Marius the Epicurean (Penguin Classics) [Paperback]

Walter Pater (Author), Michael Levey (Editor, Contributor)

Book Description

Series: Penguin Classics | Publication Date: January 7, 1986

An imaginary historical portrait in which Marius is offered as a kind of self-portrait of Pater transferred to the Rome of Marcus Aurelius. Marius speculates on various views of art and life. The love of art for art's sake is advocated, as is the moral obligation to lead a good and ordered life.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

English essayist, critic and humanist, Pater is best remembered as an innovator in aesthetics. He wrote several novels, essays and articles. His style is famous for its precision, subtlety, and refinement. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (January 7, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140432361
• ISBN-13: 978-0140432367
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,358,165 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, April 4, 2000

By 

Sarah Skowronski (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Marius the Epicurean (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

Pater was one of the most insightful and exacting critics of England, and his fiction exceeded even his own standards for beauty. Marius the Epicurean is the story of a young man's spiritual and aesthetic awakening in ancient Rome. He journeys from Stoicism to Cyrenaicism to Epicureanism, and finally to Christianity. The book is subtle and profound, and is written in Pater's characteristically lovely prose. I do not recommend this book to anyone who wants a traditional linear plot in which the protagonist is motivated by external events; rather, I recommend it to all who wish "to burn with a hard, gemlike flame," to all who make careful aesthetic contemplation their highest goal.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stupor mundi, April 5, 2003

By 

"guillaume186" (Middlesbrough, England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Marius: The Epicurean His Sensations and Ideas (Paperback)

Why does no one read Pater these days? He writes with the fervid delicate beauty of a butterfly defying the storms of winter. As literature becomes ever more commercialised, this sensual celebration seems even more important. A pleasure every bit as sensual and refreshing as a Turkish bath.

11 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Beware Pater's Purple Prose, July 20, 2005

By 

Steven Larsen (Philadelphia, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Marius the Epicurean (Everyman's Library) (Hardcover)

One reviewer asks, "Why does no one read Pater these days? He writes with the fervid delicate beauty of a butterfly defying the storms of wind". Perhaps that quote says it all. Yes , it is a beautiful book in its own way, but that torturous, flowery style of writing was swept away by the modernist tide long ago. Who has time for it?

This book often appears on lists of the "worst written books ever", next to the works of Bulwer-Lytton. I can understand why. When I first picked it up I couldn't get past the first two pages. Pater goes on and on and goes nowhere. For the next four days I tried many times to read it, each time I just groaned a few pages in and tossed the book aside. It wan't till the end of the week that I finally got the hang of Pater's style. I eventually finished the book and was glad I did because I really did enjoy the story and also because of the fact that I was finished with it. Mixed feelings.

If you enjoy the decorative style of this era , then by all means buy this book. Avoid otherwise.