The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner (1824)

Not sure I got much from this. Repeating the story from two perspectives and the epilogue which seems to lampshade the idea that the author was going out of their way to be confusing in terms of plot, character and theme left me none the wiser. Read it because Ian Rankin stated his "The Black Book" owed something to this work but I'm afraid I didn't see it. ( )

Despite the pretend double-bluff contained within I'm going to go with the critique of Calvinism interpretation. It probably dates me that what I first thought a few chapters in wasn't Jekyll and Hyde but Fight Club. As for the name Gil Martin, it occurs to me that it's phonetically close to God Almighty which would makes sense seeing as he's created by the protagonist and to him that's what he appears to be. Beyond being ahead of its time it's not that exceptional but I really enjoyed it - I liked the multiple angles (both in the context of narration and interpretation). ( )

https://lyceum.org.uk/whats-on/production/confessions-of-a-justified-sinner ( )

***** for this volume's main entry. This is a one-of-a-kind book that manages to tell the same story in two different ways and achieve two different reactions on the part of the reader. The villain of the first part becomes the narrator of the second part, and it turns out that there are some mitigating circumstances--namely, Satan! Believing completely in predestination and that the Christian saved are that way from birth, and that nothing they can do in life can change that, the villain can commit any crime with everlasting--though perhaps not immediate--impunity. To say more would spoil the experience. The book is full of Scots dialect, but pretty easy to understand, as the thickest dialect is reserved for the speech of rustic characters. (The glossary at the back of the book is very selective, so most dialect words aren't even defined, but I found it wasn't that hard to get the gist, and there's always Google.) In any case, this is a unique reading experience and about as good a story of the devil as you'll find. It has memorable scenes, great characters, and well-drawn settings. And even humor. Don't miss it.

And I should note that it isn't necessary to understand the various competing Scottish theologies and factions or other things the editor's over-complex introduction discusses. In fact, you'll probably enjoy it more by skipping the introduction, since it really does nothing to help you read the story. (At least, it has no spoilers, so I'll give it that much credit.) Reading it afterwards would probably make it better.

The Penguin Classics edition includes two more stories in the volume:

Marion's Jock ****
Once you get past the nearly impenetrable Scots dialect, this story of a very hungry servant and the lengths he goes to to satisfy his desire for meat is quite entertaining and funny.

John Gray O' Middlehome ****
This is another enjoyable story, despite the Scots dialect, of a weaver who has a dream of buried treasure. The reactions of his wife and the people of his village to his strange behavior are very funny. ( )

I bought a copy of James Hogg's "The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner" for a group read months ago. The cover of this edition freaked one of my kids out, so I put it "away" and promptly lost it... it turned up recently so I decided to give it a go.

The plot of the story is centered around Robert, who may or may not have been the son of Laird Colwan -- who grows up a Calvinist who believes he has been chosen to go to heaven no matter what he does. He comes under the influence of a man -- or the devil -- and commits a series of crimes (or the devil does.)

If it sounds convoluted, you're right it is. At times this was tough to get to, although I thought the overall concept of the story was interesting. The execution was what made it a tough read. ( )