The Wordy Shipmates

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Sarah Vowell uncovers what it was like to be a Puritan living in the new found British colonies of the 1600's and how their ideas, way of life and,... (show more)

Sarah Vowell uncovers what it was like to be a Puritan living in the new found British colonies of the 1600's and how their ideas, way of life and, particularly, the metaphors that shaped their existence, have found their way into our current cultural and life. Along the way there are heresies, Indian wars, internecine squabbling and at a woman preacher banished for preaching the very damnable heresy that would become the very paradigm of contemporary Evangelical Christianity. It turns out the Puritans were at once brilliant and mad, and Vowell writes with a sharp eye and a sharp wit; she seems to love them even as her sarcasm knifes right through them. She is immensely enjoyable as both a writer and an historian and brings the time, the place and the people to life in a way that is really quite unique. (show less)

 

 

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No, it's a flop!

This book surprises me. I expected it to be funny, or at least witty, but it reads like a particularly well written senior thesis at Harvard. It ex... (show more)

This book surprises me. I expected it to be funny, or at least witty, but it reads like a particularly well written senior thesis at Harvard. It explores how the myth of a Shining City on a Hill has manifested itself throughout our history, from Winthrop through Reagan. It probes whether the separation of church and state protects the church or the state.

I especially enjoy Vowell's exploration of the concepts of dependence and independence, and how we maybe went wrong as a nation by picking the myth of independence over the one where we give and give and give to our neighbor until it hurts, just because that is what our society and our God demands of us. This seems particularly trenchant as we watch the orgy of greed implode, with a lot of collateral damage.

But this book really isn't what I expected. I probably wouldn't have picked up a book on our Puritan predecessors if it hadn't been written by Vowell, so I applaud her for tricking me into journeying with her back to early Boston. She says she has a thing for wishy-washy zealots and that's what kept her going on this book in the face of hipsters who would quickly change the subject when she told them about her latest project. (show less)

 

 

by Katie Whitney Luers

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  If you are one of those 28% who thought George W. Bush was doing a great job as president then you will probably hate this book. That isn’t to say that the rest of you will love this book. Beyond her political quips, there is a style to the writing of Sarah Vowell that is unmistakable and which you will either love or hate. She frequently wanders off topic with jokes about “Happy Days” or her nephew Owen. But if you enjoyed her other books and like her style then you will be in for a treat.

  ... (show more)

  If you are one of those 28% who thought George W. Bush was doing a great job as president then you will probably hate this book. That isn’t to say that the rest of you will love this book. Beyond her political quips, there is a style to the writing of Sarah Vowell that is unmistakable and which you will either love or hate. She frequently wanders off topic with jokes about “Happy Days” or her nephew Owen. But if you enjoyed her other books and like her style then you will be in for a treat.

  But first, this book is not about the Pilgrims or Thanksgiving. She skips ahead to after the Pilgrims have landed and discusses the other Puritans who landed north of Plymouth Rock and settled in Boston and Salem. In fact, what she is really aiming to discuss is the writing and experiences of John Winthrop, one of the key Puritans, the one who wrote about “the city on the hill” that Ronald Reagan so misunderstood. The book is about the struggles of Winthrop to control Massachusetts and his religious colony when faced with men like Roger Williams who found most of the Puritans not pure enough but still believed that the state had no business interfering in religious beliefs. Williams founded Rhode Island (after being kicked out of Massachusetts by Winthrop) on the basis of separation of Church and State at a time when disagreements about the proper indenting in the Bible could lead to wars. And if your knowledge of Anne Hutchinson doesn’t go beyond her river or parkway in the Bronx, you will be fascinated by her story.

  Ms. Vowell’s writing style keeps the book moving, although it does drag in parts, and we end up with a history lesson that could have been quite dull in other hands. Like “Assassination Vacation” we end up learning a lot more than we though we would have when we started without feeling that we have been force fed a history lesson. As I said earlier, if you enjoy the writing style of Ms. Vowell, then I think you will enjoy this book. (show less)

   

   

  by Thomas Paul on Sep 20, 2009 at 04:38PM

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  Vowell, by her own admission, is not a historian, however she manages to make a rather dry topic - puritans - engaging and memorable. This is not a history of the Mayflower or a hipster retelling of the first Thanksgiving. This is the story of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and a group of Pilgrims headed by John Winthrop who arrived 10 years later and helped establish Boston. Vowell shows the influence of "A Model of Christian Charity," a sermon Winthrop wrote before or during the vo... (show more)

  Vowell, by her own admission, is not a historian, however she manages to make a rather dry topic - puritans - engaging and memorable. This is not a history of the Mayflower or a hipster retelling of the first Thanksgiving. This is the story of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and a group of Pilgrims headed by John Winthrop who arrived 10 years later and helped establish Boston. Vowell shows the influence of "A Model of Christian Charity," a sermon Winthrop wrote before or during the voyage from England to the colonies. Although no one really took note of it at the time, a particular part of it has echoed in modern America: Winthrop's vision that the colony was specially ordained by God to "be as a city upon a hill," a model for others. That phrase, largely a "sound bite" today, was cited by President John F. Kennedy, repeatedly used by President Ronald Reagan and even employed by Sarah Palin in last year's vice-presidential debate (however I doubt Palin knows of or has ever heard of John Winthrop). Please do yourself a favour and pick up the audio book, Vowell reads her book in her own inimitable style, plus a terrific cast lend their talent and voices to much of the historical text she quotes. (show less)

   

   

  by Shelley Bynum Sharpe on Sep 12, 2009 at 09:15PM

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