Book Description
A funny, poignant account of a young woman's experiences becoming a Catholic nun during the tumultuous 1960s.
In 1964, Karol Jackowski was an eighteen-year-old girl just out of high school. But while her friends were heading off to college or finding their first jobs, Karol was following a different path. To the surprise of her family and friends, she decided to enter the convent of the Sisters of the Holy Cross in South Bend, Indiana, and spend the next eight years studying to become a Catholic nun.
Those years were a time of enormous change in the country and in the Church. They were times of joy, dedication, and a great deal of fun, set against the Second Vatican Council and the reforms it fostered, many of which remain controversial today. In this playful and candid memoir, Jackowski pulls back the curtain on the mysteries of convent life, as she recounts her rocky transition from worldly teenager to cloistered postulant; the trials she faced in coping with the restrictions of convent life ("nun of this and nun of that"); and the lessons she learned from the elderly nuns she was assigned to, who weren't nearly as pious as people thought. In prose that's as lively, insightful, and wise as she is, the author of Ten Fun Things to do Before You Die brings us a touching and heartfelt memoir of a woman following her true calling.
Customer Reviews:
a pleasant surprise on many levels.......2007-09-09
I was just browsing when the subtitle caught my eye with its reference to becoming a nun in the 1960s. I was heavily involved in the political and social side of things in the '60s and I was intrigued, especially since the years covered included the emergence of "Vatican II". I am not Catholic or anything close to it, so I was also intrigued by the smiling face on the cover that seemed to differ from the stock impression I'd always had of nuns, especially those just starting out, as unflinchingly stolid and contemplative. This book lived up to the promises I inferred, on both counts.
It is very easy to read. The author keeps the action moving, without getting bogged down. She also avoids the pitfall so many other authors stumble over, of going off on long tangents of philosophy and dogma; Sister Karol sticks to telling the story as promised, throwing in explanations as necessary without turning them into side trips, and I appreciated that.
Another reviewer has mentioned the author's stated belief in reincarnation as a surprise. Sister Karol also uses "Blessed be" at times. It isn't an expression you (or at least I) expect to hear from a nun, but apparently this particular nun thinks outside the box, and is not only respectful and accepting of other faiths but is open to the love of God in all its forms.
This book is not an expose, but a narrative story with fascinating characters (I'd love to have met Sister Concilio) and plot twists, culminating in a happy ending -- all real. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is that I wish it had been a little more in-depth, a little longer. At 300 pages, it's not a skimpy book, but I would have liked to know more about some of the people and certain phases of the process as she and her sisters experienced them.
Captures the emotional essence of the time........2007-07-11
I have read many books about religious life (the sisterhood) over the years. I entered the convent myself in the early 70's as the mass exodus of sisters was waning. What I most appreciated about Sister Karol's book was how accurately she captured the emotions of the time. She was able to shine a gentle light on that singular experience, known perhaps only to women who have been in formation (postulancy, novitiate, juniorate) to become a sister, of joy, belonging, and awe juxtaposed with fear, sadness, and anger. Her book so precisely captured that experience that I found I could not put it down.
I am grateful to her for evoking those feelings so clearly in me, and, I assume, all who will read the book and remember. Convent life is almost indescribable if you have not lived it. As Dickens wrote, it was for most of us, "the best of times and the worst of times."
If you have been in the convent you will recognize yourself in Sister Karol and her classmates, I promise you. And if you have not, you will have as clear a glimpse as you can get into what life was like in the convent of the 60's.
not bad, but..........2007-07-11
I just quit reading this book after the first four chapters. I only lasted that long because I kept thinking it would get better, but it didn't. I imagine if someone is considering entering the postulate, it would be an informative read. But to me, it came across as tedious and slow. It seems the author's intent was to not leave any detail out, no matter how mundane or unnecessary. I picked up the book because I was interested in the process of becoming a nun, just because I encountered so many nuns on a recent trip to Rome (no surprise there). But after the first few chapters, I basically got the picture. It is sweet and mostly innocent (although it was strange to see a nun say she believes in reincarnation in spite of Church teaching to the contrary), but I probably would have stuck with it more if it had been a bit more concise.
One of the best reads this year! Too bad we don't have six stars to give........2007-07-06
Overall this is a book that is well written filled with complex life experiences: bitter-sweet, a few warts, but filled with hope. High Recommend. If I could give this book a 6th start, I would have.
The author was forthright and gave the reader a good idea of what she is really like, warts and all. She live though some turbulent times. After 33 years as a Sister of Holy Cross, Karol transferred to the Sisters of Christian Community; thus, 2 of 50 (4%) stayed. This could have been a tragic rant.
