Search - The Rapture of Canaan

Well written and absorbing. One of very few books that give an ambiguous take on religious fanatacism. Where most books treat the subject with disdain and condemnation and stereotyping, this book makes one want to spend a week with the poignant members of the Church of Fire and Brimstone and Gods Almighty Baptizing Wind and live their kind of life - as long as one stays out of trouble.

Fabulous writing - will make you scream with injustice at all the "good" work (that is truly so ugly) being accomplished in the name of someone so holy. This book may make you reconsider for just a moment what it means to live the spiritual life. Don't be surprised if you find yourself more forgiving of the sins of others after you read this. Above all else, it makes you realize we're all human.

An amazing author who knows how to weave words into a story that you can't put down. It is a tragic story - yet encouraging to anyone who has ever felt the burden of following his or her own heart. This story is, in the end, about one young girl staying true - against all odds - to her own heart and that of the child she loves.

The Church of Fire and Brimstone and God's Almighty Baptizing Wind! Thats the name of the church these two teens belong to. Growing up in a very rigid church community where grandpa is the Preacher can be a bit difficult especially when.......I'll have to stop there ;) READ THE BOOK!!

Excellent book. I appreciated the point of view. You really had sympathy for her and her choices. One of my favorites.

Heavy duty. Thought provoking. Heartbreaking and challenging.

Not worth my time. I did not at all enjoy this book. I had to finish it because I thought I needed to know how it ended. It didn't matter I was confused thru the entire book and never really caught on to what the story line was. I would not suggest this to anyone who is new in faith/religion, because it has a lot of "cultish" type suggestions.

This is the story of a girl who has to contend with her grandpa who is a preacher at the Church of Fire and Brimstone and Gods Almighty Baptizing Wind. Do I need to say more? This was heartfelt and I am shocked by what Nina has to go through but at the same time compelled by her honesty. Nina's voice is very similar to that of Caliope in the book Middlesex by Euginides. Definitely