Greta G’s review of The Hiding Place: How one courageous family triumphed over hate > Likes and Comments
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I seem to remember reading this many years ago, Greta but I don't remember how I felt about it. From reading your thoughts, maybe there is a REASON I don't remember. Leave it to 'Christians' to be condescending to anyone who hasn't 'found' Jesus!
Hi Darlene. If you don't remember the book, I suppose it didn't impress you very much. I have no problem with religion, but this superstitious tripe was just too much.
You're right, Greta.. that is exactly what I was trying to say. It must not have impressed me!!:) I don't have a problem with religion either... just a problem with people who are over-zealous... I dislike the idea that certain people have that the believers or followers of one religion are somehow superior to another. It seems ludicrous to me for anyone to even imply that if those Jews targeted by Hitler and his ilk had simply converted to Christianity, perhaps they could have avoided their fate! Maybe that isn't what was being stated in this book. I suppose I read a bit 'between the lines'!! :)
It wasn't directly stated in the book, but I suppose if you read between the lines, that's what was being suggested.
Which is ridiculous, because there were many jews who were converted to Christianity, but were persecuted nonetheless.
Well Greta, I DO enjoy reading between the lines! And I agree with everything you said! :)
Thanks, but I'm a little worried about GR friends and other readers that liked the book. I hope I didn't offend them, and I didn't mean to, because the book wasn't bad if you can disregard the aspects I emphasized in my review. I couldn't.
I don't think you were offensive at all, Greta. You reasonable expressed your opinion and told why the book didn't work for you. My comments could be construed as more offensive than yours.. so if I offended any of your friends, I apologize! My opinions are NOT Greta's opinions!:)
The author had an agenda, not me. I respect the Ten Boom's, not the author who nearly turned their life-story into a fairy tale.
There didn't happen any miracles in the concentration camps. Quite the opposite.
I may have missed the point of the book, but your comment doesn't exactly convince me of that.
The difference between the book (and the people who appreciate it) and your review could be summed up by 1 Cor. 1:18: "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." This truth has played itself out for centuries and will continue to do so. I hope that someday, the testimony of Corrie Ten Boom and the truth of scripture that your own review displays will bring you to a saving knowledge of the message of the Cross: that personal faith in Jesus Christ does indeed change everything. The thousands of 5-star ratings come from people for whom this message is real and as life-changing as Corrie (and her biographers) claim it is.
I'm having a hard time understanding how you, a reader who has spent zero time with the Ten Boom's, can claim that the Sherrill's (who spent much time with them) had an agenda that somehow interfered with communicating their story. You certainly do have an agenda to have read the entire book and then claimed that none of it happened the way it was described (having no knowledge of it) just because it all seems like superstition to you. You went into the book opposed to the whole premise of it. That is an agenda. Luckily, Corrie Ten Boom went on the speak in dozens of countries and to thousands of people. Perhaps you would be encouraged to hear from her own lips confirmation of what was written in The Hiding Place. A simple Google search will lead you to dozens of sources. That would at least eliminate one of your complaints (that the book was not written accurately).
Your statement that "there didn't happen any miracles in the concentration camps" is not a matter of fact. Were you there? Are you the authority on miracles? Your refusal to take the content at its word doesn't nullify it for everyone else (or history for that matter).
While my comments alone aren't intended to convince you of anything, the fact that you are in the extreme minority in your understanding of this book should inject a degree of humility to your review. Your claims are without evidence and though you may not have liked the book, the fact that you are at odds with the spiritual perspective of the book must account for the grand majority of the negativity since your other disputes about the validity of the content itself have no merit.
I found the book on GR lists of best books about the Holocaust, and started reading not knowing much about it. I have the ebook version, with no back cover. I read holocaust memoirs regularly. You're assuming wrongly I read this with the purpose of criticizing it. Please try to communicate constructively.
