In this brief and incisive book, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Garry Wills tells the story of the "Confessions" - what motivated Augustine to dictate it, how it asks to be read, and the many ways it has been misread in the one-and-a-half millennia since it was composed. Following Wills' biography of Augustine and his translation of the "Confessions", this is an unparalleled introduction to one of the most important books in the Christian and Western traditions. Understandably fascinated by the story of Augustine's life, modern readers have largely succumbed to the temptation to read the "Confessions" as autobiography. But, Wills argues, this is a mistake. The book is not autobiography but rather a long prayer, suffused with the language of Scripture and addressed to God, not man. Augustine tells the story of his life not for its own significance but in order to discern how, as a drama of sin and salvation leading to God, it fits into sacred history. 'We have to read Augustine as we do Dante', Wills writes, 'alert to rich layer upon layer of Scriptural and theological symbolism'. Wills also addresses the long afterlife of the book, from controversy in its own time and relative neglect during the Middle Ages to a renewed prominence beginning in the fourteenth century and persisting to today, when the "Confessions" has become an object of interest not just for Christians but also historians, philosophers, psychiatrists, and literary critics. With unmatched clarity and skill, Wills strips away the centuries of misunderstanding that have accumulated around Augustine's spiritual classic.
评分
评分
评分
评分
从文学角度看,这部作品构建了一个极其宏大且具有开创性的“自我”形象。作者成功地将个体生命经历提升到了一个具有普遍意义的哲学和神学层面。他不再仅仅讲述“我做了什么”,而是探讨“成为我是什么”这一根本性的问题。这种对内在世界的探索,对“意志”如何被诱惑、如何被引导的剖析,为后世的心理学和存在主义思想奠定了早期的思想基础。书中对“时间”这一概念的思考尤其令人印象而忘返,他将时间视为一种内在的经验结构,而非仅仅是外部的度量衡。这种对主观现实的深刻反思,使得这部作品超越了单纯的宗教自传,成为了一部关于人类意识如何构建其现实的先驱性文本。阅读时,你会不断地被提醒,你所读到的不仅仅是一个人的回忆,而是一整套关于人如何在经验中理解自身处境的理论构建过程。
评分读罢全书,最强烈的感受是一种洗涤后的平静,但这种平静并非来自于遗忘,而是来自于对全部混乱的彻底接纳与整合。作者对外界诱惑的描述,从那些华丽辞藻的诱惑到对知识的盲目渴求,都极其生动,仿佛能闻到那个时代的气息。然而,最终的救赎或说觉醒,并非一个突如其来的奇迹,而是一个漫长、充满反复的拉锯战。他详述了自己如何一步步地被“更高层级”的真理所吸引,而这个过程中的挣扎和犹疑,比最终的皈依本身更具教育意义。这告诉我们,真正的转变是需要付出巨大心智努力的,它不是被动的接受,而是主动的、痛苦的“转向”。这种对内在挣扎过程的细致描摹,为所有在寻求人生意义的读者提供了一个深刻的参照系,提醒我们,在追求光明之前,必须先直面自己的阴影。
