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weremallard's review against another edition
3.0
I wasn't sure what I'd think of this book, but the review I read intrigued me enough to get it from the library. I liked it- I liked the characters, the stories, the history. What got old was the almost-proselytizing. I know this was a kind of journey of self-discovery for the author, but the last couple of chapters could have benefited from some solid editing. Still, it was an entertaining and thought-provoking read.
beckyjenson's review against another edition
3.0
Entertaining, if a little scattered. I learned a lot of interesting things about Mennonites.
veebutts's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book.
I'm generally not a fan of these kinds of memoirs, finding them stuffed with self-pity and depression. Janzen however, has completely converted me!
Her writing is laugh-out-loud funny- ( I had to stop reading it on the train to work after attracting some strange looks as I outright chuckled and spluttered into my book).
It is because of Janzen's humour I enjoyed this book so much. Of course it is filled with unhappy occurences, written at a time when the author's life seemingly couldn't have been any worse, but at no point does Janzen display any form of self pity. She has a cry, she has a lot of laughs with wonderful friends and family and she moves on. This book is what I wish Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat Pray Love had been- spiritual without being in-your-face, beautiful without being gushing and personal without being boastful or downright self-obsessed.
I finished this book feeling like I'd made a great friend, a really uplifting beautiful memoir from a wonderful Woman.
I'm generally not a fan of these kinds of memoirs, finding them stuffed with self-pity and depression. Janzen however, has completely converted me!
Her writing is laugh-out-loud funny- ( I had to stop reading it on the train to work after attracting some strange looks as I outright chuckled and spluttered into my book).
It is because of Janzen's humour I enjoyed this book so much. Of course it is filled with unhappy occurences, written at a time when the author's life seemingly couldn't have been any worse, but at no point does Janzen display any form of self pity. She has a cry, she has a lot of laughs with wonderful friends and family and she moves on. This book is what I wish Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat Pray Love had been- spiritual without being in-your-face, beautiful without being gushing and personal without being boastful or downright self-obsessed.
I finished this book feeling like I'd made a great friend, a really uplifting beautiful memoir from a wonderful Woman.
slowreader7f3b1's review against another edition
1.0
This book felt like a huge self-therapeutic email, the kind where you're supposed to feel better after writing it, but girl, you're never supposed to hit SEND on it. YIKES.
Somehow this book is at once cringe-worthy, condescending & offensive. Janzen doesn't seem to have decided who her audience is: She'll explain a Ouija board to the reader as if we are too old (or too young?) to have ever heard of one. She addresses the audience as if we've never heard of Mennonites, which, if I'd never heard of one, I wouldn't have been interested enough to pick up this book, so yes, I've heard of them and know about them, and know the difference between Mennonites and the Amish. This book weirdly assumes everyone reading it is less educated than the author is and woof, does it ever show.
I kept veering between:
-feeling talked down to,
-feeling bad about myself & my body, according to the author's opinions, and
-feeling embarrassed for her as she constantly presented herself as so much more educated and enlightened than her Mennonite family/friends. She'd do this thing where she'll say a bunch of unkind things about the religion, or her family members, or a woman's body, or feminism, and then try to *undo* the things she said with a hand-wave of "of course, I never judge..." Good lord.
I can't stress this enough: every time I took a break from reading this book, I felt bad about myself. I am a bi feminist, and she kept harping on the gay.com "joke" (a supremely un-funny jab at her ex-husband who suffers from severe mental illness) that she repeats through the entire book-- though only mentions once that her ex is actually NOT GAY, but bisexual. Then she describes Feminists as "adorable."
Thanks, I feel awful.
I finished it because I was truly hoping this was barreling toward some kind of awakening for her, some kind of turnaround. But it was the same note through the whole thing: Say mean things about people/people's bodies/people's mental health/people's orientation; renege on having said it by falsely claiming to have found the good in that criticism, or claiming no judgement has actually been passed; GAY.COM JOKE HAHAHA; repeat.
This book is something she needed to get out of her system. Good for her. But it doesn't mean we have to put it into ours. 100% skippable.
Somehow this book is at once cringe-worthy, condescending & offensive. Janzen doesn't seem to have decided who her audience is: She'll explain a Ouija board to the reader as if we are too old (or too young?) to have ever heard of one. She addresses the audience as if we've never heard of Mennonites, which, if I'd never heard of one, I wouldn't have been interested enough to pick up this book, so yes, I've heard of them and know about them, and know the difference between Mennonites and the Amish. This book weirdly assumes everyone reading it is less educated than the author is and woof, does it ever show.
I kept veering between:
-feeling talked down to,
-feeling bad about myself & my body, according to the author's opinions, and
-feeling embarrassed for her as she constantly presented herself as so much more educated and enlightened than her Mennonite family/friends. She'd do this thing where she'll say a bunch of unkind things about the religion, or her family members, or a woman's body, or feminism, and then try to *undo* the things she said with a hand-wave of "of course, I never judge..." Good lord.
I can't stress this enough: every time I took a break from reading this book, I felt bad about myself. I am a bi feminist, and she kept harping on the gay.com "joke" (a supremely un-funny jab at her ex-husband who suffers from severe mental illness) that she repeats through the entire book-- though only mentions once that her ex is actually NOT GAY, but bisexual. Then she describes Feminists as "adorable."
Thanks, I feel awful.
I finished it because I was truly hoping this was barreling toward some kind of awakening for her, some kind of turnaround. But it was the same note through the whole thing: Say mean things about people/people's bodies/people's mental health/people's orientation; renege on having said it by falsely claiming to have found the good in that criticism, or claiming no judgement has actually been passed; GAY.COM JOKE HAHAHA; repeat.
This book is something she needed to get out of her system. Good for her. But it doesn't mean we have to put it into ours. 100% skippable.
christiana's review against another edition
4.0
To me, Rhoda Janzen reads a little like David Sedaris. One minute, I'm laughing outloud and rereading passages to friends. The next, I'm in a depressing little hole with her. Regardless, I was on board for the whole book. I liked Janzen and I liked learning what I never knew I never knew about Mennonite culture.
geriatricgretch's review against another edition
5.0
As someone who is 1/8 Mennonite, I am really intrigued by Mennonite writers and stories. This one is particularly awesome, especially because she's an academic without strong Mennonite faith. It made me laugh out loud quite a bit. My only complaint was that I wish there was more of a narrative here. The chapters were kind of jarring when they transitioned from one to another.
kates's review against another edition
3.0
You know how sometimes you're staying at your parents' place in between moves and you have nothing to read and so you end up picking up a book your mama bought years ago at Costco? Well, for being one of those books, MIALBD isn't terrible. Janzen is funny, if occasionally grating (you will read many, many times that her husband left her for a MAN named BOB he met on GAY.COM!!!). Mennonite culture is interesting, especially to this heathen. It is a little annoying that Janzen repeatedly refers to herself as a grammar nerd and then uses i.e. where she means e.g., but whatever, man, it's probably an editing error. And this book is not an altogether painful way to kill a couple of hours!
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