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Jean-Jacques Rousseau
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Confessions (Oxford World's Classics)

4.2 out of 5 stars 137 ratings
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.
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  1. ISBN-10
    0192822756
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0192822758
  3. Publisher
    Oxford University Press
  4. Publication date
    May 18, 2000
  5. Language
    English
  6. Dimensions
    7.7 x 1.4 x 5.1 inches
  7. Print length
    720 pages
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Book Description

The fullest and most critically up-to-date paperback edition available

About the Author

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) was a Geneva-born philosopher of the Enlightenment whose political ideas influenced the French Revolution, the development of socialist theory, and the growth of nationalism. Patrick Coleman is at University of California, Los Angeles. Angela Scholar was formerly at Oxford, Cambridge and London Universities.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 18, 2000
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 720 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0192822756
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0192822758
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.1 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.7 x 1.4 x 5.1 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 out of 5 stars 137 ratings

About the author

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Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

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Jean-Jacques Rousseau (/ruːˈsoʊ/; French: [ʒɑ̃ʒak ʁuso]; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Francophone Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer of the 18th century. His political philosophy influenced the Enlightenment in France and across Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolution and the overall development of modern political and educational thought.

Rousseau's novel Emile, or On Education is a treatise on the education of the whole person for citizenship. His sentimental novel Julie, or the New Heloise was of importance to the development of pre-romanticism and romanticism in fiction. Rousseau's autobiographical writings — his Confessions, which initiated the modern autobiography, and his Reveries of a Solitary Walker — exemplified the late 18th-century movement known as the Age of Sensibility, and featured an increased focus on subjectivity and introspection that later characterized modern writing. His Discourse on Inequality and The Social Contract are cornerstones in modern political and social thought.

During the period of the French Revolution, Rousseau was the most popular of the philosophes among members of the Jacobin Club. Rousseau was interred as a national hero in the Panthéon in Paris, in 1794, 16 years after his death.

Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Photo by Maurice Quentin de La Tour [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

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4.2 out of 5 stars
137 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book to be a wonderful read with a gorgeous edition. They appreciate its influence, with one customer describing it as a very influential journal and insightful autobiography.

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ReadabilityInfluence
8 customers mention "Readability"8 positive0 negative

Customers find the book enjoyable to read, with one noting its brilliant prose and gorgeous edition, while another appreciates its richness in detail.

"...The book is entertaining and the prose brilliant...." Read more

"...But the book was a wonderful read and it was interesting reading something that detailed the life of an intellectual in France in that time...." Read more

"...hardcover is nicely put together — quality binding, good paper and readable font." Read more

"This edition is gorgeous, and the text is still as beautiful as it was when I first read it. I would reccomend this book to anyone. Truly anyone...." Read more

5 customers mention "Influence"5 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's influence, with one noting it as a very influential journal and insightful autobiography, while another describes it as an honest look at the author's life.

"Oh, the 18th Century was strange! What interesting people it produced!..." Read more

"An honest look upon the life of an 18th Century man, complete with his follies, faults, missteps, and even some of his justifications for his less..." Read more

"...richness in detail of all his memories and his impartiality when describing events in his life (although you can’t ever be sure with impartiality)..." Read more

"...A must read for today's youth. A little PG13 but lots of opportunity for literary deconstruction. Enjoyed thoroughly!" Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • smallask
    5.0 out of 5 stars Assigned for English Class
    Reviewed in the United States on June 15, 2012
    Verified Purchase
    I was given this book as part of the reading list of an english course I was taking in college. However, while reading the book, I came to appreciate it and continue reading it purely out of a personal need to finish it, and with less care of whether or not I was mandated to read it. The book is entertaining and the prose brilliant.

    Rousseau seems to have written this book believing he is the first to make such an endeavor (that of a completely honest auto-biography). Though, I am very sure he is most definitely not the first to make such an attempt (e.g. Augustine's Confessions, etc), he is the first that I have enjoyed reading to such a degree. Sometimes Rousseau makes me cringe while reading of his hapless encounters with trouble and his naivete when faced with some deviant (for those days) behavior, and sometimes hard headed pursuit and/or belief in himself.

    This book is great fun, and I would definitely recommend this book.

    (To fans of Rousseau- after reading this book, I believe you might gain a greater/deeper understanding of his novel and characters in his book Emile).
    9 people found this helpful
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  • pirateninj4
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great inside look at one of histories most important intellectual figures
    Reviewed in the United States on November 6, 2019
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    Hard to read at times, the names of places and people run together a lot. But the book was a wonderful read and it was interesting reading something that detailed the life of an intellectual in France in that time.

