西方人文经典读本：忏悔录（英文版）[TheConfessions]

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ROUSSEAU recognized the unique nature of the Confessions， it opens with the famous words：I have resolved on an enterprise which， has noprecectent， and which， once complete， wiu have noimitator. My purpose is to display to my kind a portrait in every way true to nature， and the man Ishall portray will be myself，
Some scholars believe that is prediction was wideoff the mark. Not long after publication many otherwriters （such as Goethe， Wordsworth and De Quincey） wrote their own similarly-styled autobiographies. However， Leo Damrosch argues that Rousseau meant that it would be impossible to imitatehis book， as nobody else would be like Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
I HAVEENTERED upon a pcrformancc which is without cxamplc， whoscaccomplishmcnt will havc no imitator. I mean to present my fcllow-mortals with a man in all the integrity of nature; and this man shall bemyself.
I know my heart， and have studied mankind; I am not made like any one I have been acquainted with， perhaps like no one in existence; if not better，I at least claim originality， and whcthcr Nature did wisely in breaking themould with which she formed me， can only be determined after having readthis work.

内容简介

法国近代最具影响力的文学家、思想家让-雅克·卢梭出身于平民阶层，一生得罪不少权贵，树敌太多，既无好友可与倾诉，于是效法前贤圣奥古斯丁自叙平生，于1764年末开始撰写《忏悔录》，其间又经历流亡英国和潜逃回法国种种变故，大约于1770年完竣。作者以破除旧的礼法、崇尚自然为旨归，直笔无隐，一一揭露出上流社会体面、风雅背后的种种虚伪与丑恶，对平民阶层自然纯朴的风貌则给予了热忱的歌颂，从而改变了社会的伦理思维和人生理想，预示了浪漫主义时代的到来。
尽管法国当局一不准卢梭再发表文章，二不准其在公众场合朗读这部“披肝沥胆地暴露自己”的书，但二百余年来，卢梭的这部《忏悔录》已被译成各种文字，成为“世界二大忏悔录”之一。

作者简介

JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSFAU （1712-1778） was a major philosopher， writer， and composer of 18th-century Romanticism. His political philosophy heavily influenced the French Revolution， as wellas the overall development of modern political， sociological and educational thought.
His Confessions， which initiated the modern autobiography， and his Reveries of a Solitary V7alker were among the pre-eminent examples of the late i8th-century movement known as the Age of Sensibility， featuring an increasing focus on subjectivity and introspection that has characterized the modern age.