|
by: Jostein Gaarder
Binding: Hardcover
EAN: 9781861590503
Format: Import
ISBN: 1861590504
Label: Phoenix House
Manufacturer: Phoenix House
Number Of Pages: 144
Publication Date: 1997
Publisher: Phoenix House
Sales Rank: 2221180
Studio: Phoenix House
Related Items:
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - A good philosophy book...
First of all, as another user has said, this book was written by Gaarder, not by Floria. At the beginning, Gaarder says that he found an old document from the XVI century in a bookstore in Argentina. He bought the document because he thought it was a letter written by Floria, a woman who was St. Augustine's lover when they were both young. Just ignore what Gaarder says about how he found the document, because that's something he made up from his mind.
Now onto the book. Gaarder uses ... Read More
Rating:  - Misleading
This book wants to be an answer to Augustin's famous "Confession". This book is fiction and it is strange that some reviewers think the letters to be real.
Gaarder lets the woman, with whom Augustin lived together for a long time, speak in letters answering to the Confessions of Augustin. The problem is that Gaarder's view of this woman is a woman of the 20th century, a woman who has no understanding for Augustin's religious belief or sexual morals. It seems Gaarder read this book, quickly ... Read More
Rating:  - Buy it!
Unlike some of the other reviewers, it seemed clear to me that the "introduction," "postscript" and footnotes that others assumed where "true" are part of the text and are also fiction. Gaarder did not find these letters; his story of finding them is part of the story (here he is honoring Jorge Luis Borges). It is a short, but deeply intriguing story. The book does raise serious concerns about elements of Augustine's theology (especially the doctrine of creation; is creation good?). At the same time, ... Read More
Rating: - Another side of Augustine ...
This is a compilation of letters from Floria Aemilia to Augustine, and it reveals quite another side of him. Anyone who has read his Confessiones cannot help but think what a boring life he lead .. however, after having read these letters, you realize that that was just one side of his life. These letters are moving and very interesting. True love letters from another time - yet they feel timeless. Surely such a love story could have taken place today, although the obstacles would have been different.
Read More
Rating: - Vita Brevis--"Life is Short"
I read this book entirely in one sitting. It is short and easy to read, and shows an often unseen side to St. Augustine. I had not read Augustine's Confessions before this, but I was unable to understand everything. Floria's letter quotes from Confessions many times so you can understand what she is talking about. I found this book to be rather moving, telling the romantic but doomed love story of a woman and man who later became one of God's servants, but at the time was just a man in love. Interesting ... Read More
|
