Kathryn

Behind Another Veil

Revisado: 05-28-16

I enjoyed this book. I knew a fair bit about Mormons (the LDS - not the polygamous sect) from watching the amazing TV series BIG LOVE and also from reading several books by women who had virtually been held captive. What I didn't know was the process of the male "mission", where those well-ironed and shoe-shined young men prowl the streets of our neighbourhoods, trying to reap souls for an eternity in Mormon heaven. Once a young man reaches a certain age and passes tests regarding his "purity" , he must spend two years violating our "No Soliciting" signs and enduring ever increasing challenges to their belief system, just to capture at the door, souls for their treasure chests. At this point the men are "Priests" and Elders of the church. They are given ultimate control over women and must remain celibate during these two years.

This book's title is the spoiler, telling us that Elder Wonder will fail in his mission. However, I would never have read it if he hadn't failed. It is an innocence-to-experience story of Jeff Wonder, a true believer, sent to New Zealand from the US to fulfill his mission. He is a stranger in a strange land, which provides him an alien culture which allows him plenty of wiggle-room to see underlying oppression the church forces on them. The men are constantly interrogated by more elder elders about their sexuality. The questions,bizarre and pornographic, are ground out of the gravelly-voiced "dirty old man", Elder Mains, who is obsessed by "self-polliination", which is banned for spilling the sacred seed of the younger priests. After the suicide of one of young men on the mission, Jeff starts to see the impossibility of a young man self-pollinating, the destructive shaming of members, the oppression of women and the basic inhumanity of enforcing the strict and often illogical dogma of the church. Meanwhile, his girlfriend back in the US, plots with other women to expose the perversion of the elders, by becoming stewardesses, (sic) and taping the old man's interrogation of her own sexual proclivities. She is nothing but a "normal" young woman in love, now able to travel to NZ to free her lover from the strictures of the church.

Along the way, we see the tragedies of the lives of community members. When Jeff offers simple and humane ways to truly help people, he is scorned by the church. Seeing the coercive and punishing ways of the church, Jeff's humanity starts to leak out of the box of dogma that's been forced on him. Instead of following the church dogma, he acts from the heart and becomes persona non grata with church authorities. Many of the adventures he lives through are hilarious. The old elder is both hilarious and creepy.

Ultimately this book shows the absurdity of acting from dogma instead of from simple human ethics of doing unto others. It also exposes the more hypocritical obsessions that fuel the engines of Mormonism. Mormonism lives on in Salt Lake City, Utah, but it failed in New Zealand. Shaming and shunning members who don't conform is a study in reclaiming oneself from any authoritarian system, a story needing to be told in these days of forced allegiance to any system that disallows people from choosing their own actions.

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esto le resultó útil a 5 personas

A Disappointment

Revisado: 05-02-16

This book would be well-chronicled in Seventeen Magazine. The characters are one-dimensional and the plot is predictable. None of the real struggle of women in the 1920's is depicted. The class and gender struggle is lost in hints so as not to shake the reader too far from the illusory fairytale of the virtuous spinster being swept into the arms of her rich and handsome dreamlover. There is not a subplot in sight to enrich our understanding of the difficulties women endured during this era. I think this book belongs in adolescent fiction so that 10 year old girls can catch an albeit shallow glimpse of our history.

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esto le resultó útil a 12 personas

In Media Res - Where Have All the Editors Gone?

Revisado: 04-22-16

I am doing a nervy thing and writing this review before I am finished this book. About 1/2 way through this mighty tome, I realized I had things I wanted to say after reading a number of very dismissive reviews. I am not sure where the "whodunnit" plot is going, but so far, of the 2 suspects, Mercer is African-American and Charlie is white (and Jewish) During the police interrogation of Mercer, I found myself biting my nails, as the writer skillfully dissects all the minutiae of the detective's surreptitious racism. My thoughts were with the "Black Lives Matter" movement, and for this reason, I think this book is an important one to read. I am worried that sweet, innocent Mercer will be falsely accused of this crime because of his colour.

I wanted to read this book because I was longing for one of those "can't put down", fast-paced plots, with sharply drawn characters easily identified with. I think this book could have these elements. However, where was the editor who should have taken the red pen to many passages and even whole chapters? Far too much is written about Charlie's religious experiences and I felt they interrupted the flow. As there is much more to come, I hope this doesn't recur, as the pace of a long novel such as this, is critical. On the other hand, there are breathtaking descriptive passages that I have listened to over and over again. I also love the Dickensian names the write chose. Hallberg is a gifted writer simply in need of an editor. Intense scenes, such as the interrogation of Mercer, are masterful, but our expectations are let down with turgid scenes that follow.

Worst of all, is the narration of this book. One minute a female character (Regan, I believe) starts out sounding like the beloved grandmother of punk rock, and iconic New Yorker, Patti Smith, but quickly, the reader lapses into ordinary, unaccented prose. It's difficult to distinguish the male characters at times. There is a lack of edge to Charlie, who definitely deserves that edge, but whose vocal qualities are as ordinary as those of Keith's, for instance. There are many missed opportunities for the readers/actors of this book, which would make it so much more enjoyable and delineate the racial and class differences between characters.

