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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
Fascinating memoir about the cult that Rebecca Stott grew up in, and her life (and that of her father) after her family leaves. The audio version is read beautifully by Rebecca, and the writing is great. There is quite a bit of history about the closed brethren group she belonged to, and although I could see this was needed for background, it was how the rules affected individuals (often with tragic consequences) and her family in particular that I was most interested in. Highly recommended.
Sekta, zabobony i niekreatywne pisanie.
lolantaczyta.wordpress.com/2018/06/30/rebecca-stott-in-the-days-of-rain/
lolantaczyta.wordpress.com/2018/06/30/rebecca-stott-in-the-days-of-rain/
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
She writes beautifully and is so lucky her rebellion was to become so attentive and studious when she was so young, but this faltered for me. It felt like too much scientific examination of the history of her life, and like much was left out.
I feel bad that I didn't really enjoy this memoir, but it was just kind of slow. I can not imagine living in such a strictly religious household, it truly is a weird existence. I sympathize with Rebecca's up bringing and I feel so terrible that she had to live the childhood she did. I just don't have much to say about the memoir other than it ebbed and flowed in the interesting and boring.
I love a non fiction book that makes me want to learn more! I even found out there is school in my village ran by this cult 😱
Fascinating look at a religious order I knew nothing about. I was prompted to do additional research online about the Exclusive Brethren (what a name!) and surprised to discover that Garrison Keillor was raised in that tradition.
This was an excellent memoir.
This was an excellent memoir.
I read a lot of cult memoirs. This wasn't the best, but also was not the worst. It lagged in places (the earliest history of her family was a little dry and not easy to follow), and yet in others it flew (the days of the 60's and the events that led to her family leaving the cult). It was worth finishing, but by the time you get to the end it's sort of like you know everything you need to know (the first part jumps RIGHT in at the end of her father's life) and so it feels a bit repetitive in the end.
My only other interesting thought is how dismissive the author is toward any sort of Christianity and really religious beliefs. It makes sense, of course, but she is as rigid about rejecting belief in a personal God as the cult is about accepting it. She told a story about her 16-year-old crying because she saw her mom praying in a Hindu temple and asked if that meant her mom believed in God (!). Ms. Stott acknowledges a lack of talking about belief and religion with her kids, but I have spent my life with 16-year-olds. They don't cry over something like that naturally. That is a girl who is so shaped by a rigid worldview (one in which the possibility of the supernatural is very much dismissed) that when that worldview is shaken it causes distress.
I don't say that to shame Ms. Stott, as all of us have to see the world in a certain way and we teach that to our kids, but the reality is that all of us have rigid beliefs. Even the idea of spiritual tolerance is held tightly with grasped fingers, something we believe in with assurance. None of us can be exempt from having a tiny perspective by which we embrace the world. Ultimately all of us are finite and are not omniscient. For some, that leads to horrific abuses like in the Brethren, for others of us it leads to a smug sense of self-satisfaction. I hope with that in mind we walk away from books like this with a greater sense of humility and compassion.
My only other interesting thought is how dismissive the author is toward any sort of Christianity and really religious beliefs. It makes sense, of course, but she is as rigid about rejecting belief in a personal God as the cult is about accepting it. She told a story about her 16-year-old crying because she saw her mom praying in a Hindu temple and asked if that meant her mom believed in God (!). Ms. Stott acknowledges a lack of talking about belief and religion with her kids, but I have spent my life with 16-year-olds. They don't cry over something like that naturally. That is a girl who is so shaped by a rigid worldview (one in which the possibility of the supernatural is very much dismissed) that when that worldview is shaken it causes distress.
I don't say that to shame Ms. Stott, as all of us have to see the world in a certain way and we teach that to our kids, but the reality is that all of us have rigid beliefs. Even the idea of spiritual tolerance is held tightly with grasped fingers, something we believe in with assurance. None of us can be exempt from having a tiny perspective by which we embrace the world. Ultimately all of us are finite and are not omniscient. For some, that leads to horrific abuses like in the Brethren, for others of us it leads to a smug sense of self-satisfaction. I hope with that in mind we walk away from books like this with a greater sense of humility and compassion.
Part history, part memoir, part tribute this is a fascinating insight into life inside a conservative religious cult.