Título: Letters from a Stoic (A Penguin Classics Hardcover)
Autor: Seneca
Sinopse: A new series of beautiful hardcover nonfiction classics, with covers designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith
World-changing ideas meet eye-catching design: the best titles of the extraordinarily successful Great Ideas series are now packaged in Coralie Bickford-Smith’s distinctive, award-winning covers. Whether on a well-curated shelf or in your back pocket, these timeless works of philosophical, political, and psychological thought are absolute must-haves for book collectors as well as design enthusiasts.
A philosophy that saw self-possession as the key to an existence lived "in accordance with nature," Stoicism called for the restraint of animal instincts and the severing of emotional ties. These beliefs were formulated by the Athenian followers of Zeno in the fourth century BC, but it was in Seneca that the Stoics found their most eloquent advocate. Stoicism, as expressed in the Letters, helped ease pagan Rome's transition to Christianity, for it upholds upright ethical ideals and extols virtuous living, as well as expressing disgust for the harsh treatment of slaves and the inhumane slaughter witnessed in the Roman arenas. Seneca's major contribution to a seemingly unsympathetic creed was to transform it into a powerfully moving and inspiring declaration of the dignity of the individual mind. Robin Campbell's distinguished translation captures Seneca's humour and concise, memorable aphorisms and his introduction discusses the tensions between Seneca's philosophy and his turbulent career as adviser to the tyrannical emperor Nero.
For more than sixty-five years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,500 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
Contexto da obra
Como livro em inglês, esta obra costuma ganhar também uma camada própria de interesse editorial e linguístico. “Letters from a Stoic (A Penguin Classics Hardcover)”, de Seneca, publicado pela editora Penguin Classics, em 2015 e com 352 páginas, integra a categoria Livros em Inglês. Por isso, o interesse da obra tende a se ampliar quando o leitor considera também a relação com a língua em que ela circula.
Editora: Penguin Classics
Páginas: 352
Ano: 2015-04-28
Edição: Reissue
Linguagem: en
ISBN: 0141395850
ISBN13: 9780141395852
Sobre a editora
Os livros da editora Penguin Classics oferecem uma experiência de leitura marcada pela diversidade de vozes e épocas, com obras que transitam entre a antiguidade e o século XX. O catálogo privilegia textos que exploram conflitos humanos profundos, como dilemas morais, crises existenciais e tensões sociais, frequentemente ambientados em contextos históricos ou culturais muito distintos. A linguagem varia do rigor acadêmico das traduções e notas críticas até a prosa poética e experimental, como nas narrativas em fluxo de consciência. Há obras com clima sombrio e suspense psicológico, ao lado de clássicos da literatura política e filosófica. Essa amplitude sugere leitores que apreciam tanto o aprofundamento intelectual quanto o contato com histórias que desafiam convenções e exploram a complexidade da condição humana.