Perhaps the ebook version also does not include the preface or the forward or the introduction (all of which set the tone even more strongly than the title or the back cover). Or perhaps you didn't read any of the reviews beforehand (something I make a habit of doing so I'm not blindsided as it seems you were). I didn't mean to imply that you started the book intentionally to disagree with it, but your personal perspective clearly influenced your experience of the book to the point that you claim that the authors (who worked closely with Corrie) intentionally misrepresented her story. I find it the opposite of "constructive" to claim something is false (again, with no evidence) just because you didn't understand it or think it could possibly be true. Regardless of how unprepared you were for the content of the book, it doesn't fail to be "a believable memoir" just because it doesn't fit your worldview. When you decide to call someone's story false simply because you disagree with it, I call that agenda.
I haven't read this book and your review puts me off. I generally feel that for life inside the camps, one is best to confine oneself to the memoirs of those who actually lived through the experience: Tadeusz Borowski, Elie Wiesel, etc. The danger of reading a book by someone who has had no personal experience is that the author is simply using the Holocaust as a vehicle to promote his or her own unrelated agenda.
If you delete your previous comments, how can you expect me to continue this conversation?
Greta, I deleted my very first comment and replaced it with what I considered to be a more succinct version before I ever saw that you had responded. Nothing else has been deleted, though there is much you've left untouched in my comments. I don't really see a benefit to continuing the conversation. It's not uncommon at all to have biographers help someone write down their story so I'm struggling to understand why it presents such a problem for you in this case. Again, if you were to research Corrie's speeches you would find them consistent with this book but somehow I doubt you will do that or that it will matter. You seem very much stuck in your position that the story is false "tripe." To each his own, but I think it's backward to denounce the authenticity of an account (and call its readers naive) simply because you didn't like it and didn't agree with the religious perspective of the person it was about. Calling the book a "fairytale" and claiming that the co-authors had an agenda because you can't fathom that the events happened as described is not credible or helpful. You have no evidence and you clearly are biased. I'm biased as well as I happen to share Corrie's faith, but I have the evidence of Corrie's additional work to corroborate what was written. In the end, the truth does not need for you to like it. Since you offer no proof, you would do yourself credit to desist from making claims about the truthfulness of this account.
Czarny, the book is written by a survivor. Corrie Ten Boon wrote the book and was assisted by John and Elizabeth Sherrill (as is often the case with autobiographies).
Czarny wrote: "I haven't read this book and your review puts me off. I generally feel that for life inside the camps, one is best to confine oneself to the memoirs of those who actually lived through the experien..."
I actually thought it was a memoir ; it's also on my bookshelf 'memoir'. It took me a while before I understood what was going on.
I would however recommend the book, as it is helpful to counter the argument that Jews exploit the Holocaust.
Andrea, I admit my review can be offensive insofar I wrote that I only recommend it to naive and superstitious readers. I will adjust that inconsiderate sentence. You are right, I am not an authority on miracles.
I have to retract. Wikipedia informs me that Corrie ten Boom was in fact a prisoner at the Scheveningen and Ravensbrück concentration camps. She was knighted by the Queen of the Netherlands and recognized as one of the "righteous" by the State of Israel. She was then by any measure entitled to express her opinion on the mattter.
Czarny wrote: "I have to retract. Wikipedia informs me that Corrie ten Boom was in fact a prisoner at the Scheveningen and Ravensbrück concentration camps. She was knighted by the Queen of the Netherlands and rec..."
Yes, indeed. She and her family helped hide Jews.
That's why this 'memoir' was such a big disappointment to me.
I've managed to put my foot in my mouth twice in a very short time.
Czarny wrote: "I've managed to put my foot in my mouth twice in a very short time."
No, you didn't Czarny. This discussion IS confusing. You shouldn't blame yourself.
Greta, I am sorry that some find dissent so intolerable. I disagree with your conclusions on this book, but thank you for sharing your thoughtful review with us.
Thank you Carol. I'm painfully aware that I'm outnumbered by thousands of readers.
