Saint Augustine: A Penguin Life (Penguin Lives)

For centuries, Augustine's writings have moved and fascinated readers. With the fresh, keen eye of a writer whose own intellectual analysis has won him a Pulitzer Prize, Gary Wills examines this famed fourth-century bishop and seminal thinker whose grounding in classical philosophy informed his influential interpretation of the Christian doctrines of mind and body, wisdom and God. Saint Augustine explores both the great ruminator on the human condition and the everyday man who set pen to parchment. It challenges many misconceptions, among them those regarding his early sexual excesses. Here, for students, Christians, and voyagers into the new millennium, is a lively and incisive portrait of one who helped to shape our thoughts.

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LibraryThing member carterchristian1

There are as of this writing 33 Amazon reviews of this book,mostly by experts, and they are varied as to its place as a short introduction which is what Wills intended. I really like the book because it takes one of the most complex periods in European and North African history...Rome was dying,

but they didn't know it,Christianity was already well esta lished, individuals such as St.A moved easily around the sea. I think it is a good introduction and leads the reader to want to learn more.

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LibraryThing member BenKline

Well as usual, I wanted to finish this on Christmas Day/Night, but unfortunately as usual.... I didn't, so I finished it this morning.

This was a good look at Augustine's life, but not quite what I was expecting. I was expecting far more of a biography and a history of Augustine, and instead got

kind of a break-down of some parts of his life, some thoughts on his writings, and a scholarly look at why Garry Wills version of Augustine thoughts is different (and since he's writing this, better - in his opinion) than those of previous scholars of Augustine. Its a short book, only about 150 pages, but its a slow read due to the writing style, and how the quotes are presented. Long - page long paragraphs that always tend to end in quotes also makes it harder to read and stop since it all kind of runs together, and with no clear chapters (only pauses for location changes, when Augustine moved from Thagaste to Carthage to Rome, to Hippo, etc.) it also makes it harder to read and go like at work or at home with children running around.

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