I'm halfway through the 400 pages-- where things suddenly change. I was thinking this was the most awesome thing ever, american splendour plus maus plI'm halfway through the 400 pages-- where things suddenly change. I was thinking this was the most awesome thing ever, american splendour plus maus plus gender, and then, this is not a spoiler as it is in the description of the book up top, we have a protagonist as a jew in nazi germany. So disappointing. It was enough, and far more meaningful, to have the suffering the protagonist endures be due to being a woman and =not= being a jew. Such a lost opportunity....more
Despite the ending being telegraphed by the title and the immediate set up of the book (as well as a few reviews I read), presumably a transcendent haDespite the ending being telegraphed by the title and the immediate set up of the book (as well as a few reviews I read), presumably a transcendent happy uplifting ending, a third of the way in the non stop deluge of gratuitously addicted people was so un fun that I gave up....more
Blazingly brilliantly plotted. Super page turner. Lots of Tarantino-esque dialogue, but more highbrow. Really a beautiful execution of the slow revealBlazingly brilliantly plotted. Super page turner. Lots of Tarantino-esque dialogue, but more highbrow. Really a beautiful execution of the slow reveal by the author creating a shifting mosaic of expectation and shifting knowlege by the reader. Highly recommended.
Though I will say, that was not a 5 star ending, but more of an average OK suffices ending. But the fun of this is reading all the rest of it, which is fantastic....more
The author does an amazing job of very logically unpacking her near death experience and with very few words does a fantastic job rationally defining The author does an amazing job of very logically unpacking her near death experience and with very few words does a fantastic job rationally defining terms, providing analogies, and concisely addressing very difficult subjects like "the problem of good and evil" with a great deal of illumination.
Highly recommended if you have interest in this area. It's impressive how many answers to big questions are presented here, in a transmission that I found personally effective.
I agree with another reviewer that draws a connection with the non phsyical reality described in Jane Roberts's Seth channeling. The material in Sudman's work is strong enough that, placing it side by side with Seth, I feel like I am seeing the emergence of a unique American (western?) metaphysical tradition.
As such, it speaks to those of us who are raised and educated as materialists, and may use but are not entirely suffused with the spiritual techniques and traditions of other cultures.
My only quibbles with this book are the sometimes clumsy feel to the language, which while logical is not always smoothly flowing. As well the chatty parenthetical asides suggest a light or nonexistent editor which is not surprising given the small publisher and the goofy title. So, while this book is short it does require the reader to take it slowly....more
This book can be challenging to rigid thinkers as it does not fit easily into genre. It could be mainstream fiction, science fiction, magic realism, nThis book can be challenging to rigid thinkers as it does not fit easily into genre. It could be mainstream fiction, science fiction, magic realism, non fiction.
It presents the very real, surprisingly weird world of 1870's west coast america viewed through the very different perspectives of outsiders native to the times. Everyone projects their desires onto the magnetic but enigmatic Sarah Canary and carries out their hopeful but blinkered quests, crossing eachother's paths and opposing or helping eachother as is appropriate.
For most of the book this is entertaining, funny and clever. At the end it is very sad.
As one expects, a commentary on the current times as well, quite a balloon popper really.
I usually want some transcendence to earn a 5 star rating. The transcendence offered here is very small, very realistic, very grounded. And I hope also that this indicates that reading this book was time very well spent for me....more
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