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Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner
Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner | James Hogg
11 posts | 26 read | 24 to read
One of the supreme masterpieces of Romantic fiction and Scottish literature, The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner is a terrifying tale of murder and amorality, and of one man's descent into madness and despair. James Hogg's sardonic novel follows a young man who, falling under the spell of a mysterious stranger who bears an uncanny likeness to himself, embarks on a career as a serial murderer. The memoirs are presented by a narrator whose attempts to explain the story only succeed in intensifying its more baffling and bizarre aspects. Is the young man the victim of a psychotic delusion, or has he been tempted by the devil to wage war against God's enemies? The authoritative and lively introduction by Ian Duncan covers the full range of historical and religious themes and contexts, offers a richer and more accurate consideration of the novel's relation to Romantic fiction than found elsewhere, and sheds new light on the novel's treatment of fanaticism. Copious notes identify the novel's historical, biblical, theological, and literary allusions. About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.
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vivastory
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#SinisterArt Day 5
There's something about Blake's art that is perennially relevant to tales of murder. The above painting The Ghost of the Flea is the cover art for the NYRB edition of Hogg's book, while the Oxford World's Classics features one of Blake's Great Red Dragon paintings. Speaking of Red Dragon, there's of course the Harris book & Blake also features in Tokarczuk's Drive Your Plough Over the Bones of the Dead.

BarbaraBB I recognized this from the NYRB edition! 1y
vivastory @BarbaraBB Good memory! Ive always thought it sounded very intriguing. Have you read it? I think it's on the #1001 list 1y
DaveGreen7777 This was also used as the cover of Bruce Dickinson‘s album “The Chemical Wedding”! 🤘🎶 1y
BarbaraBB Yes I did but didn‘t like it much. 1y
49 likes4 comments
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BarbaraBB
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Panpan

Robert Wringhim is a religious fanatic: he believes God chose him to kill those he believes are already damned. Encouraged by a foreigner who becomes his best friend, they start shadowing his most important victim: his elder brother, the one acknowledged by their father.
Set in Scotland in Calvinistic times this classic has been perceived both as #gothichorror and as crime fiction. I don‘t know, I‘m just glad I‘m done.

#1001books #Booked2020

squirrelbrain Sounds like you should just let it sink right to the bottom of that bath! 🤣 3y
BarbaraBB I like the edition, otherwise I would have 🙃 3y
Cinfhen Ha!! Good suggestion @squirrelbrain and awesome photo @BarbaraBB ♥️ 3y
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LeahBergen And now I feel like a bubble bath. 🛁 3y
Ruthiella Yikes! Too bad. 3y
Reggie Have you ever seen the movie Frailty? Where there is a serial killer on the loose and these 2 brothers find out it‘s their dad who says an angel has been giving him a list of people to kill. And then one of the sons shows up on the list. It‘s pretty good. The book sounds like that movie. 3y
BarbaraBB @Reggie That is weird! I Googled the movie and no mention is made of the book though they do seem similar in many ways indeed! 3y
BarbaraTheBibliophage Oof. That‘s sounds odd. But the bath is a great idea! 3y
65 likes8 comments
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rwmg
Pickpick

This peculiar book is a mixture of parody of confessional literature, criticism of extreme theology, and horror. It took me a while to get my bearings, but once I had, I loved it.

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rwmg
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Having finished the first part (The Editor's Narrative), I am ready to start the main story for #myfirstreadathon #24B4Monday tomorrow.

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rwmg
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The thumbnail provided on my reader but no actual cover picture in the book

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rwmg

There were whisperings apart—the party

separated ; and, in order to shake off the the blight

ing influence of this dogged persecutor, they enter

ed sundry houses of their acquaintances, with an

understanding that they were to meet on the Links

for a game at cricket.

They did so ; and, stripping off part of their

clothes, they began that violent and spirited game.

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plathcamusdostoyevskyjagger
Mehso-so

Very unsettling, but brilliant.

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Aseleener
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Panpan

I read this for my classic lit book club. I did the audio version and admittedly, I don't do well with accents. I just could not get into this and found it incredibly boring. Overuse of the word "illustrious" drove me crazy!

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HardcoverHearts
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I‘ve been sick as a dog for the past 3 weeks and unable to read. But I am back at it. I realized that my week in Oxford will be coming up soon (July) so I need to start reading the coursework now. I‘m very excited about this session- 200 Years of British Murder. I‘m starting with this one. I‘ve included the 5 books we have to read and then discuss for the fives days of study while I am at Christ Church, in case anyone is curious. 🤓

merelybookish Sounds amazing! 6y
LiteraryinLawrence That sounds like a wonderful course! 6y
Sarah83 Sounds great. So sorry to hear you were so sick 6y
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HardcoverHearts It‘s the best program. I studied Oxford Murder last year (Dorothy Sayers, Edmund Crispin, etc) when I went and loved it so much, I decided to do it again this year, @merelybookish, @LiteraryinLititz . (edited) 6y
readordierachel Wow, that's awesome! 6y
jenniferw88 Loved Hogg's book! Quick tip: if you have an essay to write, 2 books that i think will go well together will be Hogg's & His Bloody Project! 6y
HardcoverHearts @jenniferw88 That‘s the last one on the list!! Good call! He originally had Kate Atkinson‘s Case Histories on the list but swapped it for His Bloody Project. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 6y
Reviewsbylola Sounds amazing!! 6y
HardcoverHearts @Sarah83 I actually found a Folio Society version of this book at a used bookstore here! The spine seems to be the wrong way, but I love it even with that quirk! 😉 6y
Sarah83 Folio books are always great ☺️👍 6y
LeahBergen I‘ve wanted to do one of these courses for years. ❤️❤️❤️ 6y
HardcoverHearts @LeahBergen I cannot recommend it highly enough. It‘s a dream. If you can afford the time and expense, you should do it. It‘s life changing. 6y
26 likes1 stack add12 comments
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katrina
This post contains spoilers
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I... But... Dude just discovered someone's magically preserved grave and he's saying that this guy couldn't have possibly been haunted by a devil?? I mean, I agree Richie definitely lost the plot somewhere around page one but something at least some of it was real. (And we kinda all got the criticism without having it spoon-fed again.)

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jenniferw88
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#lastlines #splashintosummerreads Please excuse my alarm clock at the bottom of the photo! @Tiffy_Reads