I’m introducing a new feature to this blog–reviews of books I’ve read. This will be an irregular feature since (1) books vary in length, and (2) I may not review every book I read. I will also continue to blog weekly on topics helpful to beginning writers.
For these book reviews, I’ll use a 5 tier rating system. Since I am Poseidon’s Scribe, I’ll summon seahorses to help me, as follows:
5 Seahorses – among the best books I’ve ever read. I plan to re-read this book. Most strongly recommended. Although I don’t have a quota, I anticipate using this less than 10% of the time.
4 Seahorses – A really good read. Maybe a minor deficiency or two. Definitely recommended. I anticipate using this at least 35% of the time.
3 Seahorses – A fine book, but it’s got some weaknesses that detracted from my enjoyment. Recommended, but only if you like the genre or subject, or other books by that author. I anticipate using this about 30% of the time.
2 Seahorses – A book of rather low quality, with major flaws. I read to the end, but do not recommend it to others. I anticipate using this about 20% of the time.
1 Seahorse – A bad book. The book had such a poor beginning that I couldn’t finish it. Definitely not recommended. I anticipate using this about 5% of the time.
This week I finished Socrates: A Man for Our Times, by Paul Johnson, in the audio book format put out by Recorded Books, as narrated by John Curless. Johnson apparently used what original sources are available to portray Socrates as the man he was in the city of Athens at the time. That is, the book gives a good description of what it would be like to be there, walking Athenian streets and conversing with the philosopher. His message is that Socrates was a man so connected with Athens, who so loved that city-state, it was inconceivable for him to leave it, even to avoid a death sentence.
Johnson gives us a portrait of Socrates with personality traits I’d never read about before. For example, it’s well known he asked a lot of questions. I didn’t know how genuinely interested he was in other people’s jobs. Apparently Socrates learned a lot about many occupations by questioning people. Further, we all know how annoying persistent question-askers can be. However, it seems Socrates had a knack for making his constant queries without making others angry. He had a disarming charm and wit that made him someone others wanted to talk to.
Plato does not escape scorn in this book, as the man from whom we know the most about Socrates, but a man who inserted his own views and blatantly tried passing them off as Socrates’ own.
The book vividly illustrates the background leading up to the trial of Socrates, in a manner that explains how the tolerant city of Athens, of all places, could bring the survival of the greatest philosopher up to a vote at all. The poignancy of the man’s death itself is well described, including the sorrows of his followers and the nobility of Socrates himself, and the manner in which he rationalizes acceptance of the punishment in a way consistent with his philosophy.
The book is logically laid out and the prose easy to read, which is not always true for books about philosophers. The narration by John Curless is very well done.
My only criticism is that the title led me to expect a different book. I anticipated more discussion relating Socrates’ philosophy to our time. There was some, to be sure, since Socrates explored timeless questions of human nature, but the book did not develop the connections with our modern day as much as I expected.
I give it a rating of 4 seahorses and definitely recommend it. That’s it–the first blogged book review by…
Poseidon’s Scribe
