The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner

ISBN-13: 9780199217953 / Angielski / Miękka / 2010 / 272 str.

James Hogg

Opis

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.
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Recenzje

[The] Oxford Worlds Classics edition provides concise background information enough to allow the reader to understand the references without feeling that s/hes reading a history book and a glossary and notes which explain any unfamiliar terms or allusions. The informative introduction, by Ian Duncan, Professor of English at the University of California, Berkeley, sets the book in its historical and literary context, and provides some biographical information on the author.

O autorze

Ian Duncan has previously taught at Yale and Oregon universities and has been at UC Berkeley since 2001. He has edited several OWC editions including Doyle's The Lost World, Scott's Ivanhoe and Rob Roy, and the anthology Travel Writing 1700-1830 with Elizabeth Bohls. He is co-editor of the forthcoming (2011) Edinburgh Companion to James Hogg.