Rating: 
Summary: A Beautiful And Beleaguered Soul
Review: This is the most beautiful, heartfelt and, as humanly possible, honest autobiography I have ever read. In fact, it is really the first "modern" autobiography written, in which the author freely questions himself and his motives all with an impelling desire to know who he really is (though he mentions in these Confessions that such a quest is futile, that all men, especially himself, are different people at different times). Thus, he is also a forerunner of the modern literary and psychological notion that the unchanging "self" is a fiction. -But this is really by the wayside, Rousseau had one of the tenderest hearts in all of literature, and to read the story of this heart as it makes its way through life is both beautiful and tragic beyond almost beyond endurance.-The best parts of the book are those all too few times when he enjoys the liberty to follow wherever his heart leads him. The reader cannot help but feel the joy in such occasions, the writing makes it so contagious. His enchantment with Nature rivals that of Shelley and Thoreau, and his transports of Platonic love give the lie to the modern notion that it pales in comparison to the physical.-The Confessions has its faults:I can't remember how many times Rousseau inveighs "...and here all my troubles began." At a certain point, one realizes that his persecution complex is at least, in part, a form of paranoia in a more and more frequently disordered mind. In his case, though, most of the facts are on his side. He didn't just make up that he was exiled from almost every country on Continental Europe at some time during his life.-To everybody reading this review, READ THE BOOK! Only a heart of granite can fail to be deeply moved by it...Those with granite hearts may excuse themselves. The Confessions are proof enough that such persons do exist.
Rating:
Summary: Magnifique
Review: Very entertaining journey into the life of Rousseau. I can(and I think most people would) identify with a great deal of what Rousseau says. Granted, some of Rousseau's confessions are a bit bizarre, but considering how decadent most "literature" is these days, you shouldn't be too appalled. Despite Rousseau's occasional lapses, his insights into human nature are certainly worth a look, whether or not you ultimately agree with them. At any rate, the Oxford World Classic series, is once again, your best bet as far as translations are concerned. Very helpful notes at the back of the book explain obscure allusions and correct the record of Rousseau's life(he is not entirely accurate).
|
