The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner was published by the Scottish author James Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd, in 1824 to a hostile reception. The novel was rediscovered and publicised by André Gide, who read it without the preconceptions and prejudices which had condemned the novel on publication. In recent times the novel has been constantly in print, and in sales it is far more popular with the reading public than Hogg's other works, or even the works of his more famous contemporary Scottish writer Sir Walter Scott.
Now considered one of the great Scottish novels, Confessions of a Justified Sinner presents a complex narrative which demands multiple readings. Probably inspired by de Quincy's Murder Considered as One of the Fine Arts, Hogg offers two contradictory and unreliable accounts of the life and crimes of Robert Wringhim, a narrow-minded Calvinist son of the Manse. The first account, 'The Editor's Narrative', shows Wringhim from the perspective of the victims of his crimes. The second account, 'The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Sinner Written by Himself' provides Wringhim's own account of his life. The novel closes with more words from the unsympathetic anonymous editor, including a letter from the author.
The novel invites comparisons with Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment and may have provided the inspiration for Stephenson's The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde among others.
ORIGINAL BELOW
A classic gothic tale of good vs. evil set in a pseudo-Christian world of angels, devils, and demonic possession, this novel is on the rise in academic circles and has received wide acclaim for its probing quest into the nature of religious fanaticism and Calvinist predestination.
On publication the work met with a hostile reception,
On the surface the novel is a simple tale of a man meeting the devil and the various misadventures that subsequently follow, but on closer inspection the reader begins to doubt and question the most basic events in this tremendously complex novel. The novel is told by three main narrators, all of whom contradict each other and offer their own explanations for everything that has happened.
The novel has been cited as an inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde which examines the duality of good and evil.
External links edit
- The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner, at Project Gutenberg.