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Summary: Greatest Spiritual Autobiography of all time!
Review: This book, goes through the life a great saint and his story of Education, loss of loved ones and conversion, ending with his philosophical ideas on many doctrinal things. Although this book is not for the beginner of patristic litature, i do beleve that it holds somthing for everyone. St. Augustine not one makes things clear with his Poetic at times prose, but establishes His own Love Of Our Lord and of the Curch. His talks on his life can give anyone hope of covnversion. We can all hold him up to example, and this book will help you to understand and get into the head of a Great saint...Saint Augustine...Pray For Us!!
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Summary: Complex Ideas, Difficult to Read
Review: Despite a superb translation, "Confessions" was not the autobiographical classic that I had hoped. Broadly, the first half details Augustine's pre-conversion life and paints an interesting portrait of life in ancient Italy. The relationships and stuggles that he details are as relevant today as there were in centuries past. The second half, however, is profoundly theological and lacks the personal touch I had hoped for. Similar to Emerson's essays, Augustine writes chapters on various aspects of bibical literalness and catholic doctrine. I found these musings to be difficult to follow and disconnected. A profound work, but one that the reader needs to be prepared for.
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Summary: What's past is prologue
Review: This book is surprisingly modern. Being a spiritual autobiography along the lines of C. S. Lewis's "Surprised by Joy," or Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress," it is a targeted story about one man's relationship with God.I say surprisingly modern in that Augustine could make a frictionless slide into modern society. As a youth, he was raised primarily by his spiritual mother, hung out in a gang called "The Wreckers," spent all of his free time in the town square waiting the theatrical performances, and stole pears just for the buzz and the rush of doing it. Well, this book is 1,500 years old, but you would never know it. There is a case to be mad with what philosophers call "The Human Predicament," which is the term used to describe the same ruts that humanity always seems to get in-war, death, poverty, corruption, secret combinations in government, an so forth. However, Augustine's life illustrates what I would call the "The Solution to The Human Predicament." The answer lies not in looking left or right, or backwards or forwards, but in looking up. If you are familiar with the bell curve-not the controversial book, but the scientific model used in statistics-you see that one-half, or 50% of the people you deal with are below average. You can almost count off "one, two, one, two" as you ride on the bus, or drive on the highway. And the rest of the three-quarters in a democracy will outvote the twenty-five percent of the people who are really smart. So you see that Augustine had the answer to the problems we face. Get God into your life. You can see the outward effects of the internal conversion in Augustine. Before he found God, he lifted pears just for kicks, after he found God, he received a pair of kicks that lifted him up, and changed his behavior. This book is also important in another way. Martin Luther was an Augustinian monk, and Augustine's conversion experiences were a pattern and prototype for Luther. The translation is readable, and like always, Penguin has great notes that put the book in its proper context and in the context of the life of its author.
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Summary: A Spiritual Journey
Review: I bought this book over a year ago and I was not quite sure why I bought it. About a month ago, I began going through a troubled period in my life. The writings of St. Augustine helped me live through this period. While the book is most known for its philisophical proof of the existance of God, the book's value runs even greater. Augustine also discusses the meaning of our own existance. Each of us is molded by the opportunity to grow by each experience of our life. Ultimately, we must see the error of our ways to find true happiness in life through God. In this way, God molds us into better people. While the existance of God is not something we can easily explain, Augustine offers insite into this dilema. God created us in his own image, but this does not mean he looks like a human being. He created us as loving creatures like himself. In addition, Augustine address many other issues relating to God in his biography. This book may be difficult reading to the casual reader. I would suggest potential readers only read this book if he/she plans to study it with the dedication it deserves.
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Summary: Thoughtful and Powerful
Review: This book is much much more than just an autobiography of Augustine and his road to the Christian faith. It is filled with exhortations and insight about the character of God and the nature of people. It is a book about struggling with sin and with realizing that God deserves to be Lord of every aspect of your life--and trying to live that out. It's also a story of the power of prayer, and an encouragement (through his comments about his mother) to persevere in prayer and supplication. Plus, it's just a reminder of the many wonderful aspects of who God is--because every time Augustine says something about God, he affirms something about His character. He will say something like, "God, in whom there is no darkness, has illuminated the eyes of my heart." It is both a telling of Augustine's own story, and also a story of God. This book is very dense, and packed with thoughts and ideas that must be slowly digested to really take root in our own minds. It's not a book that can or should be read quickly, it should be savored and pondered and given time for much reflection and evaluation. It's a tough book, but I do not think that you need a commentary to fully appreciate it (though an understanding of the time it was written sure wouldn't hurt). Get ready to be exhorted.
Rating: 
Summary: Victims Don't Count
Review: He gets a girl pregnant, moves in with her for 15 years, and gets the urge to wander. He keeps his son, dumps the girl, and joins the church as Mommy desires. His "ex" goes back to Africa, perhaps to die as a prostitute-turned-old-beggar, and he moves on to conferred glory after conferred glory. Not the stuff of a Saint.
