This book review is the result of a young Mennonite waitress in a Black Outfit (black outfits are the unofficial color of the waitresses at this restaurant) scoffing at my reading of The Housecoat Diaries by John Scoles. After glancing at a few passages she determined it was unsuitable reading for an older person like myself, and she bluntly told me so. I completed reading the book at the restaurant - under the duress of her glances - over a period of several weeks.
I then suggested that she read it to stretch and broaden her scope of the humanities. She would do nothing of the kind. Perhaps she felt she would become tainted, who knows?
Now that she had skewered my psyche, I decided the next book I read would require her impartial consent. That book would be one suggested by my niece, who had yet to fail me literature-wise, with the exclamation “Uncle Harold you should read this book!”
After reading all the glowing accolades on the back cover of the book “Mennonite in a Little Black Dress” by Rhoda Janzen, it certainly made sense to me to get the stamp of approval from The Young Mennonite Waitress in the Black Outfit at the restaurant. Once again she glanced at the book, and approval was conferred quickly, but with a proviso, that she receive a review of same.
Here goes!
Dear Senior Intervener,
(or Young Female Mennonite in a Black Outfit)
I labored over reading this book. For me, it did not live up to the glowing praise it received from other reviewers.
It is a memoir that could be applied to a host of other ethnic and faith groups, with the Mennonite flavor only touched upon, in my opinion. Tragically, Rhoda Janzen’s tale, like those of many other bright young Mennonite girls who have left the traditional Mennonite lifestyle for the mainstream via marriage, have found their partner wanting. I can attest to these situations. Rhoda does find a process for her own reconciliation, which may be the best part of this memoir. Mennonite humor has always escaped me , except for mimicking platt deutsch (low German), which, as a friend told me, now would probably be considered racist. I found some amusing dialogue, but no laughter.
I would rate it an average read.
When I get older and much wiser, hopefully, I will be able to select my own books to read again, until then the Young Mennonite Waitress in a Black Outfit at the restaurant holds sway!
