my beautiful idol : my review

via the ooze i was given a copy of 'my beautiful idol' to read and give my review.

i threw out some excerpts from the book early in reading. at that point i really enjoyed reading and there was some anticipation of what was happening next. where does this journey go, etc. it is a memoir of faith trying to be lived out in actions and some of those actions would be considered nutty by some, noble by others. i really liked seeing into some of the 'noble' actions and their less noble feelings. especially the attempt to be like henri nouwen. but like the impact of stories of people like henri nouwen or shane claiborne doing counter cultural attempts to the standard move upward in the celebrity/corporate world. the heart of their story and motivations is not that we all follow in their footsteps to enact their exact same things. so you get failed attempts at being who you are not.. and this went over and over and over

as i closed the book i was let down. the first half of the book was riddled with some fun stories, leaps of faith, and honest self-examination. but 230-250 pages in i was pretty much over with the self-exam that moved into self-deprecation. it just got old for me. maybe i need some epiphany to feel good. maybe the self-actualizations were not that profound for me. maybe i have my idols that are not allowing me to see past my own self.. maybe..

was it a good book? if you like memoirs then sure. it is written well and moves quickly. it has some cool spots too. i know i was really intrigued reading his understanding of speaking in tongues. something i am not familiar with as spiritual practice. but memoirs haven't traditionally been my book. i like to be challenged in thinking and this didn't take me there in the end.

blake has a more favorable outlook on the book. search for other reviews to see if i am full of crap.

Comments

[Ariah Fine]

I honestly didn't like it too much either. I did think the stories were pretty well written and interesting, but overall I think I felt similar to you.