Thursday, February 16, 2006

I'm done!!

With the Confessions that is. Yes, friends, after all this time (since I started this blog, essentially) I have finished it!! It is well worth reading, if just for the sections on Augustine's life before his conversion, and the book IX tribute to his mother, St. Monica, which is a biography in itself ( a mini-one). Augustine's reflections on love and friendship are also worth careful digestion. The only thing I wasn't expecting was the heavy, almost metaphysical ( I think) turn the book takes in it's last 1/2-1/4. It talks about memory and it's implications, as well as what it really is. He discusses the creation of the universe, what time is, and other highly philosophical things. his actual Confession is only about 1/2 of the book (if that). So if you decide to embark upon this adventure (and it is an adventure--and a commitment!), be warned that it's not total autobiography. He delves into the depths of theology and philosophy as the book goes on. Overall, well worth reading; not sure if I'd read it again, but I'm glad to have read it once.

So what am I working on now? Glad you asked...
--Hahn's Letter and Spirit but I'm also taking lots of notes, so that's why it's taking awhile;
--JP II's The Jeweller's Shop which is a play/meditation/ poem about marriage and love in the Church;
--Sir Walter Scott's Manners, Customs and History of the Highlanders of Scotland ;
--Pierre Choderlos de Laclos' Les Liasions Dangereuses (for all you film fans, the book Cruel Intentions was based upon;
--and finally, Winston Churchill's first volume of British History, The Birth of Britain . Whew!

some reviews as I finish these off....

1 comment:

Nathan Hackman said...

My progress in Confessions has lurched to a halt in the last 100 pages, but I'm hoping for a big push to the finish. The switch away from autobiography caught me a bit off guard. I'm a little let down.