Confessions (Augustine)

This is basically the first ever written autobiography. Written by Saint Augustine around 400 AD, it follows his life from birth through his teenage years into adulthood, while also tracing his spiritual journey. Beginning as someone educated in Greek literature, moving through the heretical Christian sect of Manichaeism, and finally culminating in his conversion to Christianity.

The book is beautifully written. It is especially impressive how he interweaves his own reflections with quotations from the Bible, which appear throughout the text. I would say Book 8 is the most beautiful, while the last two books are the most philosophical, dealing with the nature of time and offering an interpretation of Genesis. It is also striking how many times I thought, “Wow, this question is still relevant today.” For example, Augustine’s struggle with the nature of time could easily come straight out of philosophical papers from the 1980s.