Frankly, I was honored as a reader to be allowed to get to know these valient women. At times, I found dissapointed with Karol's behavior and unsympathetic to her plight; but, appreciated the author's willingness to let us see her warts, letting it all hang out. More than once, I would have liked to have given Karol a dope slap, "That attitude, she isn't getting it!" But reading on to find later to find myself smiliing thinking, I'd like to give her a bear hug, "She did get it!"
The complexity and depth of the relationships, seeing so much in terms of time passing, as an outsider I found I felt great sorrow at times. I was shocked to find myself greeving the loss of community: coming to the realization, internalizing, and accepting the loss that Karol must have had to go through. Watching her community struggle so much. This community had far more wrong with it than could be readily solved. Further, it became clear during the "experimentation" that this community had lost its vision. Perhaps a better first with the instructions that came from Vatican II, would be to answer the question, "What was the intent of the founters for our community?" Followed by, "How to we acheive this vision/mission today?" There is no "re"-newal, if there was no "newal" that existed. It was painful but very joyous to see her grow so much from the experience. I felt like I knew her well and her other sisters in the community. Karol did a great job making the experince accessable to readers.
Wow, what a great book. Thank you for letting us readers join you (Karol) in your life journey. It was a real pleasure to read this book.
Books on the thought during the transition process include: "Catholic Sisters in Transition" and "From Nuns to Sisters" by Sr. Maria Augusta Neal SNDdeN and "Midwives of the Future: American Sisters tell their story." McCormmic.
Unhappy memoirs, "The Narrow Gate", "The Buried Life" by an ex-IHM.
Happy memoirs include: "Springs of Silence", by Madeline de Freese a Holy Family sister, who from what I understand is no longer a member of her order. "My Beloved" by a Carmelite, "Right to Be Merry" Mother Mary Francis PCC (still in print!).
An easy enjoyable read.......2007-06-27
Anyone who has experienced Postulancy, Novitiate and/or Community life as a professed nun on an assignment will surely enjoy this book. I highly recommend it.
Book Description
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Saving Graces and Flight Lessons-a simply glorious Victorian novel now reissued in a beautiful trade edition.
Customer Reviews:
Great Book.......2003-04-18
This is a wonderful book. I love the entire Wyckerley series. This is the 3rd and final in the series but it doesn't matter if you read them out of order. If you want to read a great romance novel that is completely original, read all three of the Wyckerley novels. They are all beautiful, unconventional stories.
Intelligent Romance.......2000-02-01
This is an amusing and witty book. I like all of Patricia Gaffney's books; they are well-researched and highly-entertaining. Unlike many books of this genre, the characters are not perfect. You want to applaud them on one page and then scold them on the next. Sophie is pretty but her beauty is not emphasized on every page to the point where it interrupts the flow of the story. Unlike heroines in, for example, Judith McNaught's books where the heroines lack irony and you suspect would be tiresome to be around in real life, you would welcome an acquaintance with Sophie by the end of the book after she goes through a positive character transformation. Connor, the hero, is also unlike most "rugged and handsome but loner" heroes with a lot of money that you find in other romance books. He's someone who is not always sure he's doing the right thing for the right reasons. This book is part of a trilogy but it can be read on its own. You might like reading all the books in the Wyckersley trilogy though because you'll enjoy reading about all the characters as their lives intertwine around the river Wyck (or Wick?) in England around the turn of the century. To Have and to Hold is a particularly different romance book. Sebastian, the "hero" is about as unlikable as a "hero" can get at the start of this book and it's absorbing to read how he turns his life around by the end of the book.
A wonderful love story.......1999-04-16
When I first picked this book up after reading the other two, I didn't know for sure if I'd like it. For starters, Sophie just wasn't my favorite person and I was disappointed when I found out it was about her. I quickly changed my mind. I loved it! I loved her and I loved Connor.
Product Description
For Dr. Jasmine Metcalf, gene-based aging reversal and engineered human immortality in a youthful state has suddenly arrived. Battling tragedy, relentless irony and a torrid love affair, Jasmine is drawn into the limitless new world of garage biotech to treat a child dying of old age. Dying from one of evolution's most bizzare mistakes, Progeria. Interest in her work is intense. The brilliant gambits of powerful interests intent on capturing the treatment and ending further development involve her in a strange and murderous struggle. The long postulated "gene wars" and the effort to control the age of biology has begun in FOREVER and EVER.
Customer Reviews:
An exciting and memorable story.......2007-06-23
This book is memorable. That's the first point that strikes me. I keep thinking about it, recalling passages, wishing it didn't end--that it would go on forever and ever. Parts that are especially good include the last scene at Lake Havasu, with the extravagant, purple prose on how good it can be to be alive and healthy.
