We have several books on our 'Christian' shelves which have appeared, so it seems without our having any idea where they came from. Perhaps they originally belonged to the people who rented our UK house. Or perhaps we picked them up in a jumble sale.
'Amazing Love' is one such book. Corrie ten Boom, who wrote it, was an amazing woman of courage who was born at the end of the 19th century. She survived concentration camps during World War I, saw her beloved sister die, and then spent her later years bringing the good news of Jesus to people all around the world, including some of her former captors.
This book contains a series of anecdotes which Corrie ten Boom described, perhaps originally in a journal, after talks she had given, or people she had met, when the discussion turned to the love of God. The stories are positive, and the experiences must have been powerful at the time, but unfortunately the writing is somewhat stilted and there's not enough detail to make them particularly interesting. Perhaps they lost something in the translation - or perhaps it's inevitable, when each anecdote introduces a new person or people.
There does not seem to be any particular organisation to the book, unless I am missing something. Each 'chapter' describes a single anecdote and is just two or three pages,; mostly they are unconnected. If they are chronological, as would be logical, it's not obvious.
It was encouraging to read over a few days, on the whole. It's not a long book (just over 100 pages in all) - but I would not particularly recommend it, other than to people eager to read more about the author. I have huge admiration for Corrie ten Boom, who is probably best known for her autobiographical book 'The Hiding Place', but would suggest that rather than this for anyone wanting to know more about her.
For anyone wanting to get hold of 'Amazing Love', it is still in print, and is also now available in Kindle form in both the UK and US.
Review copyright Sue's Book Reviews, January 29th 2013
'Amazing Love' is one such book. Corrie ten Boom, who wrote it, was an amazing woman of courage who was born at the end of the 19th century. She survived concentration camps during World War I, saw her beloved sister die, and then spent her later years bringing the good news of Jesus to people all around the world, including some of her former captors.
This book contains a series of anecdotes which Corrie ten Boom described, perhaps originally in a journal, after talks she had given, or people she had met, when the discussion turned to the love of God. The stories are positive, and the experiences must have been powerful at the time, but unfortunately the writing is somewhat stilted and there's not enough detail to make them particularly interesting. Perhaps they lost something in the translation - or perhaps it's inevitable, when each anecdote introduces a new person or people.
There does not seem to be any particular organisation to the book, unless I am missing something. Each 'chapter' describes a single anecdote and is just two or three pages,; mostly they are unconnected. If they are chronological, as would be logical, it's not obvious.
It was encouraging to read over a few days, on the whole. It's not a long book (just over 100 pages in all) - but I would not particularly recommend it, other than to people eager to read more about the author. I have huge admiration for Corrie ten Boom, who is probably best known for her autobiographical book 'The Hiding Place', but would suggest that rather than this for anyone wanting to know more about her.
For anyone wanting to get hold of 'Amazing Love', it is still in print, and is also now available in Kindle form in both the UK and US.
Review copyright Sue's Book Reviews, January 29th 2013
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