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sarahleighreads's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed listening to this audiobook about a young woman's journey from a "none" with a difficult childhood to a committed Christian while attending Oxford on a full scholarship. Since this is a memoir, it's hard to judge some of the stories related. Some of her conversations just seem...too fanciful, like they might have been embellished in the intervening years.
The writing definitely belongs to a highly educated literature major. It is sumptuous, beautiful, and littered with literary references from Dante to Wordsworth and lots of people in-between.
She wrote a second memoir going more into depth about her relationship with her now husband and the dating scene as a new Christian that I will be picking up.
The writing definitely belongs to a highly educated literature major. It is sumptuous, beautiful, and littered with literary references from Dante to Wordsworth and lots of people in-between.
She wrote a second memoir going more into depth about her relationship with her now husband and the dating scene as a new Christian that I will be picking up.
aphunt_reads's review against another edition
4.0
I was expecting more of a glimpse into Oxford life but ended up with a Christian spiritual journal, and I’m so glad I did. What a beautifully written testimony of finding true purpose and identity in Christ. Especially loved the healthy discussions of faith, philosophy, and literature from every perspective imaginable - definitely not something that is common in our politicalized culture today. #goals
rachelalittle's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
relaxing
slow-paced
4.5
*2023 review*
Still a gem of a book. The impact was less since I read it over a longer period of time. I was happy to re-read this one in preparation for the movie's release. Now to find how to watch it...
*2021 review*
Wow, I loved this book. So delighted I found my own copy of it while bookshopping today.
Such a wonderful reflection of Weber's conversion. I so appreciated her countless poetic and literary references in relation to the everyday (if you can call going to Oxford the everyday...I wish!). I just...I loved this book. I plan to reread it next year, if not before then.
Still a gem of a book. The impact was less since I read it over a longer period of time. I was happy to re-read this one in preparation for the movie's release. Now to find how to watch it...
*2021 review*
Wow, I loved this book. So delighted I found my own copy of it while bookshopping today.
Such a wonderful reflection of Weber's conversion. I so appreciated her countless poetic and literary references in relation to the everyday (if you can call going to Oxford the everyday...I wish!). I just...I loved this book. I plan to reread it next year, if not before then.
annebogel's review against another edition
3.0
I'd give this one 3.5 stars if I could. I wanted to love this book; I'm afraid it may be the victim of my high expectations. My major complaint (and it's a big one) is that the LENGTHY soliloquies in the mouth of a major character just didn't ring true for me. This is memoir: it needs to feel real. But people just don't talk like this character does in the book.
Unless they do at Oxford, of course.
But I doubt it.
Unless they do at Oxford, of course.
But I doubt it.
rlangemann's review against another edition
4.0
...what I did this afternoon. It’s now one of my favorite memoirs. A beautiful story of a young women’s pursuit of truth, surrender to Jesus, and learning to walk as a Christian set in the academia and beauty of Oxford. I especially love all of the Christians that she meets and their ways of showing Jesus to her. And her wonderful real-life love story. AND it’s only 1.99 on Kindle. #surprisedbyoxford
danielle_w's review against another edition
4.0
I hesitated on writing this review, because I'm trying to figure out what makes this a four-star read instead of a five-star. (Also, I now have a dream of becoming friends with Carolyn Weber and I don't want this review to come between us.) Was it my own subjective taste? Is it dialogue-heaviness? Was it my jealousy over Carolyn having a full scholarship to Oxford to get her graduate degree in literature (admittedly the dream)? Is it the level of detail that made it feel a little less memoir-y? These are things I'll never know.
This journey was an enjoyable one to go on. Carolyn truly is a pioneer in the publication of this book- I'm not sure Christiandom has seen such an intelligent, cohesive, lyrical memoir like this in decades. Some parts of her story I loved, and thought her quite a quirky character (like her throwing on her purple dress to take a jaunt around Oxford). The awkward stumbles around and after her conversion were relatable, and I enjoyed seeing her drawn the symbolism, tradition, and history of the Anglican St. Ebbes (what is it with English Romantics and the high church?!) Sometimes her literature references seems a bit affected, or perhaps more like an inside joke. I do wish we had seen more of her resolution with TDH and how she moves back to North America. But again, all of this is subjective and more taste than anything. Which is the nature of memoirs- being brutally vulnerable, sharing your story, and anyone with a pen or a handful of stars thinking they critique it.
The world is certainly made richer with this book being in it.
This journey was an enjoyable one to go on. Carolyn truly is a pioneer in the publication of this book- I'm not sure Christiandom has seen such an intelligent, cohesive, lyrical memoir like this in decades. Some parts of her story I loved, and thought her quite a quirky character (like her throwing on her purple dress to take a jaunt around Oxford). The awkward stumbles around and after her conversion were relatable, and I enjoyed seeing her drawn the symbolism, tradition, and history of the Anglican St. Ebbes (what is it with English Romantics and the high church?!) Sometimes her literature references seems a bit affected, or perhaps more like an inside joke. I do wish we had seen more of her resolution with TDH and how she moves back to North America. But again, all of this is subjective and more taste than anything. Which is the nature of memoirs- being brutally vulnerable, sharing your story, and anyone with a pen or a handful of stars thinking they critique it.
The world is certainly made richer with this book being in it.
alexandrap529's review against another edition
3.0
An interesting memoir about finding faith in an unlikely place. I would've loved more connection with the city itself...but that's probably the Anglophile in me talking.