A review by johns_library
Confessions by Saint Augustine

dark hopeful informative reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

I had this on my TBR ever since I finished Gonzalez’ first volume on the history of Christianity. The first 10 chapters covers Augustine's personal biography at the time of writing. The prose in these sections were absolutely beautifully. The translator, Garry Wills, had done an excellent job in keeping the passion, reverence, and poetic prose of Augustine's writing. I even found myself weeping over Augustine’s prose when describing and lamenting the nature of death due his friend's passing.

The remaining chapters was when it became difficult to understand, Augustine’s train of thought, shown in his exposition of Genesis was very foreign from a modern perspective. I had wished I didn’t rush through reading those sections, but actually slowing down since his thoughts had moved so quickly, I lost myself quite easily when jumping from one topic to the next.

Nonetheless, I’m finding myself returning to the last section again and again, really slowing down on my second read through. Maybe in the future having a reading guide. Overall, this was one of my most favourite reads of the year. It’s one that’s spurred on a passion for reading more of the church father’s, more of Augustine's work, and returning again and again to Confessions.