A Complicated Kindness

He leaves her. it was an ending that i didn't really expect.
This book is written by Miriam Toews (apparently pronounced Taes). It made the top sellers list and both my Will and my sister thressa had it on their wish lists. Will said that it was going to be on the list for my Mennonite Literature list so i've spent the last week reading it. It wasn't a hard read. I enjoyed the book because i, as a good mennonite, hadn't yet read a book about the life of one. The book told a story about a teenage girl growing up in a very mennonite community and dealt with issues that she thought were strange and accussed Menno Simons for her discontentment.

I should say that i'm a black and white reader. What i mean by that is that a red car is just that: a red car. To me it doesn't symbolize pain or passion, it might but it's not the first thing on my mind. To summerize this book, Nomi is a teenage girl who is grieving the fact that her older sister Tash and her mother Trudie have left the family in pursuit of something better. Tash left for a boy and her mom left for the city. Her dad is a strick menno always in a suit and tie but slowly and more so after Tash and Trudie left Nomi has had no interest in the church.

Mennonites became a sect when Menno Simons around 1520 left the Catholic church because of altered beliefs, the persercution we have faced (not so me but my ansestors) due to leaving the church has set a sturdy base for the mennonite heritage. To not believe in God isn't really a choice as much as other religions. I've asked people if they go to church and many different types of christians have replied with: sure, if Christmas and Easter count. I'm a little amazed by that, really you don't feel guilty? If you ask a mennonite the same question... well you don't have to ask, you pretty much only ask where. See, it's just part of our lives, we don't think twice about it. (Normally. i'm making a large assumption based on where i'm from and general patterns that i have noticed.) it's not carved in stone, going to church to some mennonites is not the most desirable thing to spend a sunday morning doing, but it takes years to releave the guilt of skipping.

A Complicated Kindness deals to a great deal with the process of excommunication. I've never actually been involved in one and i am pretty sure our church does not believe in them. But I think the Old Colony does. The Old Colony is a father church to most people that attend Mt. Salem EMC and is still attended by many many mennonites. It does not say what type of church Nomi and her father attend but it's most likely Old Colony or Sommerfield. Don't ask me to explain the difference, history is not my forte. First Tash was excommunicated, that's when the church decides to "ban" them from attending services for at that church because of a certain behaviour. Tash swore a lot and "became too worldly." After she left and Trudie went a little crazy and rebelled against principles, she obviously wanted out of the town as well. We don't know what happened to her when she left, but in the same fashion she too was excommunicated and left to save Ray, the dad, humilation of living with someone who was shunned by the town. For three years Nomi and Ray lived together dealing with the situation and slowly getting to the point where they knew life was better lived somewhere else.

It ends with a different twist then i thought. Nomi is excommunicated, with her actions you forget that Nomi actually attends church or is part of a church family. I don't think it was hard to see coming, but i didn't see it. I thought maybe Ray was just selling all of his furniture to get rid of the memories he still kept from Tash and Trudie. But finally one day after Nomi's excommunication, he's gone, he leaves Nomi the car and the house (to sell because he knows that she has no reason to stay nor would want to). It just ends and nothing is resolved, i guess through reading the end does provide some type of resolution, but where does Nomi go? Does she ever see her mom or her sister again? or for that matter her dad? Does she ever speak to Travis again? Why would his parents lie to her? What does become of Lids? I don't even know if Miriam could answer some of these questions and rather just say "it's a book, let it go."

I recommend the book. it was well written and the story line is somewhat interesting. I'll end here because i dont' really have an expertese to go into vast detail on meanings and ideas that the book presents, it's merely just my thought on the book.