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'We have heard much of the rage of fanaticism in former days, but nothing to this' A wretched young man, 'an outcast in the world', tells the story of his upbringing by a heretical Calvinist minister who leads him to believe that he is one of the elect, predestined for salvation and thus above the moral law. Falling under the spell of a mysterious stranger who bears an uncanny likeness to himself, he embarks on a career as a serial murderer. Robert Wringhim's Memoirs are presented by an editor whose attempts to explain the story only succeed in intensifying its more baffling and bizarre aspects. Is Wringhim the victim of a psychotic delusion, or has he been tempted by the devil to wage war against God's enemies? Hogg's sardonic and terrifying novel, too perverse for nineteenth-century taste, is now recognized as one of the masterpieces of Romantic fiction. The first edition text of 1824 has been freshly considered for this new edition. A critical introduction explores the remarkable career of the novel's author and its historical, theological, and cultural contexts.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Written in 1824 but set about a century earlier in early seventeenth Scotland, 'The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner' actually tells the same tale twice: once by an unnamed editor and once by the (equally anonymous) sinner himself. In a nutshell the story tells of how the Laird of Dalcastle had two sons but, though both born of the same mother, for some reason or other refused to acknowledge the second. The firstborn, George, grows up to be an easy, outgoing young man while the second, Robert (the sinner of the title), is raised by the Reverend Wringhim, a stern and radical divine, and soon becomes a haughty and arrogant youth. Convinced that he is one of 'the elect' (according to the calvinist notion of predestination), he begins to pester his brother. And then, seemingly by coincidence, Robert meets a very intriguing man that begins to converse with him on religious matters, and before long Robert finds himself utterly entranced by this mysterious 'Gil-martin'.
I acknowledge this all may sound rather dull and nothing but religious claptrap, but in fact the book offers the very opposite: it's written in a very easy and fluent style (here and there in Scottisch dialect which I confess was at times difficult for a non-native speaker such as myself), and the plot moves along rapidly. Also, Hogg uses the technique of telling the same tale twice (but from different points of view) to great effect: by the time I finished the editor's version I was extremely eager to discover the sinner's version.
Now having been raised a Roman Catholic myself but since years an atheist I first of all am not extremely interested in religious doctrines and discussions, and secondly do not know a lot about Calvinism, Presbyterianism and so on and so forth (something I hope to remedy soon by reading Diarmaid MacCulloch's A History of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years) but even to one such as me it was fascinating to read where - if taken to extremes - the notion of predestination may lead. Indeed, if you consider yourself one of the elect and 'saved' whatever happens or whatever you do, one might truly become a 'justified sinner' intent on ridding the earth of those who are not elect. Effectively, if they are doomed regardless, why should it matter if they die now, or next year, or in 20 years?
This is what Gil-martin argues and one might wonder (many have) if he is meant to be a personification of the devil. Hogg is very subtle on this point: although there are numerous pointers throughout the book, I for one found it impossible to conclude with absolute certainty that Gil-martin is in fact the devil. He may as well be a figment of Robert's imagination, and the numerous conversations he has with Gil-martin nothing but the ramblings of a deranged mind.
Whatever the case, it's all very well done and - always a good sign to my mind - as relevant today as it was in 1824. Very warmly recommended!
I acknowledge this all may sound rather dull and nothing but religious claptrap, but in fact the book offers the very opposite: it's written in a very easy and fluent style (here and there in Scottisch dialect which I confess was at times difficult for a non-native speaker such as myself), and the plot moves along rapidly. Also, Hogg uses the technique of telling the same tale twice (but from different points of view) to great effect: by the time I finished the editor's version I was extremely eager to discover the sinner's version.
Now having been raised a Roman Catholic myself but since years an atheist I first of all am not extremely interested in religious doctrines and discussions, and secondly do not know a lot about Calvinism, Presbyterianism and so on and so forth (something I hope to remedy soon by reading Diarmaid MacCulloch's A History of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years) but even to one such as me it was fascinating to read where - if taken to extremes - the notion of predestination may lead. Indeed, if you consider yourself one of the elect and 'saved' whatever happens or whatever you do, one might truly become a 'justified sinner' intent on ridding the earth of those who are not elect. Effectively, if they are doomed regardless, why should it matter if they die now, or next year, or in 20 years?
This is what Gil-martin argues and one might wonder (many have) if he is meant to be a personification of the devil. Hogg is very subtle on this point: although there are numerous pointers throughout the book, I for one found it impossible to conclude with absolute certainty that Gil-martin is in fact the devil. He may as well be a figment of Robert's imagination, and the numerous conversations he has with Gil-martin nothing but the ramblings of a deranged mind.
Whatever the case, it's all very well done and - always a good sign to my mind - as relevant today as it was in 1824. Very warmly recommended!
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
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3 reviews
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Fun!
