Today I got a review that left me scratching my head - what do you make of it?

by Brock Talon 36 Replies latest social entertainment

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  Scully

  Studying™ with JWs for FIVE YEARS and still not Baptized™?

  She's clearly disadvantaged in some way - either learning disabilities or lack of support in her education - the spelling mistakes and such. Doesn't talk about a partner, but does talk about her daughter - single mom? single mom with deadbeat dad? poor financial status = not enough moola for the Worldwide Education Work™?

  She's gotta have some major Love Bombing going on for her to still want to be part of the JWs, even though they've told her at least once that she doesn't qualify for Baptism™. Maybe the Elders™ are holding that out like a carrot to keep her involved.
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  Brock Talon

  Sir82, I agree totally.

  ToesUp, Yes, they just can't see the conditional relationship... usually until it's too late!

  Regarding not taking the review by Beth personally, I don't.
  

  But, what about this review I found on an Italian website (through Google Alerts). Would you take this one personally if you were me? Somebody translated my book Escape from Paradise into Italian and this person called "TheSurvivalMama" wrote this review about it (named in Italian "Fuga Dal Paradiso").
  
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  kairos

  She sounds just like the basket case with three very difficult children my wife studies with...
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  Simon

  Sad that someone can be so blind - one wonders what it would take to convince them that the issues within an organization are actually with the organization itself. I suspect "nothing" would ever convince them - it's how you know you're in a cult (except you're in a cult so can't recognize the sign).

  I wouldn't worry about it - it screams "fundy worshipper" so it's like a 5 star review.
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  Brock Talon

  Scully, yeah. I thought all those things myself.

  Kairos, ha!

  Simon, My thoughts on that as well. It's like I said at the end of Journey to God's House:

  Neither do they really love. Not others. Not even each other. Their so-called love is based on merit only. If you do what they like, they'll put up with you. If not, they'll drop you without hesitation and not feel a thing about it. I'm sorry to say it, but this kind of behavior is simply not love.

  When I was a Witness, I was just like them too. But, I couldn't see that what I was doing was wrong. As a rule, Jehovah's Witnesses simply can't see this about themselves in the same way a person with bad body odor usually can't smell themselves.
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  TD

  We probably have hundreds of years of JW experience between us who have written these books and written supportive reviews of these books and written these articles, etc. and this lady's "5 years of study" with the JWs trumps that. She knows better than all of us.

  Yes. It's frustrating, but that is unfortunately a fundamental assumption of the JW faith. It's actually difficult to find a subject where JW's are not supremely confident that they know more than those who have spent their lives and careers studying it.
  
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  steve2

  When is a review of your book an actual review or just an excuse to rant about ex-JWs who speak up? Good question.

  One of the pitfalls with invitations for people to provide their own "reviews" is exactly what you have found:

  People express little else other than their outrage, not abou the actual book itsellf or its content which they have likely never read nor intend to read.

  Effectively it is NOT a review of your book at all but a handy cheap and nasty plaftform to express the "writer's" views.

  Is that grounds for requesting it get removed from Amazon? Could be. On the other hand, it could be better to leave it there because - ahem - it hardly speaks well of the JW cult mentality, right?

  Ray Franz's books also attracted this kind of nonreview nonsense on Amazon.
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  Brock Talon

  TD, True, dat. I was one of those people myself at one time, so I'll give this poor woman a pass.

  Steve2, I really appreciate the thought. I think leaving the review up with, along with the comments some folks are making on it on Amazon is a better (**ahem**) "witness" than anything else I could do. And as I've stated before, these kinds of 1 star bash reviews seem to make the book sell better for some odd reason, so it doesn't really hurt anything in the long run.
  

  I'm also tickled whenever anyone mentions my work in any context along side Ray Franz... a man whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.
  
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  OnTheWayOut

  I thought it was sincere also. I would respond to the review and say that I hope you continue to feel free to examine other views for yourself, outside of Watchtower. And I would stress that, yes there are bad people everywhere but ......I would go on to say why the situation is made worse within the JW's.
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  Brock Talon

  OnTheWayOut, well, that's an idea, but I don't like to respond to reviews on Amazon. It's generally considered a bad idea by most authors. (Conventional wisdom holds that we are supposed to be above such things... so I don't break rank from that.)

  Fortunately I have this forum and Facebook to do the occasional venting about the trials and tribulations of being an ex-JW book author. For example - I found that same extreme review in English this time on another book site. Boy, this woman really must hate me to post it twice under two different names...