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The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner
The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner | James Hogg
11 posts | 26 read | 24 to read
In this gripping tale of murder, madness, and demonic possession, the son of a radical Calvinist minister takes off on a crime spree in eighteenth-century Scotland. Robert Wringhim attributes his misdeeds to the influence of a sinister companion, Gil-Martin but it remains to be seen whether Gil-Martin really exists. Published anonymously in 1824, this ahead-of-its-time novel offers a haunting exploration of religious fanaticism and the power of evil. Scottish poet and novelist James Hogg (17701835) overcame his lowly birth and lack of education to become one of the most admired writers of his day. His writings fell into obscurity after his death until their rediscovery in the 1940s by Andr Gide and other critics. The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner is Hogg's best-known and most highly acclaimed work.
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BarbaraBB
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Panpan

Robert Wringhim is a religious fanatic: he believes God chose him to kill those he believes are already damned. Encouraged by a foreigner who becomes his best friend, they start shadowing his most important victim: his elder brother, the one acknowledged by their father.
Set in Scotland in Calvinistic times this classic has been perceived both as #gothichorror and as crime fiction. I don‘t know, I‘m just glad I‘m done.

#1001books #Booked2020

squirrelbrain Sounds like you should just let it sink right to the bottom of that bath! 🤣 4y
BarbaraBB I like the edition, otherwise I would have 🙃 4y
Cinfhen Ha!! Good suggestion @squirrelbrain and awesome photo @BarbaraBB ♥️ 4y
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LeahBergen And now I feel like a bubble bath. 🛁 4y
Ruthiella Yikes! Too bad. 4y
Reggie Have you ever seen the movie Frailty? Where there is a serial killer on the loose and these 2 brothers find out it‘s their dad who says an angel has been giving him a list of people to kill. And then one of the sons shows up on the list. It‘s pretty good. The book sounds like that movie. 4y
BarbaraBB @Reggie That is weird! I Googled the movie and no mention is made of the book though they do seem similar in many ways indeed! 4y
BarbaraTheBibliophage Oof. That‘s sounds odd. But the bath is a great idea! 4y
65 likes8 comments
review
rwmg
Pickpick

This peculiar book is a mixture of parody of confessional literature, criticism of extreme theology, and horror. It took me a while to get my bearings, but once I had, I loved it.

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rwmg
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Having finished the first part (The Editor's Narrative), I am ready to start the main story for #myfirstreadathon #24B4Monday tomorrow.

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rwmg
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The thumbnail provided on my reader but no actual cover picture in the book

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rwmg

There were whisperings apart—the party

separated ; and, in order to shake off the the blight

ing influence of this dogged persecutor, they enter

ed sundry houses of their acquaintances, with an

understanding that they were to meet on the Links

for a game at cricket.

They did so ; and, stripping off part of their

clothes, they began that violent and spirited game.

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plathcamusdostoyevskyjagger
Mehso-so

Very unsettling, but brilliant.

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Aseleener
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Panpan

I read this for my classic lit book club. I did the audio version and admittedly, I don't do well with accents. I just could not get into this and found it incredibly boring. Overuse of the word "illustrious" drove me crazy!

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HardcoverHearts
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I‘ve been sick as a dog for the past 3 weeks and unable to read. But I am back at it. I realized that my week in Oxford will be coming up soon (July) so I need to start reading the coursework now. I‘m very excited about this session- 200 Years of British Murder. I‘m starting with this one. I‘ve included the 5 books we have to read and then discuss for the fives days of study while I am at Christ Church, in case anyone is curious. 🤓

merelybookish Sounds amazing! 7y
LiteraryinPA That sounds like a wonderful course! 7y
Sarah83 Sounds great. So sorry to hear you were so sick 7y
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HardcoverHearts It‘s the best program. I studied Oxford Murder last year (Dorothy Sayers, Edmund Crispin, etc) when I went and loved it so much, I decided to do it again this year, @merelybookish, @LiteraryinLititz . (edited) 7y
readordierachel Wow, that's awesome! 7y
jenniferw88 Loved Hogg's book! Quick tip: if you have an essay to write, 2 books that i think will go well together will be Hogg's & His Bloody Project! 7y
HardcoverHearts @jenniferw88 That‘s the last one on the list!! Good call! He originally had Kate Atkinson‘s Case Histories on the list but swapped it for His Bloody Project. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 7y
Reviewsbylola Sounds amazing!! 7y
HardcoverHearts @Sarah83 I actually found a Folio Society version of this book at a used bookstore here! The spine seems to be the wrong way, but I love it even with that quirk! 😉 7y
Sarah83 Folio books are always great ☺️👍 7y
LeahBergen I‘ve wanted to do one of these courses for years. ❤️❤️❤️ 7y
HardcoverHearts @LeahBergen I cannot recommend it highly enough. It‘s a dream. If you can afford the time and expense, you should do it. It‘s life changing. 7y
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katrina
This post contains spoilers
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I... But... Dude just discovered someone's magically preserved grave and he's saying that this guy couldn't have possibly been haunted by a devil?? I mean, I agree Richie definitely lost the plot somewhere around page one but something at least some of it was real. (And we kinda all got the criticism without having it spoon-fed again.)

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jenniferw88
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#lastlines #splashintosummerreads Please excuse my alarm clock at the bottom of the photo! @Tiffy_Reads