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vivelarevolution's review against another edition
He's the kind of man, I see, who isn't afraid to take what he wants. Our emails have flirted around this subject, but now that he's got me in person he can address it head-on.
"No, not married." I stop with a French fry halfway to my mouth. I haven't told Degan where I am tonight, who I'm meeting. I wait to hear myself say, "Engaged," but no sound comes out of my mouth. I find myself twisting my ring around my finger so the diamond doesn't show.
Eli wears a ring, too. I don't inquire.
The author is a bad person and a
pattydsf's review against another edition
3.0
I will put a quote here when the book is published
I seem to have run the gamut on Christianity over these past few months. I have read a book about grace, one about people who are leaving the church even though they are still believers, another about Christians who are examining the way they see the Bible, and then a book about evangelicals who are trying to change the more conservative wing of Christianity. I read often about my faith, but I have been especially eclectic lately.
Which brings me to Between Gods. Alison Pick was raised as a Christian, but it turns out that her paternal grandparents were Jewish and barely got out of Europe with their lives during World War II. Once in Canada, knowing that relatives had been taken to the concentration camps, Pick’s family became Episcopalians. So Pick starts her life being raised as a Christian.
Pick feels drawn back to her family’s ancestral faith. This memoir is about her journey to her “conversion” to Judaism. It was a long, intense struggle for Pick and I found it fascinating. I grew up among both Jews and Christians, but I have never known anyone who converted from one religion to the other. I would not have guessed that changing your faith could be so complicated.
I know from my class on Women and Judaism that Jews do not encourage conversion. However, given Pick’s family history, I would have thought that the rabbis and teachers that Pick talks to would have been glad to have someone return to their faith. I think most Christian denominations would have welcomed such a “lost sheep” with open arms.
Pick is a poet and has written a novel about the Holocaust. Her writing is beautiful. During her period of being “between Gods” there were many other changes happening in her life. She writes with clarity and attention to detail so that the reader can see the transformation that happens to her life while she is converting.
I don’t know what made me pick this book through the Edelweiss program. However, I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. I have learned a great deal about Pick’s life and I have been able to think about how my life would change if I lived in different circumstances.
If you have any interest in women’s lives or in stories from the Holocaust, try this memoir. If you are Jewish or interested in Judaism, I strongly recommend this story to you. If you are a reader like me, who wants to inhabit new and different worlds, then you too may want to pick this up when it is published in this country. I believe that Pick’s story is unusual and well told.
Thank you to Edelweiss and Harper Perennial.
I seem to have run the gamut on Christianity over these past few months. I have read a book about grace, one about people who are leaving the church even though they are still believers, another about Christians who are examining the way they see the Bible, and then a book about evangelicals who are trying to change the more conservative wing of Christianity. I read often about my faith, but I have been especially eclectic lately.
Which brings me to Between Gods. Alison Pick was raised as a Christian, but it turns out that her paternal grandparents were Jewish and barely got out of Europe with their lives during World War II. Once in Canada, knowing that relatives had been taken to the concentration camps, Pick’s family became Episcopalians. So Pick starts her life being raised as a Christian.
Pick feels drawn back to her family’s ancestral faith. This memoir is about her journey to her “conversion” to Judaism. It was a long, intense struggle for Pick and I found it fascinating. I grew up among both Jews and Christians, but I have never known anyone who converted from one religion to the other. I would not have guessed that changing your faith could be so complicated.
I know from my class on Women and Judaism that Jews do not encourage conversion. However, given Pick’s family history, I would have thought that the rabbis and teachers that Pick talks to would have been glad to have someone return to their faith. I think most Christian denominations would have welcomed such a “lost sheep” with open arms.
Pick is a poet and has written a novel about the Holocaust. Her writing is beautiful. During her period of being “between Gods” there were many other changes happening in her life. She writes with clarity and attention to detail so that the reader can see the transformation that happens to her life while she is converting.
I don’t know what made me pick this book through the Edelweiss program. However, I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. I have learned a great deal about Pick’s life and I have been able to think about how my life would change if I lived in different circumstances.
