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methylblue 's review for:
The Consolation of Philosophy
by Boethius
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Creating a fanfiction like this might be reprehensible under different circumstances, but I think we can forgive Boethius, the man who was imprisoned for a year or so before he was put to death, for trying to jab away at the despair he must have felt during those days. The beggining of the work is touching, as the hopeless narrator encounters his savior, Lady Philosophy, he tells her how and why he got there and how all the evils of the world came down upon him. It all feels very human and quite touching to be honest. I say the work merits a read on this count and for its combination of poetry and philosophy, this is the last work of the ancients after all. Then we get into the arguments for the rest of the book. I can't say I'm convinced, the conceptions adopted by the ancients are too alien to our contemporary nature. Or rather, they become so when overly analysed and used in formal arguments. At times this felt painfully scholastic, I'm not sure if there is any actual relation, but it felt just as annoying. All in all, I would not be in a hurry to recommend this book to anyone. I would say that for someone wanting to read philosophy there are far more important works to tackle than this. Eh, still kinda glad I read it.