Longhorn Reviews

By: Barber, E. J. W.

The best parts of this book are the chapters on the development of string. Barber’s hypothesis is the ability to make string is an important precursor to the development of civilization. Her point is that once people can make string, then they can tie things together. This means you can make rope and rope can be used to tether an animal or child, it can be used to make fishing lines, fishnets, bags and just as importantly you can use string to carry items on your back. Once you can carry loads then you can begin to move goods. And once you can do these things you are on track to make coiled pottery and weave.

What interested me the most was the description of how easy it is to make string. The easiest way is to use already existing vines, the second step according to Ms Barber is to take plant fibers and roll them on your leg to make an every expanding string. Rope is merely a number of strings put together. The evidence cited in this book is pottery and wall paintings, since most fabric doesn’t survive. Barber examined thousands of early pots and paintings looking for evidence of early cloth making.

Reviewer: Susan Ardis

By: Kempe, Margery

Who would have thought that the first known biography in English would be written by a woman, brewery owner, Christian mystic, and mother of 14 named Margery Kempe. Margery was illiterate so she dictated her biography to a scribe between 1436 and 1438. Her biography begins with her conversion experience which was heralded by a vision of Christ in her bedroom one night. The story then follows Margery through pilgrimages across Europe and the Holy Land. She also tells about her heresy trial in England and her burgeoning mystical life. After the trial the judge gave her a piece of paper saying that she was not a heretic. Margery used this piece of paper many many times when people complained to their local religious leaders about her loud crying, laughing and preaching. His opinion, like most of her contemporaries seemed to be that she was she was religiously insane. He was also surprised that she followed Catholic dogma exactly. She never deviated from the church’s teaching even when she was ranting and raving.

The book is amazingly lively. You get insight into the personality
of a woman who thought Jesus told her to wear white, live apart
from her husband and give voice to her religious opinions loudly and continually. Her neighbors, her child and her husband complained regularly about her religious activities. The book gives dramatic accounts of every day experiences, in Margery’s
home town, in many English regions, and as far away as Brandenburg, Rome and Jerusalem. Just reading about how she traveled in Europe and how she got to Jerusalem is illuminating.

Reviewer: Susan Ardis

By: Sherry Ruth Anderson

This book is a diverse examination of the uniquely feminine aspects of faith in God. The authors interviewed a variety of women, including a Seneca elder, an ex-nun, a rabbi, a social worker and a Jungian analyst. Each woman shares her story about how the traditional patriarchal models of religion lack relevance for her life. Instead they speak of how they’ve redefined their spiritual beliefs and practices to embrace their experiences as women. The book follows the unfolding of life from childhood to adult experiences of creativity, love, family, sexuality and community. I had a lot of “a ha” moments when I read this book. The experiences described and feelings expressed by the interviewees articulated many of my own thoughts and feelings about faith in ways I had not been able to articulate them myself. I recommend this book for any woman who has ever found more spiritual truth in her own personal experiences than in the traditional beliefs and practices of patriarchal religion.

Reviewer: Cindy Lennartson

By: Margaret Drabble

Written and set in Swinging London in the mid-1960s, The Millstone is a story of a common predicament, told in an uncommon manner. Rosamund Stacey – attractive, intellectual, conscientious, and self-sufficient – is intimidated by the idea of sex, and has successfully managed to avoid it altogether until her late twenties. When her first sexual encounter leaves her pregnant, her life contracts and expands in unforeseeable ways, as her perceptions are heightened and her preconceptions softened. Structured as a coming-of-age novel, but slightly inverted, The Millstone presents the true awakening of a young woman who had already considered herself enlightened. Drabble’s sensitive, humane portrait of the 1960s sexual revolution in Britain is as fresh and relevant as if it came off the presses today.

Reviewer: Missy Nelson