The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell
|
List Price: Our Price: $1.97 You Save: $23.98 (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: Vowell remains the ideal teacher of American history
Summary: 4 Stars
Sarah Vowell is the sort of person you desperately wish taught your high school American history class: smarter than anyone else in the room, a quirky sense of humor, full of random trivia and a genuine enthusiasm for her topic. Her 2005 effort "Assassination Vacation" may be one of the best books of this decade, looking at the macabre side of our executive branch with the voice of a skeptical fangirl.
Now, with her latest title "The Wordy Shipmates," Vowell has graduated from being the ideal high school teacher to the ideal college professor. It's a more professional work than her earlier titles, more akin to an academic essay than a road trip diary, but that doesn't keep it from being one of the best recent books on pre-Founding Fathers America.
The "wordy shipmates" in question are the Puritans, most particularly a section which set sail from England in 1630 to settle in what would eventually become Boston. Vowell looks beyond the stereotype, viewing them as an optimistic, highly literate people who gave America more than a reputation for sexual repression. Their desire to write and express thought would give precedent for the First Amendment, and their leader John Winthrop would advocate "a city upon a hill" and lay the groundwork for America's centuries of self-importance.
Winthrop, the political head of the settlement, is one of the main characters Vowell plays along with: he is a compassionate authoritarian who ordered a man's ears cut off, but postponed his exile until the harsh winter ended. He tried to keep his colony independent without agitating the English monarchy, but found himself up against personalities equally as forceful. On one hand was Roger Williams, a rabble-rouser who advocated separation of church and state to protect the church and whom Vowell sees as a perfect talk-show host in modern times. On the other was Anne Hutchinson, who challenged religious order and would have won all debates if she could only shut up for the closing statement.
Vowell's books have been moving from essay collections to more cohesive history texts, and "The Wordy Shipmates" reflects this shift in style. There are no chapters or major separations between sections, and it focuses chiefly on analyzing documents such as Winthrop's journals and Williams' letters. It has the feel of a masters' thesis, which is not a condemnation - Kurt Vonnegut earned a master's in anthropology for "Cat's Cradle" after all - but after the ambling pace of "Assassination Vacation" it's certainly a shift to see Vowell spend most of her time in the library.
The literary fascination of the Puritans may have rubbed off a little too heavily on Vowell, but a more formal structure isn't enough to silence her droll tone: she can recall enacting the fires of hell at Bible camp with puppets and flashlights and say how genuinely excited she was about a sitcom depicting the harsh winters Pilgrims had to endure. Fans of "Assassination Vacation" will be pleased to see she continues touring with her sister and niece, dragging them to Pilgrim reenactment villages and a museum neighboring an Indian casino.
And these examples get to the core of what makes Vowell's writing such a treat: they're accessible in a way no other history writer is. She weaves mass media into these historical actions, comparing the founding of Massachusetts to a Bugs Bunny cartoon and Winthrop's feud with his deputy governor to a Nancy Drew mystery. Her analogies aren't there to distract a reader but draw them in further, doing exactly what a teacher should do: make you understand the argument.
One passage in particular showcases her style, able to make a thesis statement in one sentence and convert it to pop culture in the next: "They personify what would become the fundamental conflict of American life - between public and private, between the body politic and the individual, between we the people and each person's pursuit of happiness. At his city-on-a-hill best, Winthrop is Pete Seeger, gathering a generation around the campfire to sing their shared folk songs. Williams is Bob Dylan plugging in at Newport, making his own noise."
It's passages like that one that reaffirm Vowell's position as the maven of American history, and that keep "The Wordy Shipmates" an accessible and amusing read. The more formal structure and occasionally thick text may offset fans of "Assassination Vacation," but Vowell keeps it flowing with her trademark wit and a cast interesting enough to change anyone's definition of "puritan."
Book Review: great as history; not stellar as social commentary
Summary: 4 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
The point Sarah Vowell hopes to make with her book is condensed in its three opening sentences: "The only thing more dangerous than an idea is a belief. And by dangerous I don't mean thought-provoking. I mean: might get people killed." In many ways the book aims to be a modern social commentary that tells us about all the terrible things that happened to and in the United States and the world because some Puritans hopped on a boat and came here.