I haven't read this book but I did read A Prisoner and Yet which covered the time between the family's arrest and Corrie's release. I also had the pleasure of meeting her back in 1974. I'm not what you would call a 'deeply devout' person, or devout at all for that matter, but I couldn't help but be impressed by her ability to suffer some of the most barbarous acts in history, including the murder of her family members and still forgive those who did those who did it. In addition, it's difficult to forget that she didn't need to go through any of this. All they had to do was choose not to take fugitive Jews into their home, people whose faith they did not even share, and hide them. Meeting her was a real 'You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din' moment for me.
I agree that sometimes people can get a little preachy to the point where I roll my eyes and shut my ears but in some cases, Corrie Ten Boom for one, they've earned the right. Besides, you probably knew what the book was about going into it.
Thanks for the honest review, though.
Manipulative books with hidden agendas, blurrgh!
You were right to mark it low, Greta.
Thank you Tom. I do admire the Ten Boom family for their courage and feel nothing but sympathy for them.
That doesn't mean I have to love the book though and accept its message that unconditional faith and forgiveness and accepting a higher divine plan in atrocities are just. Or believe that miracles will happen if you only have enough faith.
Most Jews did have deep faith. Were they saved? Did there happen miracles for them? Should they have forgiven their slaughterers?
This book may be inspiring and comforting for a lot of people, but imo it doesn't help to prevent a holocaust from happening again,
Kevin wrote: "Manipulative books with hidden agendas, blurrgh!
You were right to mark it low, Greta."
Thanks Kevin :)
You`ve made me think about this book in a very different way Greta, and I thank you for that. I gave it 5 stars based purely on feeling so much sympathy for the Ten Boom family, but without thinking any further than that. I`m not religious at all but accept that faith is what helped the family and so did not make any judgements. On reflection I now feel a bit miffed at being so manipulated by the writing!
Appreciate your warning on this one Greta.
Natalie, your comment made me think about manipulation. I don't want to manipulate you to dislike a book you've enjoyed reading ;) It's fine with me if others are inspired by it.
The way I read books is probably different from the way others read books.
I just checked the website tenboom.org. Very interesting. There's a lot of prayers for Israel and for the Jews too.
Here is one of them : "
"Prayer/Praise That our God will protect and reach out to all Jews with His immense love, that he will send effective evangelists among those people so that all might be saved, as the Apostle Paul wrote."
I don't know what Apostle Paul wrote, but I do think this is a fine example of what the tone of the book was to me. However, you have to read between the lines because it's unspoken, so it's not obvious.
Fred wrote: "Appreciate your warning on this one Greta."
Thanks Fred.
This is one of the few Dutch books I read in my house. Because it was Christian, and my mom put it in my hands, I presume.
I assume your mother also had an hidden agenda :)
Oh, she tried, and did her best to raise me in the ways he thought best. She was my favorite person ever, I was her boy. She was a conservative in politics and religion but I was very close to her. She would still want me to read that book, I am sure, to keep me "in the fold."
Sounds like she was a sweet lady. I hope she didn't know you were reading Bukowski.
LOL! I bet she is frowning down on me about that. With a look of sadness and disappointment, which was always more effective than yelling or spanking, that she was hurt I could be bad....
Oh yes, body language, and facial expression in particular, is a powerful way of communicating feelings. People say my face is like an open book. I try to have some control over it, but it's difficult. I guess I'll never have a poker face. Except here on GR ;)
Maybe I should try botox :)
Greta wrote: "Oh yes, body language, and facial expression in particular, is a powerful way of communicating feelings. People say my face is like an open book. I try to have some control over it, but it's diffic..." You do seem to be an emotional person, reading with your feelings forward. I just now went back and read all the comments in this review. You seem to get in a lot of trouble for your views with all your feelings! :)
Which troubles? ;)
On the contrary, I'm rather a critical reader who doesn't get too emotional over books like this.
