100 Books Like Marius the Epicurean

This book has become so familiar to us through cartoons and movies that we often forget how very weird it is as a piece of writing. The book begins when Alice, bored of her sister’s company, notices a white rabbit muttering to itself “Oh dear! Oh dear!”, and starts to become curious—not, mind you, because talking rabbits are impossible, but only because they are so very intriguing.

The rest of the book shares this bemused tone: Alice will be subjected to all sorts of indignities, including a near-beheading, but as a “good” Victorian girl, she will generally accept the bizarre reality that is presented to her. Carroll’s mastery of language is key to this effect. Nearly every character sounds sensible, turning well-formed logical sentences, but they never make much actual sense, and their speeches are riddled with so many puns, double meanings, and other linguistic tricks that one can never… show more.

The first time I read this book, I was baffled. In the second chapter, we get introduced to the main character by being told that “he has a leg”—the “leg of the born cavalier,” a “burning leg,” the “leg that smiles, that winks, is obsequious to you, yet perforce of beauty self-satisfied.”

Clearly, this is no ordinary leg, but Meredith is no ordinary novelist. Skeptics claim that Meredith’s style is arch, theatrical, self-indulgent, and pompous—not unlike the central character of this book, a clueless narcissist named Willoughby who seeks to dominate everyone around him.

But I have since come to appreciate how Meredith draws on the full resources of the language to undercut anything (or anyone) that he deems insincere and artificial, blending the intensity of poetry with the exuberance of prose to create a style both versatile and original.  

Today, Thackeray is best remembered for Vanity Fair, but many of his fellow writers—including Anthony Trollope and later Virginia Woolf—thought Henry Esmond was his best book. The story itself can be hard to appreciate, delving into the intricacies of eighteenth-century politics. George Eliot called it “the most uncomfortable book you can imagine” because the hero ends up marrying his mother (figure).

The real charm of the book lies in its style, which is a painstaking pastiche of English in the age of Queen Anne. Thackeray insisted that the first edition be published using an eighteenth-century font to ensure the illusion was complete. Peppered with appearances by real historical figures (such as the poet Jonathan Swift), Henry Esmond set a new standard for the historical novel in English and paved the way for the parodies of later periods. 

When I first came across this story by William Morris, I didn’t think it was Victorian at all. The language and tone are archaically medieval, as are the plot points involving daggers and dwarves. And yet Morris was very much a nineteenth-century writer insofar as he shared that period’s interest in foreign times and places, including the historical past.

While Thackeray liked the eighteenth century, Morris was obsessed with the Middle Ages, and this book represents an attempt to adapt the style and spirit of chivalric romances to the form of the modern novel. The resulting work, by turns dreamy and gripping, set the template for future novels of “fantasy” (such as The Lord of the Rings), and still provides a fascinating way of escaping to—and from—the nineteenth century.  

This book not only provides excellent texts of early Stoicism, but also provides texts of Epicureanism, and Scepticism, the other dominant philosophies at the time, and thus places Stoicism in the context of the time.

The Roman poet Horace was influenced by Epicurean ideas and they often feature in his work. This book forms a nice introduction to Horace and his works, with carefully chosen selections in both English and the original Latin. Horace might not be the first place that someone curious about Epicureanism would look, but he’s well worth reading, both in his own right and as a Epicurean author. 

Each chapter in this book wrestles with central themes of Hellenistic Philosophy, which includes Stoicism, but also Epicureanism and Skepticism. The essays are wonderfully written, and deal with pressing eternal problems, such as the political significance of anger, and the nature and pitfalls of physical pleasure. Dr. Nussbaum relates the Stoics and other Hellenistic philosophers to pressing contemporary issues and concerns.

Perhaps I’m cheating a bit on this one since I promised to recommend the best “modern” books on Stoicism and Seneca wrote his 124 famous letters almost 2,000 years ago, but since my other recommendations are Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus heavy, I wanted to make sure that any person exploring Stoicism for the first time gets a taste of Seneca too. While there are some wonderful books out there on the intriguing character of Seneca the man I’m not aware of a particular one-volume book that examines Seneca’s philosophy with the kind of depth we see in books on Aurelius and Epictetus. Besides, while the letters are ancient, this particular translation is modern and has been done by two highly-respected scholars of Stoic thought of the very first rank. They do a wonderful job (though I must admit, I first met Seneca’s Letters through the Penguin and Loeb editions and… show more.

I loved the bold new interpretation that Epictetus was actually the author of the Discourses rather than the teacher who narrated them to his student Arrian, who wrote them down, as the vast majority of scholars believe.

Dobbin’s introduction offers a concise and lucid overview of Epictetus, supported by a meticulous bibliography and generous indices. I was pleased by the balance of accuracy and readability of his translation, which is often clearer than Robin Hard’s and more modern than W. A. Oldfather’s.

I found the commentary to be generally excellent, with insightful connections to Stoic theory, other philosophical schools, and rich cross-referencing throughout. Dobbin’s treatment of prohairesis, Epictetus’ originality, and his creative polemics is quite compelling. I also appreciated his attention to Epictetus’ pedagogical strengths and philosophical rigor.

Wilson’s Very Short Introduction is a great overview of the central themes in Epicurean philosophy. If you want to learn more about Epicurean atomism, knowledge, the nature of the mind, politics, and ethics, then this book will give you a solid foundation and references to further academic reading.