We elected Bush? That's Anne Hutchinson's fault. And not just because Bush is a descendant of hers either. Had it not been for Anne's ideas, most American Protestants would not now believe in "immediate personal revelation" (p. 209)--the idea (radical at the time) that individuals have a personal relationship with God and that, as a result, only the individual is responsible for his or her own salvation. In other words, had it not been for Anne, there would have been no born-again Christians and, hence, no George Bush.
Our (often disastrous) interventions around the world? Blame Winthrop of "City on a Hill" fame. Had he not drummed into us that we're a city on a hill, a model to the world, we might be less eager to spread our model from one corner of the globe to the next. And, in any event, we might not have had Ronald Reagan as president. (I suspect Sarah Vowell might be a Democrat by the way.)
The Indian massacres? That too is the Puritans' fault. But here Sarah Vowell does not have to rely on genealogy or one man or woman's belief system to prove her point. The Puritans, after all, massacred many Indians. Like the Pequot, whose children, women, and men they literally burned alive. This book is thus worth reading if all you want are the details of what happened after Thanksgiving.
But this book is also worth reading because as Sarah Vowell ruefully admits, "I wish I did not identify with [the Puritans'] essential questions" (p. 29). But she does. She does not say it outright but she seems to feel that at least part of the belief system that made those Puritans sail to America was a sense of social justice. The Puritans resurrected (in the Christian world) the Hebrew ideas of: isomania (we should all be equal before the law), literacy (we should all be able to read the law--or the Bible), free speech (we should be able to denounce authority), and manual labor (we should all earn our bread by the sweat of our brows). And this belief gave us not just Bush, Reagan and the massacres of Native Americans but also Martin Luther King, Jr.
And because she recognizes the good that came (with the much-detailed) bad, Sarah Vowell gives us a thoughtful and detailed translation of what the Puritans were up to. She makes the language and the politics of the 1600s understandable to the reader of 2008. And not only understandable but fun to read. And so we enjoy learning about the disagreements the Puritans had with the Pope, the Anglicans and with each other; we get the political implications the Bible had for them; we understand the importance Winthrop's "Christian Charity" sermon had for his contemporaries (and Sarah Vowell admits, for her). We (or at least I) learned a lot reading this book and what is more I enjoyed learning it.
The final verdict then? As social commentary, this book is not much different from many others like it (say Michael Moore); as history of the Puritan era though it is a resounding success. I recommend it.
Book Review: Delightful and illuminating historical romp
Summary: 4 Stars
I'd always enjoyed Sarah Vowell's segments on This American Life, so I expected I would enjoy her books as well. Reading her latest, The Wordy Shipmates, I was as delighted as I hoped to be. Vowell has a deep appreciation for history, a keen eye for irony, and a sharp wit. Her distinctive charm is her voice, both figuratively and literally. Her speaking voice has the innocent earnestness of a Peanuts character, while her "voice" is incisively sardonic commentary, rich with wacky metaphors and ironic juxtapositions. The combination is masterful deadpan. My only worry was that even great deadpan, unbroken, would get monotonous, but it was not so. Her wry observations were leavened with sincere ones, and her passion for the subjects of her study was all the more contagious for her truly earnest moments.
The subject of this book was the Puritan settlers of Massachusetts, a subject made quite fascinating by her expositions of different facets of their story. I learned much (for instance, I never before appreciated the differences between the Pilgrims and the Puritans), and was introduced to great characters -- John Winthrop, Roger Williams, Anne Hutchinson -- of whom I had known little more than their names. Vowell's sketches, while sardonic, are also well-grounded in source material, which is often quoted. In the audio book, read by Vowell herself, the quoted parts are read by actors, an interesting effect, as you get to recognize the voices after a while. Rather than a strictly chronological sequence, she presents a series of expositions on different characters and themes, which interlock and reinforce one another to paint a full history by the end. Unlike most historians who endeavor to be objective and detached, Vowell wears her distinctive point of view on her sleeve. She relates personal anecdotes and sentiments reflecting her subject, and at times makes ironic juxtapositions with more modern events with an unabashed subjectivity. For instance, her meditations on the theme of a "city on a hill", articulated in a famous sermon by John Winthrop, recur in accounts of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, but also jump to Reagan and Kennedy and other brief excursions into American exceptionalism. I don't see this as detracting from the history at all, in fact, it makes it more memorable. Just as a columnist with an explicit viewpoint can be just as illuminating and credible as an "objective" journalist, so is Vowell's style of history as illuminating and credible as a drier scholarly history. Her distinctive retelling of their stories brings these historical characters to life. A greatly entertaining and educational read.
