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Title: Hallelujah Side by Rhoda Huffey ISBN: 1-883285-17-8 Publisher: Delphinium Books Pub. Date: October, 1999 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $23.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.38 (8 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Mediocre exploration of a young girl's struggle w/ religion
Comment: I picked up this book expecting it to be quite good. There are many hard-to-understand beliefs and issues in the world of the uber-religious, and having them explained by a seasoned writer can be educational, thought-provoking, and even entertaining. This book was none of the above. Since the cover writeup points towards the humorous end of religion, I expected it to be of the caliber of Frank Schaeffer's Portofino. I was sorely disappointed. The writing is distant and half-formed, and I never fully identify with or understand Roxanne, the protagonist. The subject matter is halfway interesting, but Huffey's rendition takes the book down to mediocre. Retrospectively, literary tension between the extremely religious and "those of this world" takes one of two paths-gently humorous yet understanding, like Schaeffer's Portofino; or a cynical look at faith from a soul who has been tortured by it, like Mary Potter Engel's A Woman of Salt. I would steer you away from Hallelujah Side and towards either of those books if you're looking for well-written novels with religion as the subject matter. (Another good choice: Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver.)
Rating: 4
Summary: young protagoinst discovers her true voice in spirited novel
Comment: Roxanne Fish, the young heroine of Rhoda Huffey's enchanting debut novel "the Hallelujah Side," hears voices. They are the voices of her parents, devout leaders of the First Assembly of God Church and they are the skeptical, worldy voices of her "sinful" neighbors, the Woolworths. They are the voices of her own personal demon, Fred, who regularly berates her attempts at religious devotion and assure he she will surely roast in hell, and the comforting imaginary sounds of the hedge around her church which assures her that her secrets are safe. The sounds come from her rebellious and captivating older sister, Colleen, who insists that she truly does not belong to this arcane family. The voices come from Little Richard and Aretha Franklin, who, almost as if in conspiracy against God, liberate Roxanne to discover who and what she is.
This fast-paced novel, after all, deals with life in capital letters. There are the Christians (renouncing the corrupt world in which they life and always preparing, always anticipating Rapture) and the Sinners (people like me, who enjoy the world and all of its illicit pleasures). Despite Winston's valiant attempts to purify his family (this pastor even enjoys deconstructing Das Kapital to prove its irrelevance to Christians), he never loses his humanity, and his resolve to live a morally pure life contains an unalloyed dignity. Winston repudiates travelling evangelists (whom Huffey scathingly portrays as hypocrites and con-men) and even literally throws money away from an airplane as an object lesson about devotion to his conflicted daughter. He is a strong father and the reader cannot help but like him.
The true beauty of the novel lives in Roxanne, whose adventures in the real world contain a surreal quality. Never permitted to experience life as her contemporaries did in the 1950s, Roxanne must rely on her imagination and her desperate need to disover her authentic voice. As Roxanne tells us, God does not like "alcohol, tobacco, sleeveless dresses, all nudity, lipstick, fingernail polish, earrings, rock and roll, Elvis Presley, dancing, movies, roller skating, swearing, murder, lies...and...Partagas Robusto cigars. The rest Roxy tried not to think about." Despite this (or perhaps because of it), Roxanne's spiritual quest is all the more compelling. How she reconciles faith and ability, religion and music, family and the world are skillfully rendered by an author whose own experience with faith and art give her first novel an air of authenticity.
Rating: 3
Summary: Definitely Unusual
Comment: "The Hallelujah Side" is indeed an interesting and unusual book dealing with a rare subject: an extremely stigmatized religion as seen through the eyes of a little girl who has never known anything else. The story takes many funny turns as Roxanne Fish, the main character, attempts to balance religion and rock n' roll. Definitely worth a read.
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Title: Under the Banner of Heaven : A Story of Violent Faith by JON KRAKAUER ISBN: 0385509510 Publisher: Doubleday Pub. Date: 15 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $26.00 |
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Title: Holy Blood, Holy Grail by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, Henry Lincoln ISBN: 0440136482 Publisher: Dell Pub. Date: 15 January, 1983 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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