The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell Summary and Reviews
|
List Price: Our Price: $1.95 You Save: $24.00 (92%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of The Wordy Shipmates
Book Review: Interesting, but a little random
Summary: 4 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
This is the first book of Sarah Vowell's writings that I've read. I didn't know what to expect, not having heard much of her on NPR. I found her treatment of the Massachusetts Bay colony and its leaders engaging. She deftly mixes sharp and snarky comments from today's perspective in with her exposition of what the principal issues, religious and pragmatic, confronting the leaders of the colony. However, it also seemed a little bit random at times, as though she would tire of discussing one aspect of the colony and then pick up a new thread without much transition. That made the history a but more desultory than I'd like, but I'm sure everyone's mileage will vary on that point. It might make things less dry for other readers.
Overall, I'd recommend The Wordy Shipmates as an accessible history of the Bay colony that figures so significantly--if not prominently--in our nation's history.
Book Review: Interestingly narrated adventure about interesting times!
Summary: 4 Stars
This book takes you on an interesting narrative of America's early Puritan roots, though not nearly the way as one may expect. While The Wordy Shipmates doesn't read like your general book on historical treatise, Sarah Vowell does make reading and learning about this particular subject very personal, approachable, down to earth and relevant for today; complete with humor and sarcasm to boot. Read it as an arm chair, treasure hunting, adventure and you may enjoy it! Read it as a dissertation thesis for a syllabus and you may not!Book Review: Jam packed with info
Summary: 4 Stars
I love all of Sarah Vowell's work. I love how she find what could be dry, boring stuff and both entertains while she imparts the information, and also makes it so relevant to current events.
This newest book is no different. I learned so much that I didn't know about pre-Revolutionary New England. I didn't know much if anything about the founders of Boston, and I live within an hour's drive of the city - I've walked the Freedom Trail and all that, but this predates the Revolution by a nearly a century and a half.
I do feel it was a tad more disjointed than, say, Assassination Vacation, and so the tie up, as the "most helpful" reviewer has mentioned, is not as neat and tidy. I also was sad when it ended - which just means that I was enjoying Vowell's writing and wishing it would go on.
I would highly recommend it to any fan of Vowell's, and to anyone who enjoys history served up in an entertaining and slightly snarky manner.
Book Review: Loved it
Summary: 5 Stars
I really enjoyed this book. I have also enjoyed Vowell's other books but for some reason, I couldn't put this one down. I've always been fascinated with this country's relationship with religion and the mix of religion and government. This book tells the story of some crucial original settlers and the complex role religion played in forming the values of the United States in a very entertaining and relevant way. I couldn't put it down and it inspired me to do my own additional research. LOVED IT!Book Review: More from the undisputed pop geek post-modern goddess of American history
Summary: 5 Stars
Sarah Vowell is probably the first to admit that she's a US history geek, indeed she proudly wears the fact on her sleeve throughout her writing. Like many people obsessed with a particular topic she is hell bent on making sure everyone else appreciates her passion. This desire might be weird and discomforting were it not for Vowell's tremendous sense of humor and gift for prose.
Wordy Shipmates considers those trendy black clothed proto-goths, the Puritans, often imagined, as she puts it as "generic, boring, stupid judgmental killjoys." Not so argues Vowell, who instead describes them as "they are very specific, fascinating, brilliant, judgmental killjoys who rarely agreed on anything except that Catholics are going to hell." Here we find Vowell's first thrust, that far from uninteresting, the Puritans were vibrant intellectuals. With considerable thought, she mounts piles of evidence to show how seriously these people took ideas and how many of these ideas continue to affect our culture to the present day, positioning them as startling the divide between the modern and the medieval world.
Regarding the impact of the Puritans on modern American culture, Vowell does an excellent job, particularly in separating supposition from fact, pointing out how much of the Evangelical bent laid out the Puritan's door is really rooted in the "great awakening." Even more interesting, she demonstrates how, despite the claims to the contrary that are so often repeated in modern politics, the US has a deeply rooted tradition of communitarians that stretches all the way back to these first New Englanders. Moreover, her discussion of surety vs. doubt in our culture also provides much food for thought.
For me, the book fell short in only one aspect and that only because Vowell set such a high bar in her superb "Assassination Vacation." In that earlier work she struck a near perfect balance between snarky post-modern humor, being informative, and a powerful emotive reverence that she plainly feels for the US and its history. In particular Vowell's discussion of Lincoln in that work will pull your heart into your throat.
In contrast, "Wordy Shipmates" doesn't quite achieve that perfect balance. To be sure, much of her linking to the modern world is evocative. Particularly arresting is her description of New Yorkers right after 9/11 lining up to do all they can to help rescue crews even as they breath ash composed at least in part of the remains of their fellow New Yorkers. Yet these digressions, while often thoughtful, at times lean too much to the snarky, even verging at times on preachy.
Let me say again, that shortcoming only exists because Vowell's own previous work was so extraordinary. Indeed, anyone with an interest in US history or culture will be missing out if they fail to book passage with "The Wordy Shipmates" in order to consider her thoughtful analysis.
Highly recommended.