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dee9401's review against another edition
3.0
This is a wonderful reference for Pliny the Elder's Natural History and Pliny the Younger's letters. I enjoyed many of the tidbits the author brought up throughout the book. The bibliography at the end, as well as the end notes, are very valuable. My only problem with the book is that it read more like an afternoon on Wikipedia than a coherently laid out book. I didn't find the organization of the material useful and felt like I was bopping around too much. A straight out chronological approach also would have been bad, to be honest, but I wonder if there were some other way to organize the material? I will easily refer to this book in the future, and treat it like a reference that I pull down to find one thing and then put back on the shelf. I'm very happy to have read it.
As for two specific items of note (out of many), Pliny the Elder nails it when he wrote "If fire, war and general collapse did not lead to the destruction of the world, then he believed that man’s greed would" (Natural History 2.207). And, as I love the Iliad and Odyssey, I liked Pliny the Younger's view of Odysseus: "He liked to remember how Odysseus stood as stiff as a skittle in the Iliad, but when he ‘spoke from his big chest his words were like the snowflakes of winter, and no other mortal could then rival Odysseus'" (Pliny the Younger's Letters, 1.20-2).
As for two specific items of note (out of many), Pliny the Elder nails it when he wrote "If fire, war and general collapse did not lead to the destruction of the world, then he believed that man’s greed would" (Natural History 2.207). And, as I love the Iliad and Odyssey, I liked Pliny the Younger's view of Odysseus: "He liked to remember how Odysseus stood as stiff as a skittle in the Iliad, but when he ‘spoke from his big chest his words were like the snowflakes of winter, and no other mortal could then rival Odysseus'" (Pliny the Younger's Letters, 1.20-2).
heatherday916's review against another edition
4.0
And interesting book but took me forever to get through. Kept losing interest, perhaps because the author clearly assumes the reader has an understanding of the history of the time. I don’t have a strong understanding, which is one of the things that drew me to this book - the desire to learn more about something about which I knew very little. I did learn, but was frequently having to re-read or reference other materials to learn about the times or other people referenced. But I did learn, and the book was well written and engaging. It would have been helpful to have the timeline printed at the end of the book in the beginning instead. But I’m nitpicking now.
picadillette's review against another edition
3.0
Daisy Dunn seems to strive to get to personally know Pliny the Younger. Interesting exploration and overview of the lives of both the Elder and the Younger, most informative to me for the picture it builds of everyday life for a member of the roman upper class. Definitely piques my interest to explore more, especially when you start to draw the parallels between Rome in 85 AD and the US in the last 50 years or so. Lots of exploration of Pliny's views on various topics of the day (health, natural beauty, best way to spend the day). Favorite quote from PLY - "When we are well, we should strive to be the sort of men we vowed to be in the future when we were unwell"
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