The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner
Ratings8
Average rating4
15
Ratings8
Average rating4
Published anonymously in 1824, this gothic mystery novel was written by Scottish author James Hogg. The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner was published as if it were the presentation of a century-old document. The unnamed editor offers the reader a long introduction before presenting the document written by the sinner himself.
Reviews with the most likes.
This is the novel that James Robertson so skilfully pays homage to with The Testament of Gideon Mack, and it is equally as brilliant. Like The Testament, Confessions recounts a mere mortal's meeting with the devil and all its consequences, and despite being published in 1824 it teeters bizarrely on the edge of postmodernism. Hogg's dense, florid writing makes this a challenging read at times but it's worth sticking with, if only to marvel at the fact that such a book could have been written and published at the beginning of the 19th century.
Although this is a relatively short book, it soon wears out its welcome. It becomes evident very early into Robert's story what is going on, but it then takes a long time to get to the end.
A strange mix of gothic horror, morality tale and critique of extreme Calvinism.