Which makes me probably just an annoying person :)
I rarely have troubles in real life with this. But I realize written words always seem a little 'harder'; there's less nuance than in a real conversation. Add to this the fact that English isn't my native language.
Well, I think writing here does lack the nuance of face to face speech. And in a second language, that complicates things. Sometimes I think I am being funny and it comes off mean or just dumb. I do think that the occasional emotional conversations I see here on Goodreads might be different in person. All the other social media, especially here, with Trump, get to be even more agitated and divisive. I am not generally not speaking with a couple family members because of related issues.
I've never seen you writing anything mean or dumb, David. I would tell you if I thought you have :)
Greta wrote: "I've never seen you writing anything mean or dumb, David. I would tell you if I thought you have :)" Oh, I know you would! You keep me on the right path.
This is the farthest thing from Christian propaganda. These folks LIVED this life. The sisters found God in all they encountered regardless of their dire circumstances. Obviously learned behaviors from their father's life which was fueled by compassion for others and his teachings via the Bible. To "warn" people away from this book is disingenuous and base. Let folks decide for themselves. Corrie devoted her life to spreading more of just what this world needs right now: grace, mercy, forgiveness, understanding and in some cases a small miracle (vitamin drops)
Moira Leavitt wrote: "This is the farthest thing from Christian propaganda. These folks LIVED this life. The sisters found God in all they encountered regardless of their dire circumstances. Obviously learned behaviors ..."
You overestimate my influence, Moira.
The book may not have inspired me much, but I can see how it gave you more grace, mercy, forgiveness and understanding.
Thank you for this honest review. I, for one, can take it at face value. You have stirred up a few hornets though. :)
Wow, I can see why all the reviewers thought this. I would have given it a poor rating as well.
I love that you've stirred up this hornets' nest, Greta, as Ray mentioned above because it really forces people to think and (re)evaluate their own feelings, perceptions. Pushing the envelope is why so many of us are here on goodreads: not to blithely accept, but to always question.
I can't make any comments on the book because I've not read it, but this controversial thread has instilled a desire to read it. Thanks for your forthright review.
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Darlene
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Apr 18, 2017 12:49PM
I seem to remember reading this many years ago, Greta but I don't remember how I felt about it. From reading your thoughts, maybe there is a REASON I don't remember. Leave it to 'Christians' to be condescending to anyone who hasn't 'found' Jesus!
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Hi Darlene. If you don't remember the book, I suppose it didn't impress you very much. I have no problem with religion, but this superstitious tripe was just too much.
You're right, Greta.. that is exactly what I was trying to say. It must not have impressed me!!:) I don't have a problem with religion either... just a problem with people who are over-zealous... I dislike the idea that certain people have that the believers or followers of one religion are somehow superior to another. It seems ludicrous to me for anyone to even imply that if those Jews targeted by Hitler and his ilk had simply converted to Christianity, perhaps they could have avoided their fate! Maybe that isn't what was being stated in this book. I suppose I read a bit 'between the lines'!! :)
It wasn't directly stated in the book, but I suppose if you read between the lines, that's what was being suggested. Which is ridiculous, because there were many jews who were converted to Christianity, but were persecuted nonetheless.
Well Greta, I DO enjoy reading between the lines! And I agree with everything you said! :)
Thanks, but I'm a little worried about GR friends and other readers that liked the book. I hope I didn't offend them, and I didn't mean to, because the book wasn't bad if you can disregard the aspects I emphasized in my review. I couldn't.
I don't think you were offensive at all, Greta. You reasonable expressed your opinion and told why the book didn't work for you. My comments could be construed as more offensive than yours.. so if I offended any of your friends, I apologize! My opinions are NOT Greta's opinions!:)
The author had an agenda, not me. I respect the Ten Boom's, not the author who nearly turned their life-story into a fairy tale. There didn't happen any miracles in the concentration camps. Quite the opposite.
I may have missed the point of the book, but your comment doesn't exactly convince me of that.
