In order to paint a picture of a world, there is both information that one needs to include, and information that the reader does not need to know. There is a certain point after years of professional writing where a person can find this balance when producing a new novel, specifically historical literature that expresses knowledge that still is a prominent influence even centuries from the time it’s written. In the following paragraphs, I will record the details I would leave out and include in my own biography, as well as what is illustrated in the novel Confessions by Saint Augustine, translated by Henry Chadwick. 

If I were to write a book about my life in the 21st century, I wouldn’t tell the reader the century I am describing, but instead allow my words to show the time period, by including key historical events, such as the COVID-19 outbreak, in order to allow the reader to learn more as opposed to just being told. To keep the reader interested and well-informed, I would use outside resources to provide further information on the events, as well as using illustrative writing that vividly depicts the world during these times. I would also include information about societal issues that may be personally affecting me or the people around me, to allow for the reader to better understand how much the world has changed or remained the same, assuming the reader is from 50 or even 100 years from now. For example, I have been a part of a low income family since I was born. People today are always saying that the middle class is shrinking, so maybe there will be a lot of people who can relate to me and the anecdotes that I incorporate. When I read historical literature, I find it more fascinating when the author, or main character is given more depth by adding how they’re experiencing their lives during whatever year they lived in. However, after pages and pages of their daily life, it could become tedious and irrelevant to the century the author’s trying to express. In my novel, I would try to include some, but not all, parts of my life, such as what I wear, my mannerisms, and what I eat, in attempts to give the reader a more in depth understanding of how the average person lived in the 21st century. 

While I would write and explain my own life in order for the reader to be immersed into the 21st century, Confessions by Saint Augustine, is a novel that truly brings one back to the 300s with intense and evocative descriptions of an average man’s upbringing over 1700 years ago. The main character/author Augustine, looks back on his life and how much he regrets his sinful mistakes. His constant allusions to religion and Scripture in the way he writes illuminates the fact that a lot of people back in his time period were religious- there were very few people, if any, who were atheist or agnostic. This shows how people’s actions and ways of thinking were mostly determined by their faith and beliefs. Furthermore, Augustine’s books so far all have included him confessing to mistakes he made in the past, and confession has been used for a very long time(people still utilize this today) to absolve themselves of the sins they have committed, demonstrating how serious religion was during this time. Augustine actually dabbles in multiple faiths, such as Manichaean religion and astrology, but in the end, converts to Christianity. It is when he converts that he decides to create this novel. Another historical detail that comes through the paper is the education the children of the time would receive if they attended school. They would learn reading, writing and arithmetic. They would also learn more than one language. While the primary language used in North Africa was Latin, the teachers enforced Greek literature into the curriculum. Augustine talks about how much he resented reading in this particular language as a child, which actually parallels with how children are in modern day. It is clear that not much has changed, as there will always be those children who did not like to go to school. Although Augustine has some details in his novel that can be engaging in today’s day and age, he could have had more concerning other people, such as his family. Most people will agree that one of the essential parts of life is family, however he does not include them in much of his writings describing his childhood. He does mention his mother Monica, and how she refused to baptize him as a child, but what about her role in his life? I think if he had included more of his latent thoughts and emotions concerning his family, it would have allowed the reader to become more emotionally connected with him and would make the reader more likely to listen. 

If there were more connections that the book exhibited between the 300s and the 21st century, it would’ve allowed for readers such as myself to find the average everyday life of Saint Augustine interesting and relatable. The details that he did not include in his own novel inspired me to want to add more information into a novel that I would write. It is evident that informing the reader of certain information, and finding a balance between what to include and what not to, makes the book more likely to succeed and transcend time.