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About 17 h 20 min to read.Inizia 90 giorni gratisA chi è rivolto
This is for readers who love candid life stories, who enjoy watching a mind explain itself, and who like journeys through Geneva, Savoy, Venice and Paris.
Che cos’è questo libro
Can a man tell the whole truth about himself? Jean-Jacques Rousseau bets that he can. On the first page he promises to show a human being in all nature's truth, and that human being is himself.
The Confessions tells his life in twelve books, from his birth in Geneva in 1712 through apprenticeship, flight, poverty, love, fame and exile. He wrote it in his fifties, after quarrels had given him a very different public face. He chose to admit his faults before anyone else could name them. You will meet a boy who steals asparagus, a young man who poses as a composer, and Madame de Warens, whom he calls Mamma.
In questo riassunto
- 1A motherless boy learns the world through booksFree
- 2One unjust punishment ends a happy childhood
- 3A cruel master turns a gentle boy into a thief
- 4Madame de Warens becomes mother, friend and patron
- 5Life with Mamma brings peace, study and loss
- 6Wandering and Venice show a clever man without luck
- 7A sudden idea on a hot road makes him famous
- 8The Hermitage turns friends into enemies
- 9Noble protectors cannot shield a book from storm
- 10Exile through Switzerland tests his faith in himself
Punto chiave 1 di 10
A motherless boy learns the world through books
Rousseau is born in Geneva in 1712. His father, Isaac, is a watchmaker. His mother dies because of his birth, and he calls this the first of his misfortunes. His father never recovers from the loss and sees his dead wife in the son.
An aunt sings songs that stay with him all his life. Even as an old man he weeps over a tune whose last words he cannot recall. Music begins for him in her voice.
At five or six he reads romances with his father through whole nights, until the swallows at the window shame the father into bed. The boy learns feelings before he knows facts. He says he understood nothing and felt everything.
Then the two turn to Plutarch. The boy imagines himself a Roman and holds his hand over a hot brazier to copy the hero Scaevola. His love of liberty grows here, and so does his dislike of masters. Books, feeling and loss shape his character before he is ten.
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Go deeper: the whole of The Confessions of Jean Jacques Rousseau — Complete
About 17 h 20 min to read.Inizia 90 giorni gratisPaperback, hardcover and large print, printed for you at cost, are on their way.Email me when it is printed
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 239,300 words
- Reading timeAbout 16 h 45 min
Questions about The Confessions of Jean Jacques Rousseau — Complete
What is The Confessions of Jean Jacques Rousseau about?
It is Rousseau's autobiography in twelve books. He tells of his Geneva childhood, his apprenticeship, his years of wandering, his rise as a writer in Paris, and his exile in Switzerland, admitting his faults as he goes.
Who is Madame de Warens in the Confessions?
She is the Savoyard woman who takes in the sixteen year old Rousseau at Annecy. He calls her Mamma, learns from her, lives under her roof for years, and remembers those years as the happiest of his life.
Is The Confessions a true story, and when was it written?
It is a real memoir, written in the 1760s and 1770s when Rousseau was in his fifties. He relied on memory, admits some gaps, and argues that the details he gives about himself are faithful.
Is Rousseau's Confessions easy to read?
It is approachable because it reads like a lively personal story. Each book has scenes, portraits of people and humor, from a stolen apple to a famous quarrel, so you can follow along one episode at a time.
What is the main message of the Confessions?
Rousseau argues that understanding a person requires honestly tracing their feelings and early experiences, without hiding their faults. He wants readers to judge him fairly and to see that nature, freedom and sincerity matter more than rank.
Cite this edition
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. The Confessions of Jean Jacques Rousseau — Complete. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-confessions-of-jean-jacques-rousseau-complete.
Rousseau, J.-J. (2026). The confessions of Jean Jacques Rousseau — Complete. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-confessions-of-jean-jacques-rousseau-complete (Original work published 1782)
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. The Confessions of Jean Jacques Rousseau — Complete. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-confessions-of-jean-jacques-rousseau-complete.
@book{rousseau2026confessions,
author = {Rousseau, Jean-Jacques},
title = {The Confessions of Jean Jacques Rousseau — Complete},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-confessions-of-jean-jacques-rousseau-complete},
note = {First published 1782}
}
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