrote of this book, "Until about two hundred years ago it would have been hard to find an educated man in any European country who did not love it." Unfortunately, for me, even with my sympathies for Hillmann and Owen Barfield (and Lewis the medievalist), the book was a dud. It begins in fear, deepens into mystery, but finally dissipates itself in theological abstractions only a Schoolman could love.
I'm giving it 3 stars, 2 because it's such an unusual book and worth reading for its curiosity alone; 1 star for this new translation by David R. Slavitt. I read it 20 years ago in the Penguin version; Slavitt's is fresh and luminescent by comparison."
"Too many things to understand, and too many things to get confused...would we find the true happiness at last? Or would we understand and accept eventually that "Process itself is reward"?"
"I read this as required reading for a medieval literature class. Amazing. It is truly the last classic work of philosophy and a wonderful book for anyone who struggles with the problem of evil. It may not answer all your questions but will certainly shed some light on perhaps some truth that you knew but just could never put into words. The poetry, allusions, and historicity of the work is fantastic. One of my top five."
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