Book Review: A wordy yet funny book
Summary: 4 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
I got this book last night and I devoured it. I probably should have savored it though. There is so much substance to it that I probably missed so much. That is the beauty of Sarah Vowell. Her books are well researched and there is so much subtle humor and not so subtle humor that is makes learning about something that sounds boring like the puritans (hey she admits this in the book! When she tells people that she was working on a book about Puritans and how people reactions were usually -- well not so enthused) actually interesting. I am not a big non-fiction reader, and when I do read non fiction it usually is not political or American history so enjoying a book like this is a big deal.
The fun thing about reading a Sarah Vowell book is how she will take history and make it relevant to what is happening now or at least put it in a context that you could understand. Who knew there were actually differences between the puritan colonists and comparing them to the differences between the godfather movies would make sense? I actually laughed out loud when she went on to explain her early education about puritans existed solely based on the Brady Bunch and Happy Days episodes. I actually remembered those episodes! She cleverly weaves in these reminisces of Marsha's broken nose with speeches given by Ronald Regan and other great leaders that use words dating back to Winthorp one of these founding Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Amazing. What is more amazing is how the ideals/motivations of the Puritans to come to American are still what are shaping our foreign policy today.
Although I devoured this book, enjoyed, and would recommend it -- I wouldn't say this is her best book. I found that Wordy Shipmates at points got bogged down in the history and the amazing research that Sarah puts into her work. The book dragged at points where there were less personal anecdotes or less Sarah Vowell and more just passages of historical fact. Her strength is interspersing her quirkiness into books and although there was a lot of that in the book maybe there just wasn't enough for me! I still highly recommend this book and any other Sarah vowel book. Good stuff.
Book Review: Interesting, Insightful and Sometimes Humorous Book about Puritans
Summary: 4 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
First of all, I have not read any Sarah Vowell before, although I would definitely like to read more after reading this book. I am familiar with her from NPR and other programs, so I had an idea what to expect. Overall, Vowell does not disappoint, and I learned a lot about some of the lesser-known Puritans of our country's past.
This non-fiction book focuses on the Puritans who left England under the leadership of John Winthrop to found the Massachusetts Bay Colony and what would become Boston. (These aren't your Thanksgiving/Plymouth Puritans.) Vowell's main "character" is John Winthrop, and most of what she discusses has a connection with him. She covers a lot of territory, from the departure from England to the first tough year to the colony's struggle with people on the fringe (such as Anne Hutchinson and Roger Williams, Puritans with views too extreme to stay in the colony) to complicated relations with Native Americans (including a very disturbing massacre).
The book is chock full of information, but is not too wordy (ironically enough). Vowell exercises her sense of humor and sarcasm expertly, and it really kept the narrative interesting and engaging. I could hear her voice in my head as I read it. As other readers pointed out, Vowell does connect events and ideas in the book with modern times, but I did not find this approach overly anti-religious or anti-conservative. It is clear what side of the line Vowell falls on, but I don't think it tainted the book in any way, and I really found the connections and implications of our history very interesting. My one point of criticism, and this may have been corrected once the book was edited for final printing, was that there were no chapters or sections. The narrative was kind of chunked together, and although it flowed well, I think I would have liked to see things separated by chapters or sections, just to be able to organize what I was reading better in my mind. That's really a pretty minor criticism.
I was very impressed with this book and enjoyed it a lot. I have a feeling that some of Vowell's other books may be even better, and I can't wait to check them out.