So off I go to dive back into this book, filled with greater expectations. More review to come, I hope.

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Lots of fun

Revisado: 04-17-16

When I started this book, I thought it was going to be a narrative similar to the prolific and formulaic home renovation shows on TV. Although this does play a small role in the plot line, we are spared the details of granite island tops and clear glass showers. This plot, instead, is driven by its zany characters, many of whom are stereotypes with a twist. I was willing to overlook elements of racism and classism since the characters were so endearing. While the reno of the house, willed to siblings Dan and Hayley Daley by their grandmother, reveals all the defects one would expect in a century old home, even more of their family history leaks through the dilapidated structure of the house, as well as those of its new owners and the reno team. As the builders, architect and TV crew gather just before the house is close to being prepared for the much anticipated flip, wherein Dan and Hayley will collect their fortune and return to city life, all kinds of unmentionable, or at least uncommon, quirks of the house and all who are brought together for the transformation, are revealed. Both Hilary and Dan themselves are transformed as they learn that they are capable of working with their hands, although not without injuries. In a fast paced and hilarious comedy of errors and family foibles nothing is too bizarre or inappropriate to remain hidden. It is worth the price of the book just to be carried along by all that could (or could not) be expected to be exposed. There's a happily ever after ending which is predictable, with the exception, perhaps, of Dan's somewhat amorous attachment to Pat the Cow. The old, but good, bones of the house seem to drag everyone out of their old beliefs about themselves and others into a new, more open concept of what was once hidden behind all the now useless walls and a foundation of family values which must be remade.

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esto le resultó útil a 21 personas

Just when I thought there was nothing more to say

Revisado: 03-29-16

This is a shockingly wonderful book that turns racism on its head. SPOILER ALERT (although I think this is in the promo) Imagine a African American man reinstating segregation of blacks and whites when we all thought it was done with and the way to end racism. The ramifications are hilarious and completely original, wrenching the mind around and into some very new and deeper ways of thinking. Someone said the mark of great art is to entertain and educate. In that way, this is a great work of art, yet so much fun.The language, plot and irony of this book are startling and fresh. I haven't enjoyed a book this much in a very long time.

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esto le resultó útil a 24 personas

Get Out the Razor Blades

Revisado: 10-28-11

This book is so unrelentingly dreary that I can't find one good thing to say about it. Not one character had any appeal to me. I am so sick of reading about drunks and their devestating effects on children. I can't imagine how this book won any prize whatsoever. The only good thing I can say is that the reader successfully intoned, in a monotonic haze of despair, both the tone and content of this book. I hated it so much, it makes me mad.

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esto le resultó útil a 21 personas

Fascinating Book with a Few Weak Spots

Revisado: 10-28-11

I bought this book because I was fascinated to see how the writer would work with the interaction of an Irish slave with African Americans. Although I found some of the characters stereotypical or even cardboard, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I thought Ms Grissom did a great job depicting the intertwining oppressions the characters experience. I also find it interesting that women of privilege are depicted as so constantly cornered and trying to keep fragile houses of cards from collapsing. There is a timelessness in the plights of these women and the different ways they use to cope with such despair. Oddly enough, I didn't find it depressing. Slavery and the Irish are generally depressing ( nb Ann Enright's The Gathering) but the voices of the women are so strong and determined that whatever they do gives one hope. Excellent readers, as well.

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esto le resultó útil a 6 personas

Creative and Highly Effective

Revisado: 05-25-11

I have never been able to stay awake for this whole program, but I try to get through his Sleep for Healing Hypnosis as it addresses chronic pain. I use this every night and have been sleeping far better. I learned that with PTSD I have missed out on Delta Wave sleep most of my life and this is helping. If I can get enough of that, I may be able to calm the chronic pain from nerve damage.

I find Steven Gurgevich's voice very soothing and his various hynposes surprisingly creative. He gives frameworks around which we can fill in our own stories. I find some other hypnotists to be kind of "Hollywood" dramatic, but this man is terrific and calming and the images he chooses gentle and appropriate.

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esto le resultó útil a 26 personas

A Great Book Deserving of a Much Better Reader

Revisado: 05-16-11

Thanks goodness Barbara Erinreich is still publishing. This book is such a relief for those of us oppressed by unrelenting demands to be optimistic even when the worst outcomes are inevitable. This book is so important for people to read. The reader is really terrible, I think and that was a big disappointment.

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esto le resultó útil a 11 personas

There are better meditations for pain

Revisado: 05-08-11

I respect and use the work of JKZ regularly as part of my meditation "workout". I get wrankled right from the beginning when he says his patients dont have to "like" the meditations, they just have to do them. In my search for non-pharma pain management techniques, this one is good, but there are far better ones in the library of mindfullness meditations here.

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esto le resultó útil a 17 personas