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j_f 's review for:
The Hiding Place
by Corrie ten Boom
I have no inherent complaint about the heavy Christian element of this book, but I do not believe in God, so I didn't expect to relate to it that much. It was recommended to me by Goodreads based on my reading tastes.
I was impressed by how well The Hiding Place was structured, considering that it is not a work of fiction. It felt like a crafted narrative, making it an enjoyable read.
However, I had some substantial criticisms.
First, the book took way too long at the beginning introducing the ten Boom family and going over Corrie's childhood and adolescence, which were not that interesting and--more importantly--not relevant to the later half of the book.
Then comes my major complaint: At one point early in the book, when one of Corrie's sisters is questioned by a Nazi as to whether she is concealing a Jew in her home, she says yes. Yes! Believing so much that God will protect her for telling the truth (because to lie is a sin), she betrays the Jewish woman who trusted her to keep her safe. The Nazis then take this Jewish woman to an extermination camp. While I was screaming at the sister, the audiobook continued to say that the Jewish woman was released from the camp soon after--ostensibly because God protected her.
I have a real problem with this. It's saying that those who didn't betray Jews to Nazis--who lied to save lives--are the reason those Jews died, when the real reason is human (Nazi) evil. Not to mention that the Jewish woman in question was pale and blonde, which could have been a much likelier reason that she was released from the camp (that is, the Nazis could have believed that she was not a Jew). The real-life reason for her release is glossed over, so I don't know why it happened.
Now, I'm pretty sure the ten Booms didn't think that God was a Nazi sympathizer. I'm not accusing the book of going so far in that direction. However, it goes to show how humans often attribute actions (both good and bad) to God, when they are the direct result of human nature and human actions.
At the end of the novel, Corrie talks about her pursuit of forgiving the Nazis with whom she came into contact after the war. Others treated them poorly, and she thought that that was wrong and that God would want her to forgive them. Every individual is fine to do what they please, but I do not consider it noble or even morally right to forgive people who have knowingly and happily committed atrocities. I can't say what God would want, but I would not call a being who wants us to forgive Nazis benevolent. Yes, this is a matter of personal preference, but it has wider implications. I think that teaching people to forgive Nazis and other evil people is damaging to their survivors, their victims. I would not want a person who has been victimized by anyone to read this book and think they are a bad or lesser person because they refuse to be nice to their abuser.
I was impressed by how well The Hiding Place was structured, considering that it is not a work of fiction. It felt like a crafted narrative, making it an enjoyable read.
However, I had some substantial criticisms.
First, the book took way too long at the beginning introducing the ten Boom family and going over Corrie's childhood and adolescence, which were not that interesting and--more importantly--not relevant to the later half of the book.
Then comes my major complaint: At one point early in the book, when one of Corrie's sisters is questioned by a Nazi as to whether she is concealing a Jew in her home, she says yes. Yes! Believing so much that God will protect her for telling the truth (because to lie is a sin), she betrays the Jewish woman who trusted her to keep her safe. The Nazis then take this Jewish woman to an extermination camp. While I was screaming at the sister, the audiobook continued to say that the Jewish woman was released from the camp soon after--ostensibly because God protected her.
I have a real problem with this. It's saying that those who didn't betray Jews to Nazis--who lied to save lives--are the reason those Jews died, when the real reason is human (Nazi) evil. Not to mention that the Jewish woman in question was pale and blonde, which could have been a much likelier reason that she was released from the camp (that is, the Nazis could have believed that she was not a Jew). The real-life reason for her release is glossed over, so I don't know why it happened.
Now, I'm pretty sure the ten Booms didn't think that God was a Nazi sympathizer. I'm not accusing the book of going so far in that direction. However, it goes to show how humans often attribute actions (both good and bad) to God, when they are the direct result of human nature and human actions.
At the end of the novel, Corrie talks about her pursuit of forgiving the Nazis with whom she came into contact after the war. Others treated them poorly, and she thought that that was wrong and that God would want her to forgive them. Every individual is fine to do what they please, but I do not consider it noble or even morally right to forgive people who have knowingly and happily committed atrocities. I can't say what God would want, but I would not call a being who wants us to forgive Nazis benevolent. Yes, this is a matter of personal preference, but it has wider implications. I think that teaching people to forgive Nazis and other evil people is damaging to their survivors, their victims. I would not want a person who has been victimized by anyone to read this book and think they are a bad or lesser person because they refuse to be nice to their abuser.