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| Confessions of Saint Augustine (Image Book) | 
 enlarge | Author: St. Augustine
Creator: John K. Ryan
Publisher: Image
Category: Book
List Price: $10.95
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You Save: $10.94 (100%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  (16 reviews)
Sales Rank: 272440
Languages: Latin (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Edition: Image Books ed
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 432
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.3 x 1
ISBN: 0385029551
Dewey Decimal Number: 242
EAN: 9780385029551
ASIN: 0385029551
Publication Date: August 23, 1960
Release Date: August 23, 1960
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
The greatest spiritual autobiography of all time, this classic work is a literary and theological masterpiece. John K. Ryan's masterful translation brings out the luster of Augustine's unmatched tale of his soul's journey to God.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 11 more reviews...
 Inspiring and Heartwarming October 4, 2008
I had read an abridged version of the Confessions but there seemed to be so much missing and in this book I found all the panorama of the whole. A delightful read which tells more about Augustine than any history book ever could. I cried with him when his mother died. He asks God so many of the questions we all ask and his ability to stand apart from himself and critique himself with brutal honesty makes the Confessions the masterpiece that it is.
 A low budget publication November 29, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
When I bought this audiobook I was expecting something more dramatical and poetical than what Bernard Mayes read. I understand they used an old-fashioned English but quite elegant translation, but the problem is Mr. Mayes reading of it. It is really difficult to follow his way. Also the sound system used for the recording is terrible and make the impression of being low budget. This is not my first Blackstone Audiobook and that is what surprise me!!! I always thought of Blackstone Audiobook as a good-standing alternative to Naxos but now I think they need to keep a more strict eye in their production.
horrible May 23, 2007
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
Bernard Mayes mutilates the reading of this wonderful book. He sounds like Gollum from the Lord of the Rings. His reading is just horrible. Some word pronouncements are barely audible, the sounding of the letter s, makes it sound like he has some teeth missing. I am continually having to adjust my sound dial as he is up and down with the sound of his voice. I have no idea why blacstone audio went with this guy.
More contemporary translation March 21, 2006
9 out of 15 found this review helpful
Any edition of Confessions of Saint Augustine is "must" reading for anyone who has traveled a road of self-examination about right/wrong, good/evil and finding truth. Augustine surely dissected his own belief system and came to terms with the meaning and purpose of life. I have read several translations of Confessions and have found them all worthwhile reading. I shall yet, read them again.
Confessions of Saint Augustine (Image Book) October 5, 2005
14 out of 19 found this review helpful
In The Confessions of Saint Augustine, Augustine concentrates on his powerful and zealous ongoing spiritual questions. His dairy- type book tells of the history of one man's struggle to obtain and maintain a close spiritual walk with God. John K. Ryan translated the book in an attempt to make Augustine's work more reader friendly.
John K. Ryan's translation of "The Confessions of Saint Augustine" is a very easy book to read. His 22-page introduction and notes with Bible scriptures at the back of the book help the reader understand and tie together St. Augustine's work. The scriptures that Ryan provided the reader appeared to come from the King James Bible. With this in mind, I examined the possibility that Ryan was Protestant and not Catholic in his own spiritual ideology. I than questioned if that had tainted his translation. Therefore, I read parts of other translations of the Confession found on the Internet and discovered them all to be like-minded. I concluded that Ryan's translation didn't show any bias, but tried to relay to the reader that Saint Augustine's true desire was to understand God's "Will". Therefore, Augustine was portrayed as a sinner turned saint. The book was organized in a chronological manner, taking the reader from the beginning of Augustine's spiritual journey to being known as a saint and a church father. Ryan's approach to translating "The Confession of Saint Augustine" was a social history because his translations were geared toward the aspects of civil society that show the evolution of social norms, behaviors, and more.
"The Confessions of Saint Augustine" is a valuable read because it offers a first hand look at how Augustine struggled to understand God's divine power and aspiration for his life, and to be of assistance to others in the future. He raised questions that men and women since time began have questioned during their sacred walk with the Supreme Being known as God. His personal thirst for righteousness consumed his life, and he is known as one of the great Christian thinkers.
The Confession was not what I thought it would be. I truly thought it would be a book full of confessions from a saint that was "suppose" to be a prefect person that had fallen by the spiritual wayside. Instead, the Confession was like an autobiographical journal, which did included doctrine, scriptures, studies, praise, memories, and confessions. I was impressed by his ability to swing from scriptures to his own thoughts, but had you not read the scriptures prior to reading the book you may not have realized the source of this information.
Augustine was a wonderful philosopher/thinker and his writings have been the subject of many discussions throughout history since it was written in 397 A.D. However, the Confession was written in a prayer-like manner addressing various issues making it difficult to focus on the subject for long periods of time.
Some of the things Augustine questioned to the "simple-minded" or should I say "non-philosopher type" is somewhat of a given. For example: in The Infant Augustine, he wrote, "I myself do not remember this. Therefore, the comfort of human milk nourished me, but neither my mother nor my nurse filled their own breast. Rather, through them you gave me as an infant's food in accordance with your law and out of the riches that you have distributed even down to the lowest level of thing." (7) Why did he question such things? Female animals of all types feed their young from the breast. This is natural. He apparently was so far above me as a thinker that where he was going with this is beyond my comprehension, unless, he was just saying, "Thank you Lord for supplying my needs even as a child, when I knew you not." He almost said these same words in the next few sentences but to go back so far and question every aspect is as I said before, beyond my comprehension.
As you can tell I have never read a book of this nature before unless you count the King James Bible, but I did try to keep an open mind. I was surprised that he didn't appear to be a happy Christian in all his efforts to be "Christ like". This disappointed me. However, there were times while reading the book I could relate to Augustine and many of his questions. This book reminded me that no matter what God a person chooses to serve, as human beings we want to become the best we can be spiritually.
During my reading I realized that Augustine through his quest for righteousness must have gone through many of the same stages that persons in earlier cultures and time periods have. For example: he questioned what pleased God, how should he praise and show his thankfulness to God, and in what way did he want to serve God. Throughout world history these same questions have been asked at one time or another.
Ryan did a wonderful job of translating the Confession. Augustine's book written like a diary made the confessions more personal. He was one of the greatest thinkers and Christian fathers of his era. His spiritual struggles were genuine; his desire for righteousness was obvious in his writing. I sit in awe at his wisdom and his pursuit of knowledge. This book was a good read and I will study it again someday. It gave me insight to what other cultures throughout history underwent to comprehend and to determine what path of Christianity they would embrace.
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