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Review
In Saint Augustine’s Memory, Garry Wills continues his extraordinary translation of Augustine’s Confessiones with his version of Book 10. Wills argues that Book 10 is the hinge book of the Confessions, making the turn from Augustine’s exploration of life before his baptism (Books 1-9) and his meditation on life after his acceptance of the Trinity (Books 11-13). More specifically, Book 10 focuses on the nature of memory and its relationship to the self, community, and God. Wills explains, “[Memory] is central not merely because he [Augustine] had to remember his past in order to give the account in the first nine books, but because memory is the place where he meets God, and others – and himself.” Augustine views memory as vast and dynamic, a place where we continually refashion what we remember and what we know. Ultimately, it is where we remake ourselves, determine our future actions, and form bonds of community. Reading Wills’s excellent translation, we are reminded of the exceptional power, subtlety, and beauty of Augustine’s writing and his relevance to contemporary discussions about memory, the self, and an understanding of God. Wills’s translation also includes an illuminating introduction as well as an appendix with a translation of Book 11, which includes Augustine’s meditation on the related concept of time.
In a review of the previous volume, Saint Augustine's Childhood, Peter Brown writes, "[Wills's] translations . . . . are sizzling. They are meant to bring Augustine straight into our minds; and they succeed. Well-known passages, over which my eyes have often glazed, spring to life again from Wills's pages."
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