Confessions– St. Augustine

 My Rating – If You Have Time

 Level – Moderate, seems longer than it is.

Summary
Basically his autobiography for the first nine chapters, then a chapter on memory, and wraps up his last three chapters in discussing the first chapters in Genesis. His life story is interesting enough, his mother was a Christian and that influenced him. He went off to school and talks about his shenanigans with his boys.

Later on he joins up with the Manicheans but, after the death of a friend, becomes disillusioned with them. Eventually he hears Ambrose preach and after discussion with friends and reading Romans in a garden, he converts and is baptized.

 My Thoughts
My confession: I didn’t really like this book. It’s considered a seminal work in Christian Literature, but I just never got into it. Maybe because of the translation (Penguin Classic), but I didn’t like the writing. It was one of those, say in 20 words what you could say in five type writing styles.

His time at school was probably the most interesting to me. His pondering as to why he would steal pears when he had his own, probably better ones. It certainly should make most people question these things in general, and resonates with males who engaged in general jackassary as adolescents in particular. The thoughts on memory are interesting in a philosophical way, and his chapters on Genesis are worth reading for his style of exegesis.

Overall, I just wasn’t a fan. I hesitated to rank as I have, instead of lower, at the same time, feeling I should rank it higher, due to its place in history. So, I guess, if you have time, check it out and see for yourself.