The Cedar Post: The Pristine American Dream

by Jack R. Rose, Christauna Rose Asay (Illustrator)

This is a heart-warming story of a farm boy who considers himself more average than a telephone pole. He dreams of doing something really big during his life - like holding the hand of a cheerleader named Moose or winning a state wrestling title. Despite his big dreams, he feels trapped in his mediocre and powerless to make any significant changes - that is, until a deaf-blind, legless old man named Ur moves into Declo.

Genres: Book Club, Fiction, Inspirational, Classics

372 pages, Paperback

First published December 10, 2000

Reviews

[Angie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr. Rose's daughter is a friend of mine and reading this book with her insights made it that much better. Incidentally, she did the artwork for the cover, as well as the cover for the sequel "Tears of Joy." They were meant to be one book, but the publisher convinced Mr. Rose to break it up.

If you need a heartwarming story, with a great moral message, read The Cedar Post. You won't be sorry!!

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book every person on this earth should read! It is a must for every American who wants to understand freedoms and what it takes to maintain those freedoms. It is explained so simply in such a heart touching story. I love the explanations of the deaf culture. There are so many facets to this book! You will learn so much.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a self-published book, and it’s pretty obvious. I read it for book club

I’m mad because this could have been a good story—kind of a Hoosiers meets Karate Kid. But without a decent editor, there was no chance of that. The story is sacrificed—it’s nothing more than a vehicle for Rose’s philosophy. Ur is not Mr. Miyagi. Hes just a preachy guy with a super tragic back-story. The plot is riddled with dead weight. After a while I got sick of waiting for it to go anywhere and started skimming.

It’s not that the message wasn’t valuable. It just should have been communicated in a pamphlet or something.

[Lindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really thought provoking read. It is about a small town boy, a man who survived Mengele, deaf culture and so much. The golden pieces are the discussions and ideas about inherent rights and earned privileges. Although, some of Jon's mistakes are so ridiculous and so human I could not help laughing out loud and sharing them with the kids. The book goes from light subjects to very heavy subjects pretty quickly which had me in tears pretty consistently. It was engaging and emotionally exhausting at the same time.

I do have to say that the editing of this book is atrocious. The ideas are worth the terrible editing, but it was hard for me and editing has never been one of my own strengths.

[Harrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked it. At first I thought I would only kind of like it, just because I could tell it was well written, but the story seemed a little pressec to be a vessel for the author's moral. While it was still that, it also had really interesting and funny moments. I began to really love the characters and almost stopped realizing it was made to tell a moral. I recommend this heartily.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started reading this book because I knew it was set in my hometown, Declo Idaho. I wasn't sure what to think after the first dozen or so pages of anecdotes and similes that were funny but oh-so-typical smalltown jokes, but I continued reading and got hooked by the great ideas. I'm pestering my husband to read it so we can talk about it.

[Wendy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I might get thrown out of book club for giving this a bad review. But I can't help myself. It was not well written, the back story seemed patched together awkwardly and the characters frequently went against human nature (in my point of view). The author had some great values he is trying to teach but I found it over the top preachy.

[Wendy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this one for book club a year ago and just couldn't stand it! Overly preachy, unbelievable, and all too convenient.

[Wendy Woehl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would rate this book as 4-5 stars, however it felt long to me and I struggled to get through it, until the last 10 chapters or so when I couldn’t put it down! The story of young Jon and his mentor/friend, Ur is a very compelling one. I found myself learning along with Jon from Ur’s life experiences and lessons. These lessons were summed up as a moral code of unalienable or inherent rights which are God given, and if followed, will bring individuals, and ultimately society as a whole, happiness. While choosing not to accept or follow these “rights” brings unhappiness. Each chapter had a subtitle of a different “right”. Although some of which seemed more important than others, and some I question as truly inherent, each served the purpose of a short summary of the events in the given chapter and to drive the overall story. Personally, I feel many of these “rights” could be described as “choices”. In my interpretation, the freedom to make these choices is ultimately given us by God, and our choices do result in either happiness or misery. There were very humorous and tender moments in the story, and at times I found myself laughing out loud. I cheered Jon on as he struggled to overcome his personal battles. With a very exciting ending, this book would make a great movie! The epilogue teases the reader with a cliffhanger for book 2, so I plan on reading the sequel book, “Tears of Joy” in the future. I recommend this book because it is inspiring and thought provoking on the topics of the meaning of life, and true happiness and contentment.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure what I think of this one. There were elements I found quite funny and I thought I'd be reading a Richard Peck style book.

