juanjmorales's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
slow-paced
4.5
lifeinpoetry's review against another edition
4.0
This book is not farming or her attempts at learning farming, it's about her attempt to pick through race, identity, spirituality, and the feelings of entitlement many Americans have when it comes to Native culture despite the fact it's not theirs to claim. It's not that she doesn't accept the answers people give her about GMOs/Christianity/farming, it's that she's trying to understand what her book is really about, what the questions beneath her half-baked GMO question really are.
corvidaemp's review against another edition
5.0
What a beautiful meander through the heartland. I really wasn't sure I would like this book but it so gently and sincerely asks you to be open and ask questions. It's refreshing to not feel an opinion pressed down on you and to instead peruse a dialogue. Great read.
mikchara's review against another edition
1.0
I usually feel guilty about not finishing books but life’s too short to subject yourself to mediocre, vague writing trying to pass as poetic. The idea is there and could’ve been really fascinating but everything just lacked structure and depth. No valuable insight, just a lot of self indulgent opinions and sometimes just some flat out stupid writing. Bummer!
momey's review against another edition
5.0
I felt this was an interesting and thought provoking book. I've read some of the negative reviews and with all respect (the reviews I read were very thoughtful) I think they missed the forest for the trees. The book in my reading is about the alienation the author feels exists between two worlds, an alienation she sees herself as trying to bridge. the two worlds are irreconcilable however, their foundational beliefs systems can't talk to each other. This is *not* a book about wheat farming and harvesting and its *not* a book about Mennonites.
randyrasa's review against another edition
2.0
Not sure what to make of this. Despite many interesting bits of writing, the end result was just kind of an unformed lump of information. There are really no conclusions drawn from the topics covered, and no answers to the questions discussed. I don't really see the point of the book.
I found many aspects extremely frustrating. Discussing modern farming without mentioning climate change and water management? How is it even possible to gloss over those fundamental issues? There's a brief section about the farming monoculture, but the concerns are immediately dismissed by saying that farmers raise more than one crop. That's not the point at all. The point is that vast portions of the earth's surface have been converted from a diverse ecosystem of hundreds or thousands of species to just a few species, with disastrous consequences for wildlife, insects, invertebrates, and ultimately humans.
The questions around religion and politics, though discussed at length, are not really looked at in any depth. The slices of Christianity examined are likewise extremely narrow and superficial.
The book promised a lot more than it delivered. Very disappointing.
I found many aspects extremely frustrating. Discussing modern farming without mentioning climate change and water management? How is it even possible to gloss over those fundamental issues? There's a brief section about the farming monoculture, but the concerns are immediately dismissed by saying that farmers raise more than one crop. That's not the point at all. The point is that vast portions of the earth's surface have been converted from a diverse ecosystem of hundreds or thousands of species to just a few species, with disastrous consequences for wildlife, insects, invertebrates, and ultimately humans.
The questions around religion and politics, though discussed at length, are not really looked at in any depth. The slices of Christianity examined are likewise extremely narrow and superficial.
The book promised a lot more than it delivered. Very disappointing.
gottbergmn's review against another edition
5.0
This book is a home run. I rarely give books an honest and genuine 5 stars, but this one is truly one. It is complex, insightful, thought provoking, and has given me much to ruminate on after finishing the last page. It is multilayered and grapples with such complicated issues for which there simply is not an easy or right answer. Marie Mutsuki Mockett’s narrative is engaging, insightful, and drew me in as I became acquainted with the main characters, the internal and external conflicts of the harvester crew, and began to truly understand that nothing is “black and white”, rather they are a multitudes of shades of grey. I will carry this book with me moving forward and will share it far and wide to open conversations that are far too long in coming.
alan_heathcock's review against another edition
5.0
Though the title tagline in 'God, Country, and Farming in the Heartland' this book is really about belief, what people believe and why, and opens up conversations that go way beyond a wheat harvest, delving into race, class, religion, education, on and on. This is one of the most compassionate, thought-provoking books I've read in a long time. If anyone is looking for a perfect book-club selection, this is it. It a great book to read (it's well-written and wonderfully told), but an even better book to discuss.