评分这部作品的语言结构之复杂和修辞之精妙,简直让人叹为观止。它并非那种一览无余的线性叙事,而是充满了大量的插入语、反复的辩证和对古典文本的引用。阅读过程需要极大的专注力,因为作者常常在描述一个具体的事件时,突然跳跃到对时间本质、存在意义的哲学探讨上。这种交织使得文本具有一种复调的质感,仿佛在同一时间内,作者的过去、现在和永恒的思考都在纸面上共存。尤其令人惊异的是他处理悖论的方式——他能将最深刻的怀疑与最坚定的信念并置,而不感到任何矛盾。对于习惯了简洁明了的现代散文的读者来说,初读可能需要适应这种古老的、充满内在张力的表达方式。但一旦沉浸其中,便会被其思想的密度所震撼。那些关于恩典的祈求,那些对理性边界的探讨,无不体现出一位伟大思想家在面对宇宙奥秘时的那种谦卑而又热切的探求姿态,其文字的韵律感和逻辑的严密性,堪称文学史上的里程碑。
评分这本书的叙事节奏变化莫测,时而如急流般冲刷着读者的心神,时而又慢得如同琥珀中凝固的昆虫,细致入微地描摹每一个瞬间的内心活动。早期篇章中那种对智慧的狂热追逐,那种与当时盛行学说(特别是二元论)的激烈辩论,展示了他强大的智力能量和无畏的好奇心。他对那些曾经的导师、朋友的描绘也十分立体,这些人物的出现和离去,都成为了他自身精神演变中的重要催化剂。特别是他对母亲的爱与祈祷的描绘,充满了令人心酸的温情,展现了即便在最深沉的哲学迷雾中,人性中最基本的情感纽带依然具有强大的支撑作用。整部作品结构紧凑,虽然篇幅宏大,但其内在逻辑如同精密的钟表,每一个齿轮都咬合得恰到好处,最终指向一个宏大而统一的结论:对终极秩序的追寻,是人类灵魂最根本的驱动力。
评分这本回忆录的叙事视角极其私密,仿佛是作者在午夜时分,对着一盏摇曳的油灯,向一位最亲密的友人倾诉。他毫不掩饰地剖析了自己早年那段沉溺于感官享乐与哲学辩论的混乱时期。读者能真切地感受到那种在世俗欲望与精神追求之间撕扯的痛苦张力。文风带着一种近乎忏悔式的坦诚,那些关于友谊、爱情,以及对真理的渴望,都以一种近乎原始的、未经修饰的语言流淌出来。特别是他对青年时期那种近乎自我毁灭式的享乐主义的描写,那种对享乐的沉迷与随后的自我厌弃,构成了早期篇章最引人入胜的部分。他没有试图将自己塑造成一个完美的圣人,反而将自己的弱点、错误和每一次的动摇都毫无保留地展现出来,这使得他的精神挣扎显得无比真实和具有普遍性。这种对“内在自我”的深入挖掘,远超出了普通传记的范畴,它更像是一部关于人性如何从迷失走向觉醒的心理地图。每一次的挫折、每一次的顿悟,都被细腻地捕捉,形成了一股强大的情感洪流,推动着故事向前发展,最终导向那个决定性的转折点。
评分三星半。作者有考证奥古斯丁每个阶段思想细节的倾向,最后有一个后代学派误读的总览,但对其神学本身的看法点的较为含蓄。‘It is the thesis of my book that the superimposition of Genesis patterns on the events of his life makes the question of literal historicity beside the point, since Augustine is not writing history or autobiography.’
评分三星半。作者有考证奥古斯丁每个阶段思想细节的倾向,最后有一个后代学派误读的总览,但对其神学本身的看法点的较为含蓄。‘It is the thesis of my book that the superimposition of Genesis patterns on the events of his life makes the question of literal historicity beside the point, since Augustine is not writing history or autobiography.’
评分三星半。作者有考证奥古斯丁每个阶段思想细节的倾向,最后有一个后代学派误读的总览,但对其神学本身的看法点的较为含蓄。‘It is the thesis of my book that the superimposition of Genesis patterns on the events of his life makes the question of literal historicity beside the point, since Augustine is not writing history or autobiography.’
评分三星半。作者有考证奥古斯丁每个阶段思想细节的倾向,最后有一个后代学派误读的总览,但对其神学本身的看法点的较为含蓄。‘It is the thesis of my book that the superimposition of Genesis patterns on the events of his life makes the question of literal historicity beside the point, since Augustine is not writing history or autobiography.’
评分三星半。作者有考证奥古斯丁每个阶段思想细节的倾向,最后有一个后代学派误读的总览,但对其神学本身的看法点的较为含蓄。‘It is the thesis of my book that the superimposition of Genesis patterns on the events of his life makes the question of literal historicity beside the point, since Augustine is not writing history or autobiography.’
本站所有内容均为互联网搜索引擎提供的公开搜索信息,本站不存储任何数据与内容,任何内容与数据均与本站无关,如有需要请联系相关搜索引擎包括但不限于百度,google,bing,sogou 等
© 2026 book.wenda123.org All Rights Reserved. 图书目录大全 版权所有