Vita Brevis: A Letter to St. Augustine (1996)
by
Jostein Gaarder
Book Read: 21 December 2015
Note Written: 14 January 2015
'Vita Brevis: A Letter to St. Augustine' is a short novel written in the format of a long letter from a woman named Floria Aemilia, supposedly the lover of St. Augustine that he forsook for religion and soul salvation, in the insistence of his mother, St. Monica. The novel begins with Jostein Gaarder telling the readers that he 'stumbled' upon this letter in an antique shop among forgotten manuscripts and is publishing it. At first, I thought that it was real. I did a google search and found that it wasn't. Also, as you read on you probably find that this couldn't be the real one, if at all something like this existed.
The letter (novel) raises certain questions towards religion, spirituality, and associated notions of piety. Established religions all over the world has seen (and still sees, in some cases) women as inferior to men. They are always depicted as an object of 'temptation' and 'sin'. Most of these sects say that salvation of the soul is only possible through asceticism and keeping away from family, love etc. Isn't that some kind of escapism from responsibilities in the pretext of gaining piety? Claiming that a person can only achieve glory through not associating with another (like the case of Augustine and his lover) is demeaning the person, demeaning humanity. The fact that in 'Confessions' St. Augustine never mentioned the name of his lover but has named their son Adeodatus shows the kind of patriarchal mentality existed then in the society and the church. The son is mentioned as the 'fruit of his sin', apparently. If love is sin, you have got the wrong interpretation from the life of Jesus. 'Vita Brevis' made me think a lot and reflect on certain subjects. Should read 'Confessions' sometime and see what it says.
PS: You can read another point of view of the book by a friend of mine here
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