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Mother Teresa: The Final Verdict
415 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 30, 2012
This book doesn't attempt to argue that Mother Teresa was a bad person, though it often gets characterized that way. Rather, it argues that she was viewed as a saint not because of her actions but because the western world has the desire to believe in someone like Mother Teresa.
We like to believe in a simple story of an old woman fighting poverty. We don't like to learn the facts about what Calcutta is like, what Teresa's actual work was, and how the truth compares to the stories we repeat. This book tries to remedy that.
We like to believe in a simple story of an old woman fighting poverty. We don't like to learn the facts about what Calcutta is like, what Teresa's actual work was, and how the truth compares to the stories we repeat. This book tries to remedy that.
July 24, 2016
A definite eye-opener! Chatterjee also explores the relationship between Mother Teresa and British writer and satirist, Malcolm Muggeridge who he believes was a huckster. I highly recommend this book.
April 18, 2016
Definitely informative and maddening. The treatment of patients and orphans at the Missionaries' homes in Kolkata goes against all of my beliefs. That was what I expected reading this, and...yeah. The horrid sanitary and disease-prevention practices there are reminiscent of my worst nightmares (those who know me well know what this means...the enemy of my enemy is my enemy).
Dr. Chatterjee could have done with a better editor. There were many instances of sentences which were missing necessary words (usually articles which caused confusion when they were missing). There were also some sentence with repeating words, or misspellings.
There were also a few repetitive sections, and some instances where I thought the argument was weakened by its presentation--any instance when Chatterjee mentioned recordings he had made, and their availability, for example--more is gained by saying less.
I thought the book ended a bit abruptly, and maybe a discussion of Catholic sainthood procedures wasn't the best conclusion--really, the chapter on other (better) Kolkata charities or the one on Kolkata's relationship with Teresa (which discussed some of Kolkata's more well-known heroes) would have been a better final chapter.
All in all, though, I do wish this book were more widely available. It was a difficult one for me to track down. I found two copies on Amazon, each used and costing upwards of $7000, and none in my local library system. Interlibrary loan finally brought up a copy from a university library in New Mexico.
I'm not anti-Catholic or iconoclastic for the heck of it, but I'm extremely against the abuse of people in medical settings (reusing cold-washed needles and gloves absolutely counts, as does mismanaging funds and never giving appropriate medications). And I think these things need to be better known.
As a sidenote, Chatterjee is also an effective advocate for his hometown/state, which I appreciate: I've definitely heard "Calcutta" used as a synonym for "squalor," "disease," "slum," "plague," etc, and while I've known it was inaccurate from reading other Bengali works for a while, I'm glad that he is making this point so firmly.
Dr. Chatterjee could have done with a better editor. There were many instances of sentences which were missing necessary words (usually articles which caused confusion when they were missing). There were also some sentence with repeating words, or misspellings.
There were also a few repetitive sections, and some instances where I thought the argument was weakened by its presentation--any instance when Chatterjee mentioned recordings he had made, and their availability, for example--more is gained by saying less.
I thought the book ended a bit abruptly, and maybe a discussion of Catholic sainthood procedures wasn't the best conclusion--really, the chapter on other (better) Kolkata charities or the one on Kolkata's relationship with Teresa (which discussed some of Kolkata's more well-known heroes) would have been a better final chapter.
All in all, though, I do wish this book were more widely available. It was a difficult one for me to track down. I found two copies on Amazon, each used and costing upwards of $7000, and none in my local library system. Interlibrary loan finally brought up a copy from a university library in New Mexico.
I'm not anti-Catholic or iconoclastic for the heck of it, but I'm extremely against the abuse of people in medical settings (reusing cold-washed needles and gloves absolutely counts, as does mismanaging funds and never giving appropriate medications). And I think these things need to be better known.
As a sidenote, Chatterjee is also an effective advocate for his hometown/state, which I appreciate: I've definitely heard "Calcutta" used as a synonym for "squalor," "disease," "slum," "plague," etc, and while I've known it was inaccurate from reading other Bengali works for a while, I'm glad that he is making this point so firmly.
April 26, 2018
I never miss an opportunity to read about fraud and other crimes committed by church officials, but this book is so poorly written, that I almost felt sorry for Mother Teresa. Not even the worst villain deserves to be depicted in such a boring way!
Individual chapters lack any noticeable structure, they are just collections of random facts. The author also cannot make up his mind about the spelling of Mother Teresa's last name. This book should be discussed in a creative writing class - as a "How not to..." example.
Nevertheless, all young people should read it before they fall in the hands of the Roman Catholic Church.
Individual chapters lack any noticeable structure, they are just collections of random facts. The author also cannot make up his mind about the spelling of Mother Teresa's last name. This book should be discussed in a creative writing class - as a "How not to..." example.
Nevertheless, all young people should read it before they fall in the hands of the Roman Catholic Church.
January 12, 2023
MT loved the church and she loved god, but she only loved the poor as proxies for Jesus. MT said that without their suffering for god, all the work she did was JUST social work. She provided inadequate medical care, she took large amounts of money from unsavory donors, she gave millions to the Church instead of using to help the sick and the poor, and she secretly did unrequested death bed baptisms to increase her body count for Jesus.
The more I read about her, the more I find that she is no Mother Teresa.
The more I read about her, the more I find that she is no Mother Teresa.
left-behind
July 13, 2022Status: have only read up to Chapter 2 “Ecumenical with the Truth: Saintly Tall Tales”.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews