Confessions (Oxford World's Classics) - Softcover

Rousseau, Jean-Jacques

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0192822756 ISBN 13: 9780192822758

Publisher: Oxford Paperbacks, 2000

Synopsis

'No one can write a man's life except himself.' In his Confessions Jean-Jacques Rousseau tells the story of his life, from the formative experience of his humble childhood in Geneva, through the achievement of international fame as novelist and philosopher in Paris, to his wanderings as an exile, persecuted by governments and alienated from the world of modern civilization. In trying to explain who he was and how he came to be the object of others' admiration and abuse, Rousseau analyses with unique insight the relationship between an elusive but essential inner self and the variety of social identities he was led to adopt. The book vividly illustrates the mixture of moods and motives that underlie the writing of autobiography: defiance and vulnerability, self-exploration and denial, passion, puzzlement, and detachment. Above all, Confessions is Rousseau's search, through every resource of language, to convey what he despairs of putting into words: the personal quality of one's own existence.

About this title

About the Author

A philosopher, literary figure, and composer, Jean - Jacques Rousseau(1712 - 1778) was born in Geneva. Left alone at 10, he moved to Paris when he was 16. His ideas and philosophies laid the foundations of the French Revolution and for the liberal and socialist doctrines of Europe. Confessions gave a new turn to the art of autobiography - writing. The Social Contract is his most important work-it deciphers the relationship between man and society.

From the Back Cover

In his posthumously published Confessions Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-78) describes the first fifty-three years of his life. With a frankness at times almost disconcerting, but always refreshing, he set out to reveal the whole truth about himself to the world and succeeded in producing a masterpiece which has left its indelible imprint on the literature of successive generations, influencing among others Proust, Goethe and Tolstoy.

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford Paperbacks
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0192822756
• ISBN 13: 9780192822758
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 720
• Editor: Coleman Patrick