We discussed this in our international book club in April 2007. We all liked the book but had a few observations, e.g. we thought the title should have been: "A woman's journey to herself".
If you don't know anything about the Amish, this is certainly a good book to read, it's not very long either.
We found the report about Amish life very peaceful, it puts things into perspective. Why do we always have to rush? The idea is the journey on the way.
Read my original review here.
Sounds good. On my way to your review
ReplyDeleteThanks, Emma. I will see what you have to say.
DeleteI read this book so long ago, I'd totally forgotten about it. I thought her time spent with the Amish was so fascinating...and I appreciated the things she learned from them.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lark. It's always good to try to get to know people with a different lifestyle though I would have liked her a bit more thorough.
DeleteWe have Amish friends: We used to buy milk from them and we still see them at community events. We also shop at the local Amish store. I find the language fascinating. We always try to speak to each other in German, but it normally does not work. The daughter of our French professor lived with "our" Amish family for a while and became very close.
ReplyDeleteI can imagine that the language has changed from the original German, or rather Palatian which is something we Northerners are not so used to. I had trouble understanding my husband's family at first.
DeleteYes, it has changed a lot. One of my professors in DaF at the University of Bonn did research on the changes. It was fascinating!
DeleteI'm sure that's a great topic to study.
DeleteOh, and there are Mennonites around here too. Even some professor families belong to the Mennonites, but don't follow their dress code. And we have friends that are Quakers. So it is a wonderful mix out here.
ReplyDeleteThat is always interesting, Eva. We don't have that many religious variations here but we have a lot of immigrants and there are, of course, lots of Muslims. Always great to talk to them and get to know their points of view.
DeleteThere are not many Muslims in our area, but Buffalo and Rochester do have some. Our pediatrician is Muslim and Jonathan and Charlotte went on a field trip with our college to attend a prayer service at the mosque in Rochester once. We do have a synagogue in the area, but I have not been to it. I would love to visit one day, but whenever I am free, it is closed. I used to go to events put on by the "Gesellschaft für Christlich-Jüdische Zusammenarbeit Bonn." That was always very interesting.
DeleteWell, due to historic reasons, we don't have as many Jews in Germany as we used to have. And I don't blame those who left voluntarily for that, I probably would have done the same.
DeleteHowever, as you certainly know, due to us taking in so many "guest workers" from Turkey in the sixties, we have lots of Muslims. In most areas, that works really well, though only the bad events make the news.
Yes, I do know about the Muslim population. I even remember them from my time in grade school.
DeleteIt has increased with all the refugees.
DeleteThey are more visible, that is true.
DeleteDefinitely.
DeleteDid this mention the Pennsylvania Dutch dialect? I imagine a German reader would find that interesting.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, she didn't go very deep into any of the particulars which would have been interesting for all of us.
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