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reading (Oneida Community Profiles)
Apr. 20th, 2008 02:54 pmI finished the "Oneida Community Profiles" yesterday evening. It wasn't as quick a read as I was expecting. I thought a small format, 146 pages would be done early in the week.
Alas, the first few chapters are scattered and don't make for easy reading. The writing becomes more linear in the later chapters, but it still suffers from time traveller's disease. In one chapter we were bouncing back and forth between 1851 and 1854 on a per paragraph basis. This was not to illustrate the changes between the two, it was just disregard for that thing called chronological order.
The chapters of this book feel like unconnected stories that the author wanted to relate, but couldn't figure out how to tie together. The book doesn't stand on its own, there are references to important incidents and concepts that are not explained. As such, it would not be a good introductory book on the Oneida perfectionists. It did fill in some interesting aspects of the community, but it left more questions unanswered.
22. Constance Noyes Robertson "Oneida Community Profiles"
Alas, the first few chapters are scattered and don't make for easy reading. The writing becomes more linear in the later chapters, but it still suffers from time traveller's disease. In one chapter we were bouncing back and forth between 1851 and 1854 on a per paragraph basis. This was not to illustrate the changes between the two, it was just disregard for that thing called chronological order.
The chapters of this book feel like unconnected stories that the author wanted to relate, but couldn't figure out how to tie together. The book doesn't stand on its own, there are references to important incidents and concepts that are not explained. As such, it would not be a good introductory book on the Oneida perfectionists. It did fill in some interesting aspects of the community, but it left more questions unanswered.
22. Constance Noyes Robertson "Oneida Community Profiles"