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Summary: poetic, inspiring words while keeping true to the latin
Review: Chadwick is both able to keep the meaning of the orginial latin and able to keep the rhythm of Augustine's poetic words. The book itself is inspiring even to those who do not practice the christian faith. A real charmer for anyone who both enjoys poetic language and philosophy!
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Summary: A spiritual journey
Review: This is simply one of the greatest Christian books of all time! You do not have to be Catholic to appreciate St. Augustine's journey to the Christian faith.
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Summary: Uplifting
Review: St. Augustine is one of the greatest thinkers the West ever produced. Born in North Africa in the waning years of the Roman Empire, his Confessions detail his ultimate conversion to Nicene Christianity after a ten year journey through the various trendy sects of the 4th century C.E. Augustine was a member of the Manichean heresy, a follower of Astrology, and an all around sinner. He enjoyed the barbaric games of the coliseum, was overly proud of his education and teaching positions, and just couldn't bring himself to give up the ladies. He even had a son, Adeodatus, who was born out of wedlock. In short, Augustine loved the things that most people love, and he loved the same things that we love in our decadent age. This is what makes this book so relevant today; it shows how little the human race has come in 1500 years. Augustine's struggles are our struggles. Two points of interest are worth mentioning here. The first is Augustine's mother, St. Monica. Throughout the book, Monica is an omnipresent figure in Augustine's life. She is a tireless Christian, and she does many things to try and bring Augustine into the faith. She prays incessantly, has visions and dreams from God that promise Augustine's conversion, and she follows her son everywhere he goes. Augustine gives much praise to his mother, but it's important to remember that he was writing this account after his conversion. At the time, Augustine must have been sick to death of some of her antics. He actually lied to her so he could sneak off to Rome without her, although she was soon on a boat so she could catch up with him. I also felt sorry for his father, Patricius. Dad wasn't really into the Christian thing, so Monica put on the pants in the family. Augustine even says that Monica made God the 'true' father in their house. A second point of interest is Augustine's actual conversion. He seems to go through two of them in quick succession. The first is an intellectual conversion, as Augustine uses the texts of Neo-Platonic authors to prove to himself the fallacy of the Manichean theology. It seems the Manicheans believed in a Christ figure that was not fully divine, as well as the idea that God was a substance. Augustine shows how substance can be corrupted, making this idea totally incompatible with the idea of a perfect God. After all, if a substance can be corrupted, how can it be perfect? After the intellectual conversion, Augustine still can't totally believe because he can't give up the fleshly sin of lust with women. This second conversion finally comes about in the famous 'pick it up and read' incident in the garden. Augustine, wracked by his sins and on the verge of some type of mental collapse over his anguish, hears a child's voice singing, 'Pick it up and read.' Seeing this as a sign from God, he picks up Paul's Epistles and reads the first thing he sees in the book. He reads a passage about the evils of fleshly vice and his conversion is complete. After this conversion, the rest of the book veers off on a tangent. Augustine examines the concept of time, in great detail, and writes an incredibly dense exegesis on the first parts of the book of Genesis. This section, with the exception of his discourse on time, isn't nearly as interesting as the account of his life and the fundamental changes he goes through as he tries to find the true way to live life. I do suspect that thousands have converted after reading this book because it speaks to every human on a fundamental level. The above description I've given doesn't even begin to cover the amount of information in this book. The Confessions is both beautiful and thought provoking and I would recommend it to anyone. I do have a word of warning for those who are considering giving this one a shot. Avoid, like the plague, the John Ryan translation. It is wordy, dense, and not at all clear. Read this Penguin version, written by Mr. Pine-Coffin (great name, huh?). It is a clear and concise translation. It's one thing to struggle with ideas in a book, but why should we have to struggle with the syntax? Go forth and read, young man!
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Summary: Confessing original sin
Review: In a style not accustomed to my modern ear, Augustine outlines his early sins to final conversion "in the garden". Some the sins may seem seem minor, such as stealing pears as a lad, but the severity is not the issue for Augustine, but rather the nature of man toward evil (original sin). Throughout is a devotion to his mother Monica, and it may be her patience and faith that is the most profound story. This may be the first autobiography, and it is written from a distinctly post-conversion view point, such that everything in his early life if viewed as separation from God. There are events that are unique to the 4th century such as his friends devotion to the gladiator games, the Manicheism early religion and his understanding of their fatalistic view of evil, and Platonic discussions. Augustine bridges the classical Greek era and a medieval Christianity. The last few chapters build an allegorical exposition between Genesis and the creation of a Christian. Augustine, perhaps more than any other defines the Christian self. He leads us between the pessimistic path of innate human depravity and the optimistic path of salvation through works. A conversion and grace experience must be given. His autobiography stresses the psychological, internal life of Christians.
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