BRLSI Bicentenary Read: Private Memoirs of a Justified Sinner

The Big Read is our regular Queen Square book club, free to members, with visitors also very welcome for just a small fee.

Our book choice for April was published in 1824 and, being the same age as us, was selected to be part of the BRLSI 200th Anniversary celebrations.

The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner by James Hogg is a brilliant and biting satire on religious bigotry, religious extremism and ferocious fighting for political power, conjuring up demons and doubles as well as a terrifying sense of evil.

All you need to do is reserve your ticket, read the book and think about the five discussion points!

1. What is the significance of George’s expedition to Arthur’s Seat?

2. Do demons walk abroad in C17th Scotland? Or do these demons, daily changing their appearance, take possession of the mind, casting shadows over the soul?

3. How does Hogg make “truth” and “meaning” so hard to find?

4. How does the novel undermine the ways in which the modern rational mind can make sense of a more irrational past?

5. As a “self-confessed sinner”, how can Robert justify his sinning? Does he remain a Justified Sinner?

Chaired by Zoe Morgan and Betty Suchar.