    Truly shows that while many things change, some things dont.
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  • krebsman
    4.0 out of 5 stars Allegedly the truth, but I'm skeptical
    Reviewed in the United States on June 2, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    Oh, the 18th Century was strange! What interesting people it produced! I enjoyed this book enormously, even though it took me about 2 months of daily reading to finish its 606 pages. The big surprise (for me) was that Rousseau never finished it! Talk about a cliff-hanger ending! A few parts were boring (i.e., when he drops a lot of names of famous people of his time that I had never heard of), but in general, I found it fascinating. Of course, Rousseau lived more than a hundred years before Freud, but I do wonder if Freud ever read this book. The woman who inducted Rousseau into manhood was an older woman he called “Mama.” This was really yucky to me. He really loved her, although she later replaced him in her affections with another young man, just as he had replaced a different young man. They all got along famously. Yeah, I’d say he had an Oedipus complex. He was also a raving paranoic! And despite his upfront statements that he was going to tell the whole truth, even the bad things he was guilty of, I don’t think he was completely honest, especially when he states that so many things were happening at once that he really don’t remember it all that well. He had several convenient memory lapses. There are a lot of things that he very vague about. But my favorite part of the book was early on, after he runs away from home and an unhappy apprenticeship (His father had had to get out of the country to flee being thrown into debtor’s prison.) and attaches himself as a servant to the household of a rich, intellectual woman who was dying. I quote this passage:
    “Indeed, I was more attentive to her than anyone else, for the poor woman’s suffering tore my heart, and the fortitude with which she bore it inspired me with the greatest respect and affection for her. Many were the genuine tears I shed in her room without her or anyone else noticing it.
    Finally we lost her. I watched her die. She had lived like a woman of talents and intelligence; she died like a philosopher. I may say that she made the Catholic religion seem beautiful to me, by the serenity of heart with which she fulfilled its instructions, without either carelessness or affectation. She was of a serious nature. Towards the end of her illness she displayed a sort of gaiety too unbroken to be assumed, which was merely a counterpoise to her melancholy condition, the gift of her reason. She only kept her bed for the last two days, and continued to converse quietly with everyone to the last. Finally when she could no longer talk and was already in her death agony, she broke wind loudly. ‘Good,’ she said, turning over, ‘a woman who can fart is not dead.’ Those were the last words she spoke.”
    Four stars from me.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Jnana
    5.0 out of 5 stars Nice edition
    Reviewed in the United States on July 7, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    As expected with the Everyman addition, this hardcover is nicely put together — quality binding, good paper and readable font.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Fran
    5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Edition
    Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    This edition is gorgeous, and the text is still as beautiful as it was when I first read it. I would reccomend this book to anyone. Truly anyone. Rousseau has such an uplifting voice, no matter what he is talking about. This is a book about what he is ashamed of, however, Rousseau presents it in such an optimistic way. This is a must read book.
    4 people found this helpful
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  • ES
    3.0 out of 5 stars Not the Penguin translation
    Reviewed in the United States on June 6, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    This Kindle version was advertised on the same page as the Penguin edition, but it's actually a 220 year old anonymous translation with archaic wording. It is serviceable, but not what was advertised.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Eric
    5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoy.
    Reviewed in the United States on June 4, 2018
    Format: Audio CDVerified Purchase
    An honest look upon the life of an 18th Century man, complete with his follies, faults, missteps, and even some of his justifications for his less than proud moments, his loves, his adversaries, his proudest moments and his darkest days; all in his own words. Enjoy.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Stephen Poole
    1.0 out of 5 stars Small print! Avoid the Everyman's Library edition
    Reviewed in the United States on February 5, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    These comments refer to the Everyman's Library Classics Series edition (w/ intro by P.N. Furbank): Buyer beware - the font is too small and (inexplicably) the margins are ample. (Note to Everyman's Library: Make your fonts larger!) Also, who translated this edition? The publisher buries this information: In small print at the end of the Intro, we're told that this is largely the work of an "anonymous translation" from 1904.
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Abdulkadir
    2.0 out of 5 stars Deforme
    Reviewed in Turkey on May 20, 2023
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    Kitabın dışı deforme olmus halde geldi cildi soyulmuş ve istediğim dilde değildi o yüzden iade
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  • Dorothy
    5.0 out of 5 stars Very good book
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 18, 2019
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    Very good book
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  • alice
    5.0 out of 5 stars Two thumbs up
    Reviewed in Canada on June 22, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    The media could not be loaded.
    What I like:
    - sewn binding: sturdy, will last a LONG time
    - book mark: nice added detail
    - font style and size: clear and easy to read
    What I did not like:
    - the jacket is a little worn,
    - book mark is braided and seems like it will unravel over time with moderate use

    Overall I am very happy with this purchase. The Everyman’s library edition is made with quality and care.
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    alice
    5.0 out of 5 stars
    Two thumbs up

    Reviewed in Canada on June 22, 2020
    What I like:
    - sewn binding: sturdy, will last a LONG time
    - book mark: nice added detail
    - font style and size: clear and easy to read
    What I did not like:
    - the jacket is a little worn,
    - book mark is braided and seems like it will unravel over time with moderate use

    Overall I am very happy with this purchase. The Everyman’s library edition is made with quality and care.
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  • Creux
    1.0 out of 5 stars وصلني الكتاب مضروب
    Reviewed in Saudi Arabia on February 28, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    لو ابغى كتاب مضروب بروح اشتريه مستعمل
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  • Varna B
    4.0 out of 5 stars A lively original
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 25, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    The first volume of this is a wonderful read, - the beginning of the genre really (apart from St Augustine). The second part is more of a plod and a tad tedious in places but worth pursuing as, after all, it is in that latter period that he achieves all that made him subsequently so famous and gave him such a significant place Western philosophy and educational theory. It is full of self criticism but also a great amount of self justification and the role of women in his life is revealed to be crucial and sometimes very odd. I felt a bit more sympathetic of his infamous treatment of his children after his, albeit justificatory, explanation.
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