The difference between the book (and the people who appreciate it) and your review could be summed up by 1 Cor. 1:18: "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." This truth has played itself out for centuries and will continue to do so. I hope that someday, the testimony of Corrie Ten Boom and the truth of scripture that your own review displays will bring you to a saving knowledge of the message of the Cross: that personal faith in Jesus Christ does indeed change everything. The thousands of 5-star ratings come from people for whom this message is real and as life-changing as Corrie (and her biographers) claim it is.
I'm having a hard time understanding how you, a reader who has spent zero time with the Ten Boom's, can claim that the Sherrill's (who spent much time with them) had an agenda that somehow interfered with communicating their story. You certainly do have an agenda to have read the entire book and then claimed that none of it happened the way it was described (having no knowledge of it) just because it all seems like superstition to you. You went into the book opposed to the whole premise of it. That is an agenda. Luckily, Corrie Ten Boom went on the speak in dozens of countries and to thousands of people. Perhaps you would be encouraged to hear from her own lips confirmation of what was written in The Hiding Place. A simple Google search will lead you to dozens of sources. That would at least eliminate one of your complaints (that the book was not written accurately). Your statement that "there didn't happen any miracles in the concentration camps" is not a matter of fact. Were you there? Are you the authority on miracles? Your refusal to take the content at its word doesn't nullify it for everyone else (or history for that matter).
While my comments alone aren't intended to convince you of anything, the fact that you are in the extreme minority in your understanding of this book should inject a degree of humility to your review. Your claims are without evidence and though you may not have liked the book, the fact that you are at odds with the spiritual perspective of the book must account for the grand majority of the negativity since your other disputes about the validity of the content itself have no merit.
I found the book on GR lists of best books about the Holocaust, and started reading not knowing much about it. I have the ebook version, with no back cover. I read holocaust memoirs regularly. You're assuming wrongly I read this with the purpose of criticizing it. Please try to communicate constructively.
Perhaps the ebook version also does not include the preface or the forward or the introduction (all of which set the tone even more strongly than the title or the back cover). Or perhaps you didn't read any of the reviews beforehand (something I make a habit of doing so I'm not blindsided as it seems you were). I didn't mean to imply that you started the book intentionally to disagree with it, but your personal perspective clearly influenced your experience of the book to the point that you claim that the authors (who worked closely with Corrie) intentionally misrepresented her story. I find it the opposite of "constructive" to claim something is false (again, with no evidence) just because you didn't understand it or think it could possibly be true. Regardless of how unprepared you were for the content of the book, it doesn't fail to be "a believable memoir" just because it doesn't fit your worldview. When you decide to call someone's story false simply because you disagree with it, I call that agenda.
I haven't read this book and your review puts me off. I generally feel that for life inside the camps, one is best to confine oneself to the memoirs of those who actually lived through the experience: Tadeusz Borowski, Elie Wiesel, etc. The danger of reading a book by someone who has had no personal experience is that the author is simply using the Holocaust as a vehicle to promote his or her own unrelated agenda.
If you delete your previous comments, how can you expect me to continue this conversation?
Greta, I deleted my very first comment and replaced it with what I considered to be a more succinct version before I ever saw that you had responded. Nothing else has been deleted, though there is much you've left untouched in my comments. I don't really see a benefit to continuing the conversation. It's not uncommon at all to have biographers help someone write down their story so I'm struggling to understand why it presents such a problem for you in this case. Again, if you were to research Corrie's speeches you would find them consistent with this book but somehow I doubt you will do that or that it will matter. You seem very much stuck in your position that the story is false "tripe." To each his own, but I think it's backward to denounce the authenticity of an account (and call its readers naive) simply because you didn't like it and didn't agree with the religious perspective of the person it was about. Calling the book a "fairytale" and claiming that the co-authors had an agenda because you can't fathom that the events happened as described is not credible or helpful. You have no evidence and you clearly are biased. I'm biased as well as I happen to share Corrie's faith, but I have the evidence of Corrie's additional work to corroborate what was written. In the end, the truth does not need for you to like it. Since you offer no proof, you would do yourself credit to desist from making claims about the truthfulness of this account.
