Sarah's review
Rumspringa: To Be or Not to Be Amish
by Tom Shachtman
Sarah's review
Rumspringa: To Be or Not to Be Amish by Tom Shachtman
Sarah's review
rating:
bookshelves:
bookgroup
recommended for: Amish-likers
This book was somewhat interesting because of the mini-vignettes, but I still was able to put it down multiple times and move on to other things. Like I've said before, I really prefer books to suck me in and ones that make it hard for me to put them down.
The plight of the young Amish echoes the difficulties that all teenagers experience. The only difference is that after living a very sheltered existence, the Amish teenagers often go off the deep end in a world free of limits. Since outside structure is thrust upon them in the Amish society, they haven't cultivated the inner boundaries.
I think the book didn't suck me in, even with some compeling storylines, because it did get repetitive. The "shock value" wore off actually quickly.
There is a companion documentary: "The Devil's Playground," which one person in my book group saw and enjoyed.
I guess I would recommend it to anyone interested in learning about the Amish. Me, not so much.
The plight of the young Amish echoes the difficulties that all teenagers experience. The only difference is that after living a very sheltered existence, the Amish teenagers often go off the deep end in a world free of limits. Since outside structure is thrust upon them in the Amish society, they haven't cultivated the inner boundaries.
I think the book didn't suck me in, even with some compeling storylines, because it did get repetitive. The "shock value" wore off actually quickly.
There is a companion documentary: "The Devil's Playground," which one person in my book group saw and enjoyed.
I guess I would recommend it to anyone interested in learning about the Amish. Me, not so much.
