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Saturday, September 4, 2010

Ah. ah. ahhh... PLUTARCH!! ...bless you!





Plutarch.  On list there has been some discussion about Plutarch.  It wasn't long ago I had no idea what Plutarch was... and I probably couldn't have cared less.  But now, the enriched homeschool mother than I am; I have discovered something worthwhile.  I mean after all, it's been rated one of the top 20 books that nobody reads!  heheh. See the helpful links below if you too would like to be enlightened on Plutarch.  :)

Anyway, on the AO yahoo group (where there is almost always some interesting discussion going on), someone was looking for reasonably priced audio version of the book (specifically the life of Caesar). I looked around, and the prices range from $25 for only a few chapters of the book all the way to over $100 per volume for a 3 volume set!  Yikes.  Now, I see this is a problem and I half considered for a very brief millisecond making a recording of the book myself!!  Uh.  I don't have time for that.  SO, I had to keep looking.

Well, I have to share what I just found... 

And I think it's a secret.  I mean amazon doesn't even have the right stock photo up!  I think they're trying to keep it a mystery!  But you cannot fool me when it comes to finding a great price!!!

Plutarch's Lives by Audible Audio books only $17.30!  - ($7.49 if you have a membership)

**(editor's note: it's NOT such a great deal after all!  there are only FOUR lives included!!! see comments for details on how I could make such a nonsensical mistake... uh. sorry. I hope none of you have gone out and BOUGHT it!  I promise to check better next time!!!!)  Now, there remains the possibility that this recording does NOT contain all the lives... but MANY of the books you'll find are not complete either (my paperback copy doesn't have ALL the lives). It has a few to get you started though! ...and to me, that's perfect.  You choose. I just had to let you know ;)  **(editor's note: the following link contains 6 lives and so is a better deal, more specifically, it has Caesar, which is actually what the AOer was looking for.)  Roman Lives - unabridged (for around $20).  You'd have to find the Greek Lives somewhere else?  But it's still WAY cheaper than the Blackstone version!


Of course you can always get the audio free at librivox...
and in print for free here.

I love free.


You may be wondering...
"Why study Plutarch?  ...what in the world IS it?  All this time I thought you were sneezing..."  
You'll find the answers if you really want to know at the following links...

Helpful links:
Ambleside Online's Plutarch page... basic info and schedule.
Why Study Plutarch by George Grant... an article.
One lovely family's experience with Plutarch... a blog post.

**(This post has been edited to reflect new information.  The price I found ($17.30) is still a little better than many options available, but it has so few of the lives that it doesn't make it worth the price, UNLESS you are only specifically looking for a few lives without having to make the bigger investment.  The second option listed would be a better option in my opinion as it costs $2 more but has 2 more lives as well!) 

**(Oh and one more thing.  I enjoy reading Plutarch WITH my kids.  I think it is one of those books that I personally wouldn't really like to set my kids loose with.  I've read several warnings on the AO list that many of the lives have inappropriate themes. I think I want to be able to talk things through with them... so in this case, we would listen to the audio together.)

9 comments:

Blossom Barden (NorthLaurel) said...

You've given some links I'd not know about (which doesn't take much for me not to know about something lol). Thanks for another great link filled post :)

Mama Squirrel said...

Thanks for the Plutarch plug, Amy!

Silvia said...

That's why I love your blog and YOU, you find the best things and though as you say right now I'm like Plutarch what?, it's always great to know that others are paving the way for when our time comes...maybe by then we'll have your recording of it? LOL...hugs

Leah said...

Thanks for sharing your find!

I found this: http://www.audible.com/pd?asin=B002UZJKWM

It includes four lives: Marc Antony, Cicero, Theseus, Romulus.

And the description:

A brilliant Greek writer and philosopher, Plutarch wrote detailed biographies of 46 legendary Greek and Roman figures, four of whom are included in this important collection. He profiles one of his contemporaries, Marc Antony, who followed Caesar and seduced Cleopatra. The next installment features Cicero, an influential Roman orator, politician, statesman, and philosopher who brought Greek thought into his culture. The final 2 biographies focus on 2 of history's most famous mythical figures: Theseus, the Greek king who defeated the Minotaur, and Romulus, who was raised by a she-wolf and went on to found the Roman empire.

Plutarch's Lives remains an essential document of Greek and Roman history and mythology, preserving the stories of both cultures' greatest leaders for future generations.

Public Domain (P)1993 by Recorded Books, Inc.

amy in peru said...

Leah... THANK YOU! I didn't even see the description on the amazon page. It is the same exact deal but on the amazon site as opposed to audible (amazon now owns audible). But I went back just now and it says just what you quoted! Certainly, only 4 lives does NOT make it worth the price!!

I'm going to edit the post!

amy in peru

Melissa said...

Plutarch
http://www.booksshouldbefree.com/book/plutarchs_parallel_lives_vol_1

I like to use this Audio book site...dunno if this is like what you are looking for or not, but there are some of the books from the AO list there too!

amy in peru said...

Melissa,
you are my HERO!

I don't even know if it is a good one and I probably won't ever because it is a WHOPPING 251 MB download!!! that would probably take about 648 hours download time from here with my connection!! ;)

I'm actually not even looking for it myself... I like to read that one aloud. :)

Richele said...

My 1296-page-volume sits on the shelf waiting for the boys to get older. We certainly can't read it yet or Max will want to change his name to Poplicola or Flamininus.

call*me*kate said...

I found your blog through Jimmie (in China) and I was amazed to see a post about Plutarch! Last summer, we went to a neighbor's garage sale and bought a series of books in excellent condition called "The Harvard Classics", first printed in 1909. Ours is a 1969 printing. One of the books is Plutarch, including 9 lives and 2 comparisons. My 15 year old son has recently finished reading this book (he chose it on his own) and shared a lot of it with me. I enjoyed reading your post and feel very fortunate to have stumbled upon these books. This series includes writings of old that not a lot of people talk about these days. The old books are the best, in our opinion. Good discussion material, too! It took me a bit to "get" your sneezing title - then I laughed out loud. Nicely done!
- Kate

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