Scan barcode
zena_ryder's reviews
336 reviews
Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth
5.0
This book is amazing. There is a sense of impending doom throughout the story, which is irresistible. The characters are well drawn and the language is beautiful. It is long, but I enjoyed every single page. One of my all time favourite books.
The Widow of the South by Robert Hicks
1.0
This book starts off well, but I couldn't finish it. When the book started focusing on the relationship between the two main characters, it became too literal — the author felt the need to spell out every thought. I found that too tedious. It's a shame because the beginning was good.
Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
2.0
The last quarter of this book is almost intolerably religious. Tom is killed, but it's not so bad, because he's a Christian and is going to Heaven. Ugh. While I can appreciate the comfort Tom derives from a belief in Heaven, the author's implicit view that being murdered is not as bad as it otherwise would be if one were not a Christian is nauseating — not least because it's a delusion. Tom is no more going to Heaven than the nasty Legree is — they will both become dust just the same.
Also, the end of the book, as a piece of literature, has too much happy coincidence with sisters and brothers, mothers and daughters being reunited. And, too happily and tidily, all our heros manage to escape to Canada, no doubt because they prayed and had God on their side. Which of course implies that those who didn't escape either didn't pray/believe well enough, or it was God's plan that they wouldn't escape. Ugh. It's hard for Christians to see these implications of their moral world view, especially since Harriet Beecher Stowe so explicitly equates Christian = good person, not Christian = not good person! She even makes one of our heros want to go to Liberia to help the Africans become Christians. Although she was enlightened for her time and place, her racial and religious superiority is nonetheless painfully apparent.
I give it 2 stars because I did enjoy the writing in the first 3/4 of the book. Stowe has a nice sarcastic wit that I enjoyed.
Also, the end of the book, as a piece of literature, has too much happy coincidence with sisters and brothers, mothers and daughters being reunited. And, too happily and tidily, all our heros manage to escape to Canada, no doubt because they prayed and had God on their side. Which of course implies that those who didn't escape either didn't pray/believe well enough, or it was God's plan that they wouldn't escape. Ugh. It's hard for Christians to see these implications of their moral world view, especially since Harriet Beecher Stowe so explicitly equates Christian = good person, not Christian = not good person! She even makes one of our heros want to go to Liberia to help the Africans become Christians. Although she was enlightened for her time and place, her racial and religious superiority is nonetheless painfully apparent.
I give it 2 stars because I did enjoy the writing in the first 3/4 of the book. Stowe has a nice sarcastic wit that I enjoyed.
Thirteen Moons by Charles Frazier
4.0
The writing in this book is beautiful. He also does a truly masterful job of making you believe in the love between the narrator, Will, and Claire. But that masterful accomplishment ends up causing the book's biggest flaw. To me, it didn't really make sense that they wasted their love and that she left without the reader really understanding why. She even comes back later in the book and leaves again! Why? (She even has money at that point and could help Will with his financial problems, but it's as though that possibility didn't even occur to the author, let alone the protagonists.)
The last quarter of the book also loses something. You don't really feel as though you're living through the events with Will. He's simply recounting them. Ho hum. The language is still beautiful, but the book lost its grip on me.
The last quarter of the book also loses something. You don't really feel as though you're living through the events with Will. He's simply recounting them. Ho hum. The language is still beautiful, but the book lost its grip on me.
My Name Is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira
4.0
I really enjoyed this book, and towards the end I couldn't put it down. Mary Sutter is a fantastic heroine — strong willed, talented, determined, flawed. I loved her. This book is very much about the Civil War, but it's also about the history of medicine and the struggles of ambitious women in an exceptionally patriarchal society. It's also about love, in its many forms.
The writing is not perfect. It's sometimes overdone — either overly literal or too self-consciously "literary". But the flaws were relatively minor and didn't detract much from what is, essentially, a great story with wonderful central characters. It is Robin Oliveira's first novel, and I look forward to reading more by this author.
The writing is not perfect. It's sometimes overdone — either overly literal or too self-consciously "literary". But the flaws were relatively minor and didn't detract much from what is, essentially, a great story with wonderful central characters. It is Robin Oliveira's first novel, and I look forward to reading more by this author.
Attack of the Theocrats: How the Religious Right Harms Us All--And What We Can Do about It by Sean Faircloth
2.0
Not including references is an unforgivable sin. I've no problem with anecdotes — indeed I agree with Faircloth that they're necessary, in order to pique people's interest and activate their compassion — but the claims he makes necessitate references. Even if he wanted to keep the book thin and readable for the "average" person (a fine aim) the references could be put on a website. There is no excuse.
As for the material, much of it is incredibly disturbing. Religious extremists on the Christian right do seem to hold a disproportionate amount of power in the US. (If indeed what he says is true. I am inclined to believe that it is, but that could be my own confirmation bias talking.) It is written in an upbeat, lively style. A quick, enjoyable read that panders to your already-held beliefs, if you're a passionate secularist.
I was particularly looking forward to the "what we can do about it" part of the book. First, as I was aware, this is a book just about the United States, and much of the advice doesn't apply to elsewhere (I'm in Canada). Second, some of it is plain silly for the "average" person, such as running for office! Third, on a personal level, I was disappointed because I'm already doing many of the things (because I help run a branch of the Centre for Inquiry). I wanted something revolutionary and exciting, after hearing Faircloth's inspiring speech at the Imagine No Religion 3 conference. But I didn't find it here.
However, if this book encourages more Americans to be less complacent about the erosion of the wall between church and state, that's a good thing. If it encourages some of them to do something about it (donating to and/or joining a branch of the Center for Inquiry or donating to American Atheists, for example), then that's fantastic.
As for the material, much of it is incredibly disturbing. Religious extremists on the Christian right do seem to hold a disproportionate amount of power in the US. (If indeed what he says is true. I am inclined to believe that it is, but that could be my own confirmation bias talking.) It is written in an upbeat, lively style. A quick, enjoyable read that panders to your already-held beliefs, if you're a passionate secularist.
I was particularly looking forward to the "what we can do about it" part of the book. First, as I was aware, this is a book just about the United States, and much of the advice doesn't apply to elsewhere (I'm in Canada). Second, some of it is plain silly for the "average" person, such as running for office! Third, on a personal level, I was disappointed because I'm already doing many of the things (because I help run a branch of the Centre for Inquiry). I wanted something revolutionary and exciting, after hearing Faircloth's inspiring speech at the Imagine No Religion 3 conference. But I didn't find it here.
However, if this book encourages more Americans to be less complacent about the erosion of the wall between church and state, that's a good thing. If it encourages some of them to do something about it (donating to and/or joining a branch of the Center for Inquiry or donating to American Atheists, for example), then that's fantastic.