28 Jun 2011
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
One of the aspects that I like about "classic literature" as a cultural product is it's sheer..."know-ability." By "know-ability" I mean the HUGE volume of writing by different groups of intellectuals on the subject, both on individual works and "classic literature" as a group of artistic products. An interested reader can wallow forever in the pools and eddies of the stream of writing issuing forth on, say, 19th century British literature. Like all subjects of knowledge, classic literature has seen a logarithmic explosion of academic, quasi-academic and non-academic writing in the last 50 years, but the debate PRIOR to World War II is relatively easy to get a handle on: A set number of works, a set number of theories.
The real pleasure for me comes in reading a work that I had never heard about prior to reading. One of the primary pleasures of intellectual pursuits is the joy of discovery: finding out something you didn't know before. It's a quiet, private pleasure that doesn't require a group for validation. This was the case for me with James Hogg's The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner, originally published in 1824. Private Memoirs is not quite the first serial killer novel, not quite the first historical novel, and certainly not the first novel of the Scottish literary boom of the early 19th century, but it was influenced by all of those literary trends and more besides. Private Memoirs takes the form of two opposed narratives: One by an anonymous Editor, purporting to recount the same series of events the other narrative, the Private Memoirs and Confessions of the title. The Justified Sinner in this case is Robert Wringhim, the bastard son of a Scottish Laird and his over-zealous religious wife.
Wringhim is what you call a "serial killer" and his activity takes place against the background of what today we would call "psychotic episodes" and what they then called "being haunted by the Devil." The Devil in this case is the affable "Gill-Martin." He's a charmer, and a shape shifter, and maybe a figment of Wringhim's imagination, and maybe not. The knowledge that this book was written in the early 1820s is interesting too contemplate. While Hogg was not drawing on terra incognita in his Gil Martin figure (Goethe's Faust had appeared in Scottish periodicals prior to this book being written, the overall combination of the doubling/visit by the devil/serial killer/scottish historical novel styles of 19th century literature is an intoxicating blend. Private Memoirs doesn't go on for 500 pages, either- it's readable in a weekend afternoon.
Before reading the book, I was surprised to read Ian Duncan's claim that this is now the most popular 19th century Scottish novel, but after finishing, it makes perfect sense. Sharp, scary, funny and downright weird, Private Memoirs is a novel that holds up waaaayyyyyyyyy after it was published.
The real pleasure for me comes in reading a work that I had never heard about prior to reading. One of the primary pleasures of intellectual pursuits is the joy of discovery: finding out something you didn't know before. It's a quiet, private pleasure that doesn't require a group for validation. This was the case for me with James Hogg's The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner, originally published in 1824. Private Memoirs is not quite the first serial killer novel, not quite the first historical novel, and certainly not the first novel of the Scottish literary boom of the early 19th century, but it was influenced by all of those literary trends and more besides. Private Memoirs takes the form of two opposed narratives: One by an anonymous Editor, purporting to recount the same series of events the other narrative, the Private Memoirs and Confessions of the title. The Justified Sinner in this case is Robert Wringhim, the bastard son of a Scottish Laird and his over-zealous religious wife.
Wringhim is what you call a "serial killer" and his activity takes place against the background of what today we would call "psychotic episodes" and what they then called "being haunted by the Devil." The Devil in this case is the affable "Gill-Martin." He's a charmer, and a shape shifter, and maybe a figment of Wringhim's imagination, and maybe not. The knowledge that this book was written in the early 1820s is interesting too contemplate. While Hogg was not drawing on terra incognita in his Gil Martin figure (Goethe's Faust had appeared in Scottish periodicals prior to this book being written, the overall combination of the doubling/visit by the devil/serial killer/scottish historical novel styles of 19th century literature is an intoxicating blend. Private Memoirs doesn't go on for 500 pages, either- it's readable in a weekend afternoon.
Before reading the book, I was surprised to read Ian Duncan's claim that this is now the most popular 19th century Scottish novel, but after finishing, it makes perfect sense. Sharp, scary, funny and downright weird, Private Memoirs is a novel that holds up waaaayyyyyyyyy after it was published.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
What a remarkable book!
31 Aug 2011
Format:Paperback
Published in 1824, this was a hundred years ahead of its time, and it's just now coming to be appreciated. Is it a gothic novel? A meta-novel? A precursor of magic realism? A warning against religious fanaticism? The book hinges on the extreme Calivinist concept of antinomianism: if you're predestined to be saved, you'll end up in heaven no matter what outrageous sins and crimes you commit. This obviously raises interesting moral dilemmas. Hogg was a contemporary and friend of Sir Walter Scott, but while Scott's prose sometimes puts modern readers to sleep, Hogg is more likely to keep you awake at night!
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
DON"T MISS THIS CLASSIC
1 Oct 2011
Format:Paperback
AN AMAZING BOOK. How can this book be over looked so long? Don't let it continue! Read this book from 1824 and be blown away. THE PRIVATE MEMOIRS AND CONFESSIONS OF A JUSTIFIED SINNER is classified as Scottish Romanticism...what it is is a dark tale of a serial killer, dark and modern in its creepiness. I think you will greatly enjoy the book.
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