OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS Dialogues and Essays

An absolute wealth of knowledge and practical life advice. This book can be analyzed and reanalyzed for potentially hundreds of hours if one really wants to. If you are already familiar with Seneca, don't hesitate to pick this up. Newcomers should probably start with the renowned "Letters from a Stoic."

I purchased this book as I am a fan of the Stoics, but this book is very unique. It is written as an examination of the self in a much different age. Seneca was not as popular as the other Stoics, but upon reading his work you can see a deep analysis of the human mind and how it acts and reacts. Some parts can easily adapt to 21st century. For me Seneca is a true genius on uncovering our mind. Two chapters, "On anger" and "The tranquility of the mind" are fascinating and very helpful. For anyone looking to understand what the Stoics thought, and why it is very relevant today, you need to see this book. His style is a little different than other Stoics, but easy to read.

Seneca writes not just to our rationality but to our sensibilities and emotions when he attempts to guide the reader away from the mundane everyday vices and worries through vivid but clear points. It is no coincidence that Christian scholars borrowed much from stoic thought as it cultivated a respectable individual, one not devoid of faults, but one who aims to master himself. Stoicism was the self-help, pep-talking, and mindset coaching of the ancient world and its teachings are of the same relevancy of today as it was then. Whatever profession you are in and seek to hone with a sound mindset, or if you're looking for easy-to-read and pleasurable non-fiction literature; this is a sure buy for your library and your life. Timeless.

It is with some trepidation I write a review for a book that is 2000 years old. I suspect that Seneca's writings will exist far longer than even Amazon will exist! (Makes me think what will happen to all these reviews? Will historians study them in the year 3000?). It would be foolish of me to attempt to criticize Seneca or add some analysis that far more qualified readers would be better at writing. So I will confine myself to the extras this edition has and what it was like for a non-classicist to read this book. The introduction by Tobias Reinhardt was superb. It gave a clear background and insight to Seneca and his work. I found the section on his literary style particularly revealing. I think all of Seneca's works can be down loaded for free so an excellent introduction is a necessity to justify paying for the book. The other extra is the explanatory notes at the back. These were useful, informative and easy to find. These were great for a reader like myself who has no formal learning in Classics. As for the quality of translation by John Davie I could not comment but the translation was certainly very readable. As for the process of reading the book it was quite hard work. This is not due to Seneca's style which is very clear and readable. It is more that he covers big topics that provoke much thought. After 5 or 10 pages of reading I would be quite tired. As a result the book took weeks for me to finish. On the occasions I attempted to read it when feeling very tired I soon gave up - nothing was going in! But I wouldn't want this to put anyone off from reading the book. Despite it being a bit hard work, the work impacted me. It every so subtly changed how I saw, felt and thought about the world, God, myself, life, death. As I said - all the biggies. This makes it worth the effort. Finally, if this your first foray into the world of Seneca then the Letters (Letters from a Stoic: Epistulae Morales Ad Lucilium) might be a better place to start. They are amazing but being shorter I found them easier to digest.

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