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Summary: my eyes and soul burn
Review: I had no idea Oprah recommended this book, I just picked it up in my small town library. From the first word, I could not put it down. I read it in two days. I felt so connected to Ninah. When I was younger and swept up in Christianity, I thought all the thoughts she did. I felt all the same emotions. I never spoke in "tongues", I was terrified of waking to find I had been "left behind", was I holy enough? The last half of the book, I read through tears. I finished it two days ago, and I miss Ninah and James and the others and mourn there departure. I will always remember them. I have passed the book to a friend and recommend it to anyone who dares. I can't wait to read another Sheri Reynolds book.
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Summary: Unforgetable Book
Review: This book was incredible. I was stunded in the scene where she described Ninah finding James. I knew it was coming but I did not want to believe it. I felt for Ninah who now had to face her community alone and I was actually angry at James for doing so.
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Summary: Unbelievable!
Review: I could not put this book down! Being from the south, I was astonished at the accuracy of it all in regards to the religious relm. The author put her best foot forward on this one. It reads like liquid gold. I didn't want it to end. It left my mind wondering and imagining what happened next and wanting to find out. The characters are so real that I had to keep reminding myself that it was fiction! Great job!
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Summary: You can't contain a free spirit
Review: As a group, my english class decided to read this book. It is not part of the curriculum, so we had to purchase it ourselves. It was the most worthy 9 dollars i have ever spent. From page one i was swept away with Ninah's free spirit and how Ms. Reynolds seems to remember so clearly what it is like to be a teenage girl. With every obstacle Ninah is faced with, I found a bit of myself in her. How she could be so angered with James..yet still love him so much. I became enraged with the wicked punishments instilled upon Ninah by her grandfather and became swept away in the whirlwind romance of james and ninah. I was not able to put this book down at all. I wanted so badly to be able to have another couple hundred pages at the end..just so i could continue reading about ninah and canaan. This is the most excellent piece of writing i have ever had the oppertunity to read.
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Summary: Good read
Review: I found the characters, esp Ninah, to be well drawn and interesting. Some details of the story were a bit bizarre but necessary to move the plot and develop theme. Kept my interest. I especially enjoyed reading the ways in which the community stayed together when it was falling apart. Very good book.
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Summary: Powerful! An eye opening display of the control of religion
Review: This book showed how incredibly important it is to think for yourself. It is amazing how much total power the grandfather had over his subjects. In case Jonestown is not fresh in your mind, I suggest everyone read this book.
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Summary: Students and teacher loved it
Review: I am an ESL teacher of the Province of Québec, Canada, and I chose this book as a mandatory reading for my Very Advanced group. From the comments of some of my students, they really enjoyed it, and I have to say it's one of the best books I've read in a long time! If Ms. Reynolds is reading this, I want to let you know that you write beautifully and that your novel is filled with themes (love, teenage pregancy, religion, friendship, suicide...) that can perfectly be exploited in a classroom! Five stars!
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Summary: Couldn't put it down
Review: I read the first 250 pages in one fell swoop on a train ride, then finished the rest on the return trip. Gripping, heart-wrenching, touching. Wonderful story-telling. I didn't want it to end.
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Summary: A weaver of lies, love, and truth
Review: One of the oldest metaphors for telling a story -- and for living a life -- is that of the weaver at her loom. I know this because weaving as a metaphor, from the most ancient Greek poets through Catullus' remarkable poem 64 ("at the marriage of Peleus and Thetis") was the subject of my masters' thesis in Classics too many years ago. Ninah, the protagonist of Sherri McReynolds' Oprah-selected novel, The Rapture of Canaan, is likewise a weaver, both literally and figuratively. She weaves rugs, using both twisted fabrics and the real materials of life, including hair and threads. She also "weaves in lies, in love, and in the end, it's hard to know if one keeps me warmer than the other."In broad outline, Rapture is the story of when Ninah becomes pregnant and gives birth while a member of a fundamentalist sect, The Church of Fire and Brimstone and God's Almighty Baptizing Wind. First tortured for her "sin", she is later beatified by the cult when the child is born with his hands fused together in a prayerful position, and taken to be the next savior. I have been consistently impressed with Oprah's choices of fiction, and agree wholeheartedly with her recommendation here.
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Summary: Listened on audiocassette. Absolutely spellbinding.
Review: Not a very religious person, I found this book reaching inside of me spiritually. Even though the author consistently questions the basis for extreme fundamentalist beliefs and the instilling of fear in the practice of religion, she certainly gives one comfort in her use of God to help in all situations. I found the book mesmerizing. Fell in love with Ninah and actually hated to stop my car as that is where I "read" most stories on audiocassette. Highly recommend.
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