Czarny, the book is written by a survivor. Corrie Ten Boon wrote the book and was assisted by John and Elizabeth Sherrill (as is often the case with autobiographies).
Czarny wrote: "I haven't read this book and your review puts me off. I generally feel that for life inside the camps, one is best to confine oneself to the memoirs of those who actually lived through the experien..."I actually thought it was a memoir ; it's also on my bookshelf 'memoir'. It took me a while before I understood what was going on.
I would however recommend the book, as it is helpful to counter the argument that Jews exploit the Holocaust.
Andrea, I admit my review can be offensive insofar I wrote that I only recommend it to naive and superstitious readers. I will adjust that inconsiderate sentence. You are right, I am not an authority on miracles.
I have to retract. Wikipedia informs me that Corrie ten Boom was in fact a prisoner at the Scheveningen and Ravensbrück concentration camps. She was knighted by the Queen of the Netherlands and recognized as one of the "righteous" by the State of Israel. She was then by any measure entitled to express her opinion on the mattter.
Czarny wrote: "I have to retract. Wikipedia informs me that Corrie ten Boom was in fact a prisoner at the Scheveningen and Ravensbrück concentration camps. She was knighted by the Queen of the Netherlands and rec..."Yes, indeed. She and her family helped hide Jews.
That's why this 'memoir' was such a big disappointment to me.
I've managed to put my foot in my mouth twice in a very short time.
Czarny wrote: "I've managed to put my foot in my mouth twice in a very short time."No, you didn't Czarny. This discussion IS confusing. You shouldn't blame yourself.
Greta, I am sorry that some find dissent so intolerable. I disagree with your conclusions on this book, but thank you for sharing your thoughtful review with us.
Thank you Carol. I'm painfully aware that I'm outnumbered by thousands of readers.
I haven't read this book but I did read A Prisoner and Yet which covered the time between the family's arrest and Corrie's release. I also had the pleasure of meeting her back in 1974. I'm not what you would call a 'deeply devout' person, or devout at all for that matter, but I couldn't help but be impressed by her ability to suffer some of the most barbarous acts in history, including the murder of her family members and still forgive those who did those who did it. In addition, it's difficult to forget that she didn't need to go through any of this. All they had to do was choose not to take fugitive Jews into their home, people whose faith they did not even share, and hide them. Meeting her was a real 'You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din' moment for me. I agree that sometimes people can get a little preachy to the point where I roll my eyes and shut my ears but in some cases, Corrie Ten Boom for one, they've earned the right. Besides, you probably knew what the book was about going into it.
Thanks for the honest review, though.
Manipulative books with hidden agendas, blurrgh!You were right to mark it low, Greta.
Thank you Tom. I do admire the Ten Boom family for their courage and feel nothing but sympathy for them. That doesn't mean I have to love the book though and accept its message that unconditional faith and forgiveness and accepting a higher divine plan in atrocities are just. Or believe that miracles will happen if you only have enough faith.
Most Jews did have deep faith. Were they saved? Did there happen miracles for them? Should they have forgiven their slaughterers?
This book may be inspiring and comforting for a lot of people, but imo it doesn't help to prevent a holocaust from happening again,
Kevin wrote: "Manipulative books with hidden agendas, blurrgh!You were right to mark it low, Greta."
Thanks Kevin :)
You`ve made me think about this book in a very different way Greta, and I thank you for that. I gave it 5 stars based purely on feeling so much sympathy for the Ten Boom family, but without thinking any further than that. I`m not religious at all but accept that faith is what helped the family and so did not make any judgements. On reflection I now feel a bit miffed at being so manipulated by the writing!
Appreciate your warning on this one Greta.
Natalie, your comment made me think about manipulation. I don't want to manipulate you to dislike a book you've enjoyed reading ;) It's fine with me if others are inspired by it. The way I read books is probably different from the way others read books.