Then it got into the inherent rights portion of the Pristine American Dream and it was a lot more "Anatomy of Peace" style of book: here is how you can be a better person, and see how it looks in this fictional character.

I highlighted the inherent rights, because I think they are useful to reflect on. There were quotes from Thomas Jefferson on liberty that I like, because it pings on my confirmation bias, but I didn't see how they applied to the story being told.

The questions at the end had a clear "Family Home Evening," Sunday School lesson questions-for-reflection feel.

I want to like it more, but I don't know if I'll go back and reread it.

On a personal note: I studied American Sign Language for 2 years in college, so the issue of speech vs sign, and the life and existence of Deaf Culture was awesome to get back into!

[Trevon]

The cedar post was a very interesting book that I read, It is about a farm boy who befriends a deaf-blind legless man that tells him the stories of his past times during the holocaust and what he had went through while being captured during the time. The farm boy tells his new friend that he is also wanting to do many things also while he is in high school. He gets into wrestling while in high school, and his friend Ur helps him train to become a better wrestler and a better person.
The cedar post that he continues to work on has a $1000 bill in there that Ur had told him to retrieve out of there. It is a very hard task because the bill is wedged inside the pole and can not be taken out easily. While working on trying to get the bill out, Ur tells his life stories and how it can relate to his life and how he wants to accomplish his goals. His goals was to be a State wrestling champion and also to hold hands with a cheerleader that he has liked for a very long time.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such potential in this book! Deep life lessons are wrapped up in the ridiculously hilarious and hauntingly striking narrative of a rural teenage boy coming of age in the 1960s. If the writing had been a bit more polished, I would give a definite 5 star rating. As it is, I will still be presenting this book and its lessons to each of my children when they are old enough to handle the heavy war stories included. A favorite quote to save--

Mightiness is the offspring of maintaining one's inherent rights and mightiness is the father of peace. Mightiness is safe, powerful confidence; the kind of confidence that draws people to you. Only the person who has the mightiness to maintain his inherent rights can be safely trusted with the privileges of life. (183)

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

More like a 3.75 - The principles taught in this book are so so important. Inherent rights and unalienable rights vs. privileges. How to find peace of mind. The power of choice and attitude. I wish more Americans thought about life and the world in this way. The author uses a fictional story as a way to introduce a philosophy. While interesting, it did sometimes feel a little forced as the conversations between the two main characters sometimes feels like a philosophy lecture rather than authentic dialogue between two great characters.

[Brooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I hated the first few chapters. I almost gave up reading this, but I'm so glad I stuck with it.
I was reading a kindle version of the book and really struggled with the grammar and sentence structure. I am not sure if that is how the book was written or if it just didn't transfer to an ebook very well.
Aside from that, this book was so great. it had me thinking deeply about my inherent/inalienable rights and if I am using them correctly. I have enjoyed using some of the ideas in this book to teach my children.
if I taught middle school or high school, I would have my students read this.

[Ruthann Wheeler · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first chapter of the book was hilarious. It got my interest immediately. However after the first chapter, the book was more about getting the moral message across than about telling a good story. I love the message and completely agree with it. However, I thought the story to get the message across wasn't engaging enough. I recommend this for all ages.

[Lalove · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was fun to read a book by a local author. The beginning was good, but after awhile it got pretty cheesy. Some of the characters and story seemed unrealistic, and as other reviewers have said, it became too preachy.

[Sofie Hook · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was amazing and I think everyone should read it at one time or another! I'll care its lessons and morals with me everywhere I go.

[J.R. Rasmussen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book

This brought back a million memories of where I grew up and lived during early married life. I wish Ur was my friend, too

[Karlyn Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a Classic in my opinion ❤️

[Molly Christensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is well told and teaches great principles, but really could've used an editor!

[Elissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the inspiring message and was so glad my 13 year old daughter read it. I saw a noticeable difference in her after she read it in a day.

[Payton Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book in school and it was beautiful. It changed so many things in my life. This is a book everyone should read

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting in a weird way. Way too wordy.

[Amber Hillebrant · Rating 5 out of 5]

My second favorite book of all time. I’ve read it multiple times.

[Janet Wilcox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not often do you have a story that sets out to teach so strongly as this one does. Fortunately, the story stays interesting, despite the author's primary purpose of instructing readers about inherent rights vs. priviledges. This would be a good book for youth to read, and gives great insight into the world of the deaf, as well as high school wrestlers! Set in Declo, Idaho there are many places I've been to, as my husband was raised in that same area. It is reminescent of rural high schools of the 60's. The author suggests reading it once, for the story, and a 2nd time to dissect and digest the message. I think that is wise counsel.

Rose used lots of colorful hyperbole in the early chapers: one described his brother Fred. "He snored so loud, he almost sucked the paint off the ceiling." His descriptions of teens surviving awkward and embarrassing situations, reminded me of some of the stupid things I did as a teenager. I think teens would enjoy reading this book, and maybe even learn something.
Lots of good quotes throughout: "Happiness is cleverly nested in the process of attaining predetermined worthwhile goals." Though I also think happiness also comes in those serendipitous moments of awe and survival, when we recognize God's goodness, despite our obtuseness.

[Shannan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not a book you read to discuss the authors use of language and his literary skills. Jack Rose hasn't quite perfected his writing chops but that's okay because his book is really a self help book disguised as a novel. Rose is almost a modern C.S. Lewis in the way he is able to shine a light on human behavior and where our needs and actions can lead us. Through telling us a story of a young man in a rural town in Idaho, Rose teaches us about our inherent and unalienable rights. (Can you name more than three?) The grammar and editing is sloppy and the dialouge feels sometimes preachy, but Rose shines in creating very likable and interesting characters who you will see yourself in and relate to. And in the end, you will find yourself shedding tears over a high school wrestling match?!?!

Thanks for the suggestions Marsha.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

My teacher read this to us in 7th grade. It is one of my favorite books. It teachers you the lessons of life while telling a funny, life changing story.
I just thought I would add another review since I have just finished reading this again------ When I first tried to find this book i was disappointing that none of the libraries or book store had any copies. In my opinion this is one of the best books I have read and that is saying a lot. It has really inspired me and teaching universal lessons in an amazing story. I also have been inspired to start learning how to do sign language. Another reason I love this story is it takes place in my own state of Idaho.

[Marci · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once you get past the Idaho grammar and slang (not a problem for me) it is a great book! So funny. I was in tears too, but at that point I thought it was a true story, haha. He writes a prologue as the main character looking back, then it is written in 1st person, so I thought it was the reflections of the author. (I also put it down and pick it up a bazillion different times to read a couple paragraphs, I just didn't get the whole beginning picture). There is a good message about adversity and trials making you stronger and actually happier. "I have the right to maintain my inherent rights. . ."

[Kerstin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmmmm. Hard to review this one. Lots that bugged me about it I don't like books that tell a story with the obvious intent to teach the reader a lesson. I like learning the lesson as a side-effect of reading the narrative. However, I can't say that I didn't learn some things while reading it. I am glad I read it even though it desperately needs Casey's editing skills. Sometimes, Jon, the 17 year old MC, talks like a completely uneducated kid, and sometimes he talks like a much more advanced student. Sometimes the author threats the reading audience like they are not very bright as well. Just lots of issues that need work. Glad I read it. Glad I'm done.

[Kerri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second time I've read this book, and I enjoyed it the second time around as well. A lot of good ideas, a lot of interesting perspectives on life. It does get bogged down a bit in some of the exposition, and a few passages are rather difficult to read owing to their referencing of Nazi crimes, and the death camps. I love the idea of the Pristine American Dream, and I especially love the reference to Viktor Frankl, and the Last Human Freedom. If more people adopted the philosophy of being able to choose their own attitude, we wouldn't have the pervasive "victimization" that occurs all too frequently in our society these days. Certainly worth reading.