DD 186-190.999 (Tony) Meditations by Marcus Aurelius (188 Mar)

For those of you familiar with my quest to read through the Dewey Decimal system, I sometimes give up on the hard books and follow through to an easier book. I'm well read, but easy to bore. The book I tried to read for this section of the Dewey D. System was similar to a conversation with Frasier Crane. It's insightful, border-line entertaining, filled with high culture references and once it's done, you still haven't a clue what he was talking about. Before completing 'Meditations", I completed, for this project, 'The Analects" of Confusius. Meditations has a lot of similiarities to that earlier work. So many, it was flat out weird that 2 men from two different cultures, religions, and eras, could have works survive hundreds of years and be so similar.
Here's what I noticed was the same.
1. Like the Bible, both works are made up of books. Since they are all "supposed" to be written by one lone man, or written by a disciple of their, the books are numbered.
2. Each book is full of self observations, quotes from others, and stories.

Well, enough of that, there is more, but I want to hit on a couple of differences too. The main difference is the introduction. For those of you who've read the reveiw on 'Analects', you'd recall how weak and boring I though the intro was. The author of Confusius' introduction should really read 'Mediatations' intro take notes and make a revision. The intro was more back story into Marcus' life, and a reveiw of what's to come in the book. It is not a review of multitudes of excerpts reviewed before one has a chance to read what the heck is going on.
But unlike 'Analects', this book is less an instruction book and more like a diary, or journal. Or even a Poor Richards Almanac filled with ole' tyme remidies, quotes, tips on what to do in the areas of philosophy, religion, and life in general. I reminds me of the 995 thingies, I wanted to type up and tape to my dorm room freshman year to seem witty, eccentric, and sophisticated. (I gave up after posting only 27 thingies, because I realized I am neither witty, eccentric or sophisticated- and I ran out of typrwriter ribbon.)
Some of this work is very in your face and brash. Especially the parts about sex. It might unsettle you with this frank talk or disgust you enough to not want to eat- think of it as One Emperor- NO Cup! (EWWW)