| Description |
1 online resource |
| Note |
Includes index. |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographic references and index. |
| Summary |
"Author John Boyd White starts from the assumption that most people, including himself initially, find translations of Augustine's Confessions, purportedly a "classic of western civilization," platitudinous, pious, and unsophisticated; the "story," such as it is, is impossible to follow and trivial when one can make it out--what's the big deal about stealing pears? It was only when he read the first page in Latin that he was blown away--it was deep, vital, and original, like hearing Augustine's own voice. Reading St. Augustine's Confessions is a guide to the book as a Latin text; using an extreme form of close reading, he introduces readers, even those who have never studied the language, to the beginning sections, showing them how, by slowly reading the Latin text line by line together with his own literal translation (no poetics or poetic license), the form of Augustine's mind and the cadence of his voice become apparent, along with a sense of his culture and the drama of his struggles against it. His language plays a key role too; he remakes it in his conversations with his readers and his god, stimulating today's readers' own perceptions, feelings, thoughts, and imaginations. Reading in this way forces us to slow down; it encourages sustained attention. Confessions introduced a new genre of writing, its shape and meaning revealed only in the course of reading. As this book progresses--more quickly after the introductory sections--White continues to guide readers in thinking about how Latin sentences operate, bringing it to life as a language even when not fully understood and opening up an experience of Augustine's quest for spiritual, intellectual, and psychological maturity in the context of a tumultuous historical age not dissimilar from our own"-- Provided by publisher. |
| Contents |
Intro -- Table of Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- An Outline of Augustine's Life up to the Composition of the Confessions -- Part I -- 1. The Shape of the Confessions -- 2. The First Three Sentences (Book 1) -- 3. The Movement from One Mode of Thought to Another (Book 1) -- 4. Remembering Early Childhood and Language Breaking Down (Book 1) -- Part II -- 5. Adolescence, Sex, and the Stolen Pears (Book 2) -- 6. Love, Philosophy, and Monnica's Dream (Book 3) -- 7. Friendship and Struggles with Manicheism (book 4) -- 8. From the Manichees to Ambrose (Book 5) -- 9. Certainty and Uncertainty (Book 6) -- 10. Imagining God and the Origin of Evil (Book 7) -- 11. The Conversion in the Garden (Book 8) -- 12. What It Meant (Book 9) -- Part III -- 13. Memory, Sin, and Redemption (Book 10) -- 14. Time (Book 11) -- 15. Reading Genesis: The Creation Story (Book 12) -- 16. "Knock and It Shall Be Opened unto You" (Book 13) -- Coda -- Notes. |
| Local Note |
eBooks on EBSCOhost EBSCO eBook Subscription Academic Collection - North America |
| Subject |
Augustine, of Hippo, Saint, 354-430. Confessiones.
|
|
Confessiones (Augustine, of Hippo, Saint) |
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RELIGION / Christianity / Catholic |
| Other Form: |
Print version: White, James Boyd, 1938- Let in the light. New York : Columbia University Press, [2022] 9780231205009 (DLC) 2021035502 (OCoLC)1264173332 |
| ISBN |
9780231555791 electronic book |
|
0231555792 electronic book |
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9780231205009 hardcover |
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9780231205016 paperback |
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