I just checked the website tenboom.org. Very interesting. There's a lot of prayers for Israel and for the Jews too.
Here is one of them : "
"Prayer/Praise That our God will protect and reach out to all Jews with His immense love, that he will send effective evangelists among those people so that all might be saved, as the Apostle Paul wrote."
I don't know what Apostle Paul wrote, but I do think this is a fine example of what the tone of the book was to me. However, you have to read between the lines because it's unspoken, so it's not obvious.
Fred wrote: "Appreciate your warning on this one Greta."Thanks Fred.
This is one of the few Dutch books I read in my house. Because it was Christian, and my mom put it in my hands, I presume.
I assume your mother also had an hidden agenda :)
Oh, she tried, and did her best to raise me in the ways he thought best. She was my favorite person ever, I was her boy. She was a conservative in politics and religion but I was very close to her. She would still want me to read that book, I am sure, to keep me "in the fold."
Sounds like she was a sweet lady. I hope she didn't know you were reading Bukowski.
LOL! I bet she is frowning down on me about that. With a look of sadness and disappointment, which was always more effective than yelling or spanking, that she was hurt I could be bad....
Oh yes, body language, and facial expression in particular, is a powerful way of communicating feelings. People say my face is like an open book. I try to have some control over it, but it's difficult. I guess I'll never have a poker face. Except here on GR ;) Maybe I should try botox :)
Greta wrote: "Oh yes, body language, and facial expression in particular, is a powerful way of communicating feelings. People say my face is like an open book. I try to have some control over it, but it's diffic..." You do seem to be an emotional person, reading with your feelings forward. I just now went back and read all the comments in this review. You seem to get in a lot of trouble for your views with all your feelings! :)
Which troubles? ;)On the contrary, I'm rather a critical reader who doesn't get too emotional over books like this.
Which makes me probably just an annoying person :)
I rarely have troubles in real life with this. But I realize written words always seem a little 'harder'; there's less nuance than in a real conversation. Add to this the fact that English isn't my native language.
Well, I think writing here does lack the nuance of face to face speech. And in a second language, that complicates things. Sometimes I think I am being funny and it comes off mean or just dumb. I do think that the occasional emotional conversations I see here on Goodreads might be different in person. All the other social media, especially here, with Trump, get to be even more agitated and divisive. I am not generally not speaking with a couple family members because of related issues.
I've never seen you writing anything mean or dumb, David. I would tell you if I thought you have :)
Greta wrote: "I've never seen you writing anything mean or dumb, David. I would tell you if I thought you have :)" Oh, I know you would! You keep me on the right path.
This is the farthest thing from Christian propaganda. These folks LIVED this life. The sisters found God in all they encountered regardless of their dire circumstances. Obviously learned behaviors from their father's life which was fueled by compassion for others and his teachings via the Bible. To "warn" people away from this book is disingenuous and base. Let folks decide for themselves. Corrie devoted her life to spreading more of just what this world needs right now: grace, mercy, forgiveness, understanding and in some cases a small miracle (vitamin drops)
Moira Leavitt wrote: "This is the farthest thing from Christian propaganda. These folks LIVED this life. The sisters found God in all they encountered regardless of their dire circumstances. Obviously learned behaviors ..."You overestimate my influence, Moira.
The book may not have inspired me much, but I can see how it gave you more grace, mercy, forgiveness and understanding.
Thank you for this honest review. I, for one, can take it at face value. You have stirred up a few hornets though. :)
Wow, I can see why all the reviewers thought this. I would have given it a poor rating as well.
I love that you've stirred up this hornets' nest, Greta, as Ray mentioned above because it really forces people to think and (re)evaluate their own feelings, perceptions. Pushing the envelope is why so many of us are here on goodreads: not to blithely accept, but to always question. I can't make any comments on the book because I've not read it, but this controversial thread has instilled a desire to read it. Thanks for your forthright review.