The descriptions of what it's like to realize that you're getting old, were similarly gripping. Ditto for the handling of the realization that there will be consequences of what you're about to do, and some of these consequences may be unprecedently harmful. Yet you can't--or shouldn't--try to hold back the future. Even when you can't fully see, or understand, it. I felt the characters were talking to me, and I kept thinking what I would do in their situation.
The book just touches on, but doesn't develop, the big questions this technology raises. And again, I think that is appropriate. The alternatives are not attractive. The question of how much we should interfere with Nature's operation is a good example. We don't object to eyeglasses, dental work, appendicitis operations, etc. But the possibility of cloning humans makes us uncomfortable, and "designer babies" raise more serious questions than answers. The author notes these questions, then leaves the reader to ponder them. That's as it should be.
The book does a wonderful job of portraying a broad spectrum of scientists, and giving the reader an appealing insight as to why people want to "do science." There are surprisingly few books that do that, and the nation suffers as a result. A key question in a book like this is: how technical should you get? I was very comfortable with how he handled that. I can't answer how many other potential readers would share my view. I have been repeatedly shocked when I write a few sentences in almost "young adult" language, and am told by a reader, "oh, I always skip the technical stuff. I just don't understand technical." These are people who can follow all the plot twists in a soap opera, or the subtleties of sports stratagems. And they may enjoy reading all the details of 18th century sailing technology...Go figure.
"Forever And Ever" is very highly recommended to science fiction enthusiasts........2007-06-10
Immortality has its downside. Dr. Jasmine Metcalf is a biotech scientist whose battle against a genetic disease called Progeria that causes dramatic and ultimately lethal premature aging in children has made her a renegade. Earl Metcalf is her biotech colleague. Together they create a revolutionary gene-based therapy that will not only save those afflicted with this dread disease, it will endow ordinary human beings immunity from aging and make anyone become immortal. The result is a series of ethical dilemmas and a seemingly inevitable stress between the urge to understand the molecular laws of nature and the issues of immortality in a society where a kind of 'natural planned obsolescence' has been a biological fact and a force for evolution from very the beginning of human life. Author Dan Baker has written a ripping good science fiction story that is well buttressed by a solidly impressive foundation of molecular biology that is never permitted to get in the way of good storytelling. Thoroughly entertaining, thoughtful, and though-provoking, "Forever And Ever" is very highly recommended to science fiction enthusiasts.
I didn't know the Futurians were still around..........2007-05-20
Yes, Dan Baker has the science right (as far as you can go in a novel)-- and that does do a lot to compensate for the irritation of the crudely-injected politics. It's not like he never misses an opportunity to inject some worn-out, retro '60s "idealism" -- he injects it even when the opportunity isn't even there. Never really recovered from the Kennedy assassinations, huh Dan? Expected a little more from something billed as "transhumanist." Could have been great with a stern editor willing to enforce the ol' "This is not the place for that" rule.
What the world needs now!.......2007-04-05
What the world needs now, and urgently, is a serious discussion on the interaction or play between science and sci-fi, fiction and non-fiction, comedy and melodrama, and philosophy and art. Dan Baker's "Forever and Ever," might serve as a starting point for that discussion. The novel clarifies where we have gone astray and points to new directions for civilization while there is still time to take direction.
Speaking as a scientist, Dan Baker's "Forever and Ever" proves that science is still ahead of sci-fi, but it is catching up. Recently, an historian and close friend complained to me, "You scientists, you know all this stuff; we have to learn it before we can write anything!" and he's just talking about the past. Baker is concerned with the future, and he has learned "all this stuff." In fact, we (scientists) know how to do all the tricks Baker alludes to. He's less inventive than he is synthetic: he's the first to put it all together. The future has arrived in "Forever and Ever."
From my point of view, the most important feature of the novel is that Baker "got the science right!" He understands genomics, bio-informatics, networks and modeling, systems biology and stem-cell therapy. "Self-regulated gene cascades" slide off the page as easily as tender love scenes. He is also a bit of a word smith when it helps and he provides a glossary to be consulted when all else fails. He does NOT make the science plodding and impenetrable. He doesn't make the mistake of trying to teach the reader science. Rather, the science tacks and sails smoothly through the narrative.
