Rapture of Canaan (Oprah's Book Club) 
asked by mike on November 19, 2006 3:40 AM
Oprah Book Club® Selection, April 1997: Members of the Church of Fire and Brimstone and God's Almighty Baptizing Wind spend their days and nights serving the Lord and waiting for the Rapture--that moment just before the Second Coming of Christ when the saved will be lifted bodily to heaven and the damned will be left behind to face the thousand years of tribulation on earth. The tribulation, according to Grandpa Herman, founder of Fire and Brimstone, will be an ugly time: "He said that we'd run out of food. That big bugs would chase us around and sting us with their tails . . . He said we'd turn on the faucet in the bathroom and find only blood running out . . . He said evil multitudes would come unto us and cut off our limbs, and that we wouldn't die . . . And then he'd say, 'But you don't have to be left behind. You can go straight to Heaven with all of God's special children if you'll only open your hearts to Jesus . . .'"
Such talk of damnation weighs heavy on the mind of Ninah Huff, the 15-year-old narrator of Sheri Reynolds's second novel, The Rapture of Canaan. To distract her from sinful thoughts about her prayer partner James, Ninah puts pecan shells in her shoes and nettles in her bed. But concentrating on the Passion of Jesus cannot, in the end, deter Ninah and James from their passion for each other, and the consequences prove both tragic and transforming for the entire community.
The Rapture of Canaan is a book about miracles, and in writing it, Reynolds has performed something of a miracle herself. Although the church's beliefs and practices may seem extreme (sleeping in an open grave, mortifying the flesh with barbed wire), its members are complex and profoundly sympathetic as they wrestle with the contradictions of Fire and Brimstone's theology, the temptations of the outside world, and the frailties of the human heart.
Reviews
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Wow! Great story. I don't want to give away too much but...This is a story told by a young woman growing up in a sect known as the Church of Fire and Brimstone and God's Holy Baptizing Wind (need I say more:)), led by her hardhearted, ironfisted grandfather. He is the ultimate authority on all things godly and heavenworthy, metting out punishments and fines at the drop of a hat. The writer does a good job weaving together the main characters and develops them well throughout. I often felt like I was watching the "compound" where all the characters lived from afar. There are a few major sad events in the book. All the way I was rooting for Ninah, feeling her highs and lows and loved her even more when she began to challenge the status quo. I only wish she had taken what was hers and ran away from the "commune"!
reviewed by crafty1 on November 21, 2006 10:34 AM
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I enjoyed the book, mostly because of the prose. It is fresh and simplistic, yet some sentences I read over and over because they revealed profound insight.
Reynold's obviously spends a lot of time creating a likable and intelligent young narrator. The narration is what pulled me along, even when I groaned out loud about the typical religious stereotypes intertwined throughout the plot.
It is ultimately a book of substance and sensitivity.
Reynold's obviously spends a lot of time creating a likable and intelligent young narrator. The narration is what pulled me along, even when I groaned out loud about the typical religious stereotypes intertwined throughout the plot.
It is ultimately a book of substance and sensitivity.
reviewed by webster on November 25, 2006 12:25 AM
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Instead of being banned from private time with James, a fellow pubescent fire and brimstone member, Ninah is given regular time with him, unsupervised, as a "prayer partner." The naive pair begin a sexual relationship while convincing themselves that it's okay because it's in the name of Jesus. After she becomes pregnant, James drowns himself in a pond. When the child, Canaan, is born with his hands attached as if in prayer (an unlikely birth defect), instead of sending him to the hospital for simple surgery, the church leader chooses to preach and believe that he was created that way to help teach the congregation about Jesus and prayer. Canaan is given to a childless local couple and Ninah's milk (miraculously?) does not dry up, allowing her to nurse him eight months later (not having nursed him until that time). The church leader suffers a stroke and starts acting strangely, at which point a few as yet unallowed changes are made to the church and its members. In the most unlikely event of all, Ninah cuts Canaan's hands apart with a scissors and, after a few minutes of crying, the baby, starts...laughing. By far, the worst of the Oprah Book Club books.
reviewed by porsche on November 26, 2006 10:58 AM
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The punishments, rules, and outrageous sermons get a little old in this book. I actually said outloud "ok, we get it, it's a religous cult!" Enough already. I think this book starts out pretty good but gets so dry and boring. And did the author really have to come up with the longest name ever for this churt - Fire and Brimstone and BLAH BLAH BLAH. And all the stuff about "If so and so sins, he shall pay $100, half to this dude and half to the Church of Fire and Brimstone blah blah" Ok, we get it. Geesh. I would just check this book out from the library instead of buying it.
reviewed by ctj on November 27, 2006 10:29 AM