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A review by ablotial
Mennonite in a Little Black Dress: A Memoir of Going Home by Rhoda Janzen
3.0
I'll be honest - I was disappointed with this book. Not that it was BAD, really, it just wasn't the amazingly hilarious book that it had been made out to be by people at multiple bookstores. I had three main complaints:
1) Most of the things in her past that she complains about are not particular to Mennonites. More or less, they are scenarios experienced in small towns, or in poorer families. I mean, what poor kid -didn't- have embarrassing lunches? Now, maybe they weren't THOSE particular lunches, with borscht and warm potato salad, but tins of spam or smelly egg salad or leftovers from last night that are now indistinguishable. The small town gossip, the being set up with the grandson of the old lady next door, etc. And they had a camper and went camping - they weren't so deprived. I wish WE could afford a camper!
2) The author seems to have trouble staying on topic. I found this interesting, because I often didn't notice it as it was happening. The story would flow from one topic to the next as things came up... but then it was as if she suddenly realized she had began the chapter on a different topic, so she would suddenly jump back there and I would be confused, or feel jolted. There was one chapter in particular where I got really confused where it begins in the past, but then suddenly the characters seem to know things they couldn't possibly know - and after being very confused for a few pages it becomes clear that she has jumped back to the present. I went back to look, there didn't seem to be any obvious sign of when it had happened.
3) The back of the book describes her husband leaving her for a guy named Bob who he met on gay.com, her horrible car accident and her mom suggesting she marry her cousin because he has a tractor -- so I thought these would be main events during the book. But they are all covered in a few pages in the first chapter. And also, I do not think her mom recommended her cousin BECAUSE he had a tractor. She just used the tractor, which, in typical fashion of her mother (and mine!) is no proof at all.
BUT! Some of the stories were amusing precisely BECAUSE I could relate to them. I really enjoyed the relationship between her and her mother, probably because it reminds me so much of the relationship I have with mine. I enjoyed learning a little more about Mennonite culture through reading the book - I admittedly knew very little about it before. She had a lot of good insights into religion and relationships that just "felt right" to me. And I am certainly copying the recipes into my recipe book :) So it wasn't a bad story. And had I not heard so much about how hilarious it was before reading it, I might even have liked it.
1) Most of the things in her past that she complains about are not particular to Mennonites. More or less, they are scenarios experienced in small towns, or in poorer families. I mean, what poor kid -didn't- have embarrassing lunches? Now, maybe they weren't THOSE particular lunches, with borscht and warm potato salad, but tins of spam or smelly egg salad or leftovers from last night that are now indistinguishable. The small town gossip, the being set up with the grandson of the old lady next door, etc. And they had a camper and went camping - they weren't so deprived. I wish WE could afford a camper!
2) The author seems to have trouble staying on topic. I found this interesting, because I often didn't notice it as it was happening. The story would flow from one topic to the next as things came up... but then it was as if she suddenly realized she had began the chapter on a different topic, so she would suddenly jump back there and I would be confused, or feel jolted. There was one chapter in particular where I got really confused where it begins in the past, but then suddenly the characters seem to know things they couldn't possibly know - and after being very confused for a few pages it becomes clear that she has jumped back to the present. I went back to look, there didn't seem to be any obvious sign of when it had happened.
3) The back of the book describes her husband leaving her for a guy named Bob who he met on gay.com, her horrible car accident and her mom suggesting she marry her cousin because he has a tractor -- so I thought these would be main events during the book. But they are all covered in a few pages in the first chapter. And also, I do not think her mom recommended her cousin BECAUSE he had a tractor. She just used the tractor
Spoiler
to "prove" that he wouldn't smoke potBUT! Some of the stories were amusing precisely BECAUSE I could relate to them. I really enjoyed the relationship between her and her mother, probably because it reminds me so much of the relationship I have with mine. I enjoyed learning a little more about Mennonite culture through reading the book - I admittedly knew very little about it before. She had a lot of good insights into religion and relationships that just "felt right" to me. And I am certainly copying the recipes into my recipe book :) So it wasn't a bad story. And had I not heard so much about how hilarious it was before reading it, I might even have liked it.