He has whipped up a storm of controversy among my small group of bio-gerontologists, gerontologists, geriatricians, and pediatricians concerned with progeria. It's as though he has told our secret: we probably already know how to reverse aging, but are we ready for it? I imagine the novel will also be provocative for the masses of baby-boomers interested in anti-aging and regenerative medicine. The point is, inevitably, that the larger community must tell scientists what it wants them to accomplish and be willing to pay for success in all the ways that success demands. "Forever and Ever" is right there with questions, answers, with realistic prescriptions, and a healthy dose of pragmatism about what eternal youthfulness and immortality will take.
Of course, Baker tells a story and portrays people, even scientists, coping with life. For the most part, they're reasonable people. If anything, my greatest complaint with the novel is that it lacks any hint of scientific fraud of the sort currently plaguing the stem-cell community. Baker's heroes are uncontaminated, although others are avaricious and pay for their vices.
Scientists (worthy of the name) no longer imagine themselves truth seekers. We are sophisticated enough to know that truth, like God and Santa Clause are beyond our grasp. What we seek to understand are our motivation and our power, their constraints and frontiers, what science is capable of and what we are able to contribute and accomplish. Dan Baker's book lays all that out for aging, longevity, and immortality. The issues have never been clearer!
Faster & Funnier than Crichton. .......2007-04-02
The smartest boomers in the world are getting old and they don't like it. They're also rich and just as fed up with rules and regulations as they were in the 60's.
Everyone wants to live forever (even you!) What we hear in the news about longevity is a mix of skepticism and credibility stretching infomercials, but Baker's characters spring from the minds of today's most imaginative biotech scientists who can see what's really possible - if we'd get out of our own way. Their brain power mixes in this novel with a dynamic movement and attitude that only a generation who lived with both Woodstock and the first Moon landing could concieve.
Forever and Ever is a thrilling adventure where the brass ring is nothing less than immortal life. Detours through ethics, scientific potential, global impact and the corruption of governments and wealth remind you that we live in a hardball world. In one sense, we're seeing a coming of age story where 60 year olds face a life just beginning instead of facing death. In another, there's a clash between altruism and self interest that reminds us of what's at stake when money loses its conscience. The main characters take back their own creativity from the crush of legal considerations and enter a lively world where the source of money and technology comes with a simple "don't ask" instead of a restrictive grant. Nobody looks back.
Baker's style is faster, funnier, and more thought provoking than any Crichton novel I've read in years.
Customer Reviews:
Disgusting.......2007-08-11
As a woman of divorce, I find this book repulsive. No wonder so many children of divoce suffer when women write books that help fuel anger and revenge.
This author is doing nothing but advocating war, bigotry and hatred.
How would women feel if someone came up with a book entitled: "The Man's Book Of Divorce: 101 Ways to Make Her Suffer Forever and Ever". Not so funny sounding anymore is it?
Very funny!.......2007-01-04
I had a hard time putting the book down. It made me realize that I am not alone - there are other women dealing with the mistake they married. The stories were so funny. After some stories I had to say, "Girlfriend, you go girl!"
Now I Understand Scott Peterson.......2004-07-14
Great, let's screw over our ex-husband. Let's dwell forever in a cesspool of anger and thinly disguised self-loathing. Good lord, aren't women supposed to mature faster than men?
This book is nothing more than a juvenile fantasy for bitter, and stupid, women who didn't have the common sense to plan ahead. It's true, marriages do fail in this day and age, and it's better to have contingency plans in place (e.g. pre-nup agreements) if things head south.
The goal of a divorce is to break away gracefully, not have a temper tantrum like some enraged little 4 year-old. A vindictive attitude only plays into the hands of the legal system, which will drain you like a hungry vampire and bob-sled you to the poor house if given the opportunity.
Ladies, remember that revenge fantasies go both ways, and the ones that men have tend to be far bloodier than yours. Every time you find yourself entertaining thoughts of being nasty, think of Scott Peterson.
Lots of fun and very original!.......2001-07-09
This book is great fantasy material for anyone who's had a divorce or who loves to laugh at the amazing things men and women do to each other. It tells of some astonishing ways in which women went after men who wronged them in divorces. And it nicely divides the stories into escalating levels of vengeance -- from stories that rate as "a pie in the face" all the way up to outright nuclear war. Great book for dipping into for a laugh. And I looked at the website run by the author, RevengeLady.com, which continues in the same tradition. Gave my copy to a woman in my office who's in the divorce doldrums - she said it finally made her laugh to see what women in her shoes have done to get over their anger.
Average customer rating:
- Everyone needs a childhood...
