Marsilio Ficino: The Book of Life (Dunquin Series)

(Author), Charles Boer (Translator)

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, Latin (translation)

Product Details

• Paperback: 217 pages
• Publisher: Spring Publications (January 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0882142127
• ISBN-13: 978-0882142128
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #588,479 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Intensely disappointing, December 10, 2000

By	R. Thomas "iamblichos" (Richmond, VA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

It is with a very heavy heart that I report that Charles Boer's translation of Marsilio Ficino's _Three Books of Life_ (De vita libri tres) is wretched indeed.

Mr. Boer, famous for his 'modern' translations, has buggered poor Ficino's beautiful writing to the point where it is often nigh impossible to decipher the original meaning. He made no effort to learn or utilize even the basic terminology of astrology, rendering Ficino's clear astrological instruction into an incomprehensible muddle. Houses are referred to as 'places', degrees of the zodiac are referred to as 'grades', trines and sextiles become 'third places' and 'sixth places' respectively, and planets have 'coitus' with one another rather than simply being conjunct... O lucky planets! Their supposedly sexual union reflects in heaven what has happened on earth between Mr. Boer and this poor text.

The lack of astrological comprehension is bad enough, but Mr. Boer also seems strangely ignorant of the Neoplatonist philosophy that informs all of Ficino's writings. Although interspersed with practical instructions on how to bring one's life and body into a more healthy alignment with the heavenly powers, this text contains long sections of philosophical theory to show the theoretical underpinnings of the practical work. These theoretical sections are completely incomprehensible; where is Thomas Taylor when we need him? He provided better explanatory notes in the early 1800's than Mr. Boer does in the latter part of the 20th century.

All in all, this work is not for the weak of will; only the stalwart will want to brave the necessary interpretation to get information from this text. To those who are willing to translate the translation, however, this text is a jewel without price - let us hope that it will find a more deserving setting.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Ian Myles Slater on: An Alternative, October 4, 2003

By	Ian M. Slater "aylchanan" (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Charles Boer obviously put considerable effort into trying to make sense of a famous but difficult work, which had yet to be properly edited in its Renaissance Latin original. His translation is quite pleasant reading. Unfortunately, the problems begin as soon as the reader tries to understand Ficino, instead of Boer. The "Three Books of Life" contain a mixture of medicine, astrology, neo-Platonic philosophy, and more or less concealed magic, and Boer makes little effort to explain any of these; it is not clear how much of any of them he recognized in the text he was translating.

To anyone familiar with the discussions of the book in, for example, Walker's "Spiritual and Demonic Magic from Ficino to Campanella," or Yates' "Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition," the translation could only be a source of frustration.

Basically, there seem to have been two sets of problems. First, the translation was based on unreliable versions of the Latin. The lack of a proper edition was not Boer's fault; professional scholars of Renaissance Latin writings (Humanist Latin is a subject in itself) had never published one. But it should have made him very cautious about trying to puzzle it out for himself. Second, Boer seems to have paid little, if any, attention to the vast scholarship needed to understand Ficino, which was available, if somewhat scattered through books and journals.

Since Boer was dismissive of the existing Ficino scholarship, hostile reviews from scorned specialists were perhaps to be expected. But I am not one of them, and I can testify from experience that Boer's work was more frustrating than useful.

Fortunately, not too long after the appearance of Boer's version, Carole V. Kaske and John R. Clark's "Three Books on Life" was announced for publication. It has since appeared, and, with several reprintings behind it, is, at this writing, available. It has a full edition of the Latin text facing the translation, an excellent introduction, and elaborate notes and index / glossaries. It is not as fun to read as Boer sometimes is, but, despite the slightly higher price, it is a better bargain. You get useful historical contexts, advice on whether Ficino is making a pun, or is completely serious, even alternative explanations -- all the things I wondered about when trying to read Boer's version.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Simply numbing, September 4, 2002

By	Cecelia Urban "A-Work-In-Progress" (Newark, NJ USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I agree wholeheartedly with iamblichos' evaluation of this book. This translation is so confounding that it has taken me years to even broach another text by Ficino. Only the most intrepid Ficino fans could hope to finish this book.