If you have any interest in women’s lives or in stories from the Holocaust, try this memoir. If you are Jewish or interested in Judaism, I strongly recommend this story to you. If you are a reader like me, who wants to inhabit new and different worlds, then you too may want to pick this up when it is published in this country. I believe that Pick’s story is unusual and well told.
Thank you to Edelweiss and Harper Perennial.
breenmachine's review against another edition
4.0
The author has a beautiful writing style and I got to step into her shoes for a while. Her depression had me crying (I know the feeling), and her explanation of it was accurate, heartbreaking, and beautiful. There were many times in the book when I got mad at her (her behavior towards Deglan, her emotional affair, for example) but they were raw honest moments (Plus she ended up pushing through and making big choices.) I loved her voice and her descriptions. Her thoughts and decisions about Judaism were more cultural-focused than I was expecting (I was expecting more talk about God/spirituality). She had many big life events in such a short time - marriage, new friendships, new religion, parental relationship changes, miscarriages, and having a baby - and I enjoyed getting to be there with her through them.
threeseagrass's review against another edition
4.0
A really beautiful memoir about depression and finding yourself through religion. [a:Alison Pick|291125|Alison Pick|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1407264602p2/291125.jpg] writes so beautifully and creatively that you can't help but live along with her, through her depressions, troubles during pregnancy, and journey toward finding herself.
For someone who has never been very religious, I'm always very interested in others' religious journeys, and Alison tells a heart-wrenching tale about her journey toward Judaism and how her family's past has called to her all her life. The history of her family, from their time in Czechoslovakia to Auschwitz to Canada is terrifying and somewhat surreal.
If you enjoy memoirs with a World War Two background, religious focus, and depression underlying it all, this one is for you.
For someone who has never been very religious, I'm always very interested in others' religious journeys, and Alison tells a heart-wrenching tale about her journey toward Judaism and how her family's past has called to her all her life. The history of her family, from their time in Czechoslovakia to Auschwitz to Canada is terrifying and somewhat surreal.
If you enjoy memoirs with a World War Two background, religious focus, and depression underlying it all, this one is for you.
corvingreene's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Miscarriage, and Antisemitism
Moderate: Body horror, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts
thuglibrarian's review against another edition
4.0
Alison Pick grew up in a Christian household but finds out a family secret in her teens. Her Jewish paternal grandparents fled from the Czech Republic at the start of WWII and chose to live as Christians in the U.S. This book is Alison's journey as she *feels* Jewish but she is not recognized as Jewish by the Jewish community. Why? Her mother is not Jewish, so Alison must convert if she wants to be Jewish. Thought provoking look at what we take for granted. Who are we?
annabella82's review against another edition
3.0
OK, here's the thing that always bugs me when reading a biography...I hate the whining or the "woe is me" tales. I always find that they leave a bitter taste in my mouth.
That was my problem with this one. I liked the idea of the author learning about her family history to figure out a little more about why she is the way she is but there were aspects I found unnecessary to the story being told. These things made me dislike the book.
That was my problem with this one. I liked the idea of the author learning about her family history to figure out a little more about why she is the way she is but there were aspects I found unnecessary to the story being told. These things made me dislike the book.
wendoxford's review against another edition
4.0
This book feels as if it is a conversation rather than a memoir. An astonishly open account of Alison's tenacious journey of conversion to Judaism born of a depression of which her family history turns out to be the root. The fact that she was born of paternal Jewish grandparents who managed to escape Czechoslavakia as the Holocaust closed in and sought refuge in Canada hiding in Christianity, makes the journey all the more astonishing.
Although I sometimes thought the telling was somewhat schmaltzy, on reflection it wasn't. It is a coming to terms with who she really is against the backdrop of history, family secrets and the insufferably gruelling search for acknowledgement of her identity alongside her non-Jewish partner.
Although I sometimes thought the telling was somewhat schmaltzy, on reflection it wasn't. It is a coming to terms with who she really is against the backdrop of history, family secrets and the insufferably gruelling search for acknowledgement of her identity alongside her non-Jewish partner.