St. Augustine's Confessions

I'm a few chapters into Confessions (Pusey translation), and I have to say, I've never read anything like it; perhaps the translator is particularly skillful, or perhaps Augustine's style is somewhat palpable in the English, but I have never enjoyed prose reading so much (obviously I'm not very well-read, but bear with me) – the only thing that comes close for me so far is the Somnium Scipionis, which I read in Latin a few years back, and found particularly beautiful. That said, my Latin is not good enough to read the original Confessions, so I was hoping there would be some other anons who have done so already that would care to comment on the experience.

>also, did anyone else feel such enjoyment reading Confessions? I feel like I may be a sucker for divinity, but there just seems to be something about this work, about the translation. Any similar recommendations?

>also general discussion on early christian writing is much appreciated, I'm making this post to learn

I feel the same way! But I've been reading Sheed ... maybe I should go back to the library and pick up Pusey to compare. Have you sampled any other translations?

Also, what does he mean in 1.IV when he says "Yet woe to them that speak not of Thee at all, since those who say most are but dumb."

Basically that normies ruin everything

I can't imagine a translation can be as or more beautiful than the original Latin. It is a masterpiece.

if you're OP then I'm disappointed and I want my money back

Even those that say the most are dumb, so how dumb is a man who says nothing?

He's saying that what he previously said about God barely scratches the surface of his divine being, and what any wise man can say of Him is still next to nothing compared to the reality of God. But still it is good to talk about Him even if only the relatively shallow way we can.
He's asking how we can look for something if we don't even know exactly what it is we're looking for. And his answer is simply to have faith. If we seek God he will reveal himself to us.

>translation
stopped reading there

get fucked you pseud

I haven't sampled any other translations! but I'm certainly tempted to now.
no, wasnt me
I have a hard time parsing this bit out very much, but i may just be a brainlet. Something it reminds me of, for a modern reference, is in Death of a Salesman, braggart Willy Loman is absolutely taken back by the humble yet successful bernard, and cant fathom bernard's father's explanation that "he doesn't have to talk about it, he's gonna DO it". Idk if this means much to you, but this is what my mind got drawn to. I guess another thing that it drew me to was a Shakespearian quote (no idea where it's from) "better a witty fool than a foolish wit", so in other words woe to him that speaks verbosely but says little, and salvation to him that may yet not say much, but means much. I could be off the mark, but I always like when a line sends my thoughts off towards another work. Things like this line are what make me so curious about the latin, I wonder how much different something like that section may be.

also just saw
this user clearly understands it better than I do, thanks to him for a good explanation