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Forever and ever
Janet Lambert
Manufacturer: Dutton
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
 Children's Books | Subjects | Books | Baby-3 | Ages 4-8 | Ages 9-12 | Animals | Arts & Music | Books on Cassette | Books on CD | Authors & Illustrators, A-Z | Computers | Educational | History & Historical Fiction | Issues | Literature | Obsessions | People & Places | Popular Characters | Reference & Nonfiction | Religions | Science, Nature & How It Works | Series | Sports & Activities
ASIN: B0007DY9I4 |
Customer Reviews:
Everyone needs a childhood..........2006-12-02
All their lives, sisters Josie and Sandra Campbell have dreamed of being ordinary American teenagers. But, thanks to their eccentric, intellectual parents, they and their little brother Tenny have spent the past decade sailing to exotic ports as their father William lectures and writes books and their mother Mary paints.
Then, the siblings convince their parents to let them move in with their grandmother, so that Josie can experience a year of high school and Sandra college. As for Tenny, he's pretty happy anywhere...but just like his older sisters, he's thrilled for the opportunity to find friends and have his own adventures in this tiny Midwestern town.
At first, the other teenagers in town are pretty wary of Josie and Sandra. Who wouldn't be, of two girls who spent most of their lives abroad, and are years ahead of their peers in school? But before long, they warm up to quiet, kind-hearted Sandra and fun-filled, crazy Josie, and although they didn't realize it before, they may just need them as much as the two sisters need the town.
Average customer rating:
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Forever and Ever and Evie (Stella Etc.)
Karen McCombie
Manufacturer: Scholastic
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books | Action & Adventure | Children's Literature Guides | Classics by Age | Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths | General | Humorous | Literary Criticism & Collections | Poetry | Popular Culture | Read-Aloud | Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery & Horror | Short Story Collections
ASIN: 0439955866 |
Book Description
Very few people will ever know you as well as your sister does. She understands better than anyone else what you're searching for in life. She goes beyond the words and looks directly into your heart with a rare mixture of honesty, compassion, and acceptance. Based on a lifetime of seeing you in every possible situation, her insights about you always seem to be on target. She knows your deepest secrets… and keeps them locked securely inside the diary of her soul. She's heard your deepest dreams… and would do anything to see them come true.
No matter where your individual paths take you in life, you'll always feel a special connection to your sister. That's because a sister is forever -- and you'll forever be grateful for her presence in your life.
"Sister, I hope the next time you stop and think of me, you'll remember how much I care about you and know we'll always be close; we'll always have each other." - Dena Dilaconi
Customer Reviews:
A Sister Is Forever: A Blue Mountain Arts Collection for One of the Most Beautiful People You'll Ever Know (Blue Mountain Arts C.......2007-01-25
I love this book, it is an excellent sister gift. The first time I bought this book of poems and prose is three years ago when, one of my sister's (I have six in all) just gave birth a beautiful baby girl. While walking through the large hospital lobby to visit the new mom, sister number four (I am the first born) and I spotted a book sale. We browsed through the books and, A Sister is forever, caught our eye. We quickly skimmed it and fell in love with the words. When you come from a family of seven sisters, each sister relation is unique and this book covers it all, fights, tears, fears, laughter, love and forgiveness...
A sister is forever.......2005-10-28
In the beginning the book started off as two sisters telling how they are specialto each other.Then how they have not got along in the past but can put that asid.They knew they both was an angel inside.Then they said how they wish each other a good life.so I realy recomind you to read this book.It is very good.
Average customer rating:
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Could You Ever Live Forever
David Darling
Manufacturer: Dillon Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding
Anatomy & Physiology | Science, Nature & How It Works | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 087518457X |
Average customer rating:
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Don't Work Forever! Simple Steps Baby Boomers Must Take to Ever Retire
Steve Vernon
Manufacturer: John Wiley & Sons
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Public Finance | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Accounting | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Financial Planning | Personal Finance | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Personal Finance | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Accounting | Accounting & Finance | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0471041416 |
Average customer rating:
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Forever And Ever
Manufacturer: Scholastic Book Services
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000GSEVRO |
Books:
- French Women for All Seasons: A Year of Secrets, Recipes, and Pleasure
- Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise
- Girl in the Mirror
- God Thinks You're Wonderful
- Going Home: Jesus and Buddha as Brothers
- Good Night: The Sleep Doctor's 4-Week Program to Better Sleep and Better Health
- Guilty Pleasures (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: Book 1)
- Heart of the Sea: The Gallaghers of Ardmore Trilogy #3 (Irish Trilogy)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Books Index
Books Home
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Don't Chew Jesus!: A Collection of Memorable Nun Stories
Mother Benedict: Foundress of the Abbey of Regina Laudis
Nuns Don't Cry
The Silence We Keep: A Nun's View of the Catholic Priest Scandal
The Book of Bad Habits
