Read this when
Confessions
Stuck between who you are and who you want to be? A guy in 397 CE literally prayed 'Grant me chastity and continence, but not yet.' Same. 🍐
Who it's for
Augustine examines his own motives with a candour that still feels modern: he admits he stole pears he didn't even want, just for the thrill of doing it with friends, and that he prayed for self-control while secretly hoping it wouldn't come yet.
Feelings it meets
What it is
Augustine of Hippo's Confessions is a Latin work in 13 books, written between 397 and 400 CE, that combines autobiography with theological reflection.
Where to find it
Public domain in older translations (e.g., E. B. Pusey's), free on Project Gutenberg. Modern translations by Sarah Ruden, Maria Boulding and Henry Chadwick are in print and in libraries (Libby/Hoopla).
Before you start
Heads up: Deaths of a mother and a friend.
Age: Ages 16+
So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
