273 reviews for:

The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner

James Hogg

3.46 AVERAGE

aleksander_at_sea's review against another edition

4.5

dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

runesen's review against another edition

4.0

challenging mysterious slow-paced

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

umbrelina's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

xenomoose's review against another edition

4.5

dark funny reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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The central character of his book, Robert, is one of the most hysterically confounding characters I've ever read about, wow. He makes choices and comes to conclusions that are completely inconceivable to me, so much so that I would hate to spoil it for the prospective reader. The framing of this story gives you a factual recounting of events that Robert later presents to you in his first-person memoir, and I really loved it because it gave me a really clear picture of exactly how Robert was twisting the narrative to alleviate the guilt compounding from said choices. The story does that thing that was popular in earlier eras of writing, where the supernatural events are thrown into doubt at the end for dramatic effect, but Robert being a pathological liar really makes me unsure by the end. Anyway, this book was a joy for me to read, and an unexpected favorite that reinvigorated my enthusiasm for 19th century lit.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Minor: Sexual violence, Suicide

eskimonika's review against another edition

3.25

adventurous challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

festivefun's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

nnikif's review against another edition

5.0

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Великолепная книга, даже лучше, чем ожидал по описанию.
В принципе, это такой шотландский фолк-Достоевский, про перегибы кальвинизма — "если бог есть, то все позволено" — но живость языка и визуальная сила многих сцен может сравниться скорее с Гоголем.
И, понятно, игры с ненадежным рассказчиком, ненадежным редактором, пересказами и т.д. — даже сам Джеймс Хогг в книге фигурирует в качестве второстепенного персонажа, про которого говорится, что он любит приврать — делают книгу не менее образцовым стихийным постмодернизмом, чем "Тристрам Шенди".
Наконец, главный злодей в этой книге в глазах его героя предстает путешествующим по Европе инкогнито Петром Первым.

leewreads's review against another edition

3.0

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Utterly baffled - but enjoyed.

sko's review against another edition

3.0

fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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This book is not to be missed.

lvo01's review against another edition

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poor tibby scott