Meditations of Marcus Aurelius

I looked forward to Meditations both as philosophy and for the insights it might yield into Roman history. But the experience was almost completely ruined by Alan Munro's reading.

His voice was mellifluous, clear, confident, and well-paced. But it was as if he were reading for transcription, pausing every three or four words for the stenographer to catch up. So instead of reading sentences and paragraphs in a way that brought out their meaning, he read small clusters of words, breaking apart their larger meanings in a way that made it impossible for me to follow the author's argument. If he were to read the preceding sentence, this would not be an exaggeration:

So instead of reading.
Sentences and paragraphs
In a way
That brought out their meaning
He read small clusters of words
Breaking apart their larger meanings
In a way
That made it impossible for me
To follow the author's argument.

I suppose somebody with a different attention span might find a much better experience, but I'll certainly never make the mistake of buying anything else Munro narrates.

This is very slow going bouncing from one thought to another. If it wasn't for the fact that I enjoy hearing how others think I would have abandoned this book. I can only listen to it a small bit at a time as I find myself thinking of something else.

Probably not

It lacked any motivation or excitement at all

The narrator has a resonant baritone voice. The narration would probably be okay if you were listening to it at home or with headphones. However, I usually listen to audible recordings in the car. With all the ambient noise, I found the narration very difficult to follow. I haven't experienced this problem with other narrators under similar conditions.