Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: The Confession of Saint Patrick: And, Letter to Coroticus by Saint Patrick, Patrick Epistola Ad Milites Corotici, John Skinner, Patrick ISBN: 0-385-49163-8 Publisher: Image Pub. Date: 01 March, 1998 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $6.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 (2 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: interesting work -- autobiographical, not autobiography
Comment: This is a very short book (81 pages long, 111 if you include the prefaces and the frontispiece, big print, easily fitting in your jacket pocket) and includes Patrick's Lorica -- the hymn known as the Deer's Cry or Faeth Fiada as well as The Letter to the Soldiers of Coroticus (basically a public pillory of Coroticus) and St. Patrick's Confession.
If you are interested in buying The Confession because you want a straight-forward account of St. Patrick's life, you should be warned that it will not serve that purpose. If that is what you're looking for, I recommend you buy a biography instead. Given that the literary conventions for autobiographies had yet to be established, this work is much like St. Augustine's Confessions but more laconic and oblique. Apparently, it was written in defense of his character, having been recently defamed by his ecclesiastical competitors in England. As such, I think it would be best approached as an example of St. Patrick's theology. The editor has been very helpful in this regard by noting in the text every instance St. Patrick is quoting from the Bible. I'd estimate, on that basis, that quotes from, allusions to, the Bible account for around 40% of the text. Thus, if you want to understand the work, you probably want to read it with a Bible near so you can follow the thread of St. Patrick's argument/allusion. However, as you might imagine, this adds substantially to the amount of time required to digest the book.
I found A Letter to the Soldiers of Coroticus much more accessible, which makes sense given its intended audience - the faithful of Ireland. It comprises about a fifth of the book and was very interesting to me, at least, as an example of the power of ideas, how they can be used to bind together a community which can then be wielded as a tool, and why, in the competition between the old or pagan meme with the Christian one, the Christian meme more or less prevailed.
"Deer's Cry" is only a few pages long, and not more than nice to have. It clearly illustrates, however, the difficulties John Skinner (the translator) notes of translating these works, namely the loss of the chiastic structure and overall prosody. This is a problem of translation in general, but I would wager that these works are particularly difficult in that regard. I trust the translation is good, but I thought prospective buyers who, like me, are unfamiliar with St. Patrick and his times should be made aware of these difficulties.
With the above in mind, I would recommend this book as an interesting primary source for the thinking, life and times of St. Patrick which, in places, are both beautiful and disturbing.
Rating: 5
Summary: You'll read it over and over again
Comment: This charming little book is a great guide for anyone who wants to know the man who is St. Patrick. In this work, O'Donohue doesn't discuss the legends that surround Patrick but translates Patrick's own writings and adds an insightful commentary. The author offers a new examination of Patrick as he suggests that Patrick's hard-to-decipher language is not the result of Patrick's lack of learning, as Patrick and many of his commentators claim, but the result of Patrick's own brilliant mind trying to bring the message of the Gospel to the Celts in their own language. This book will take you directly to the heart of a simple saint who's witness to Christ changed the fate of Ireland and, consequently, the fate of the world.
 |
Title: The Life of St. Patrick and His Place in History by John B. Bury, J. B. Bury ISBN: 0486400379 Publisher: Dover Publications Pub. Date: 01 March, 1998 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
 |
Title: How the Irish Saved Civilization: The Untold Story of Ireland's Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe (Hinges of History) by Thomas Cahill ISBN: 0385418493 Publisher: Anchor Pub. Date: 01 March, 1996 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
 |
Title: Let Me Die in Ireland, the True Story of Patrick by David W. Bercot ISBN: 0924722088 Publisher: Scroll Publishing Company Pub. Date: 06 January, 1999 List Price(USD): $8.95 |
 |
Title: Patrick: The Pilgrim Apostle of Ireland by Maire B. De Paor, Patrick Confessio, Patrick Epistola Ad Milites Corotici ISBN: 0060009020 Publisher: ReganBooks Pub. Date: 22 January, 2002 List Price(USD): $27.95 |
 |
Title: St. Patrick of Ireland : A Biography by Philip Freeman ISBN: 0743256328 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 09 March, 2004 List Price(USD): $23.00 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
