Saint Augustine's Sin (Augustine, Confessiones. Bk. 3.)

I want to start this review by thanking Garry Wills for giving us this real gem of a book. I found it in the new books section of my local library, and, intrigued (Augustine's *Confessions* being one of the few books I've enjoyed enough to read more than once), I brought it home with me. I returned it the next day, having devoured it in the meantime.It is a rare gift to be able to take a work over 1600 years old and make it fresh and new again, but it is clearly a gift Wills possesses in spades. I can say with complete honesty that this small book has changed the way I think about this seminal figure and has re-ignited my interest in his works.*Saint Augustine's Sin* is divided into four parts. The first part is Wills' summary of Augustine's view of sin, with a focus on Augustine's key example: his theft of pears as a young hooligan. Wills expertly re-weaves Augustine's analysis to drive home just why such an outwardly ordinary act becomes in Augustine's mind representative of sin in general.The second part consists of a translation of the relevant material from the *Confessions*. Wills' translation captures the wordplay and rhetorical flourish of Augustine so well, one may easily fall prey to thinking that Augustine really wrote it in English. Wills also includes on facing pages Biblical passages and other quotes alluded to in Augustine's rich writing.The third and fourth parts consist of Wills' commentary on the text and not-so-supplementary material from Augustine's other writings.*Saint Augustine's Sin* is short, but what it succeeds in doing in such a short space is phenomenal. No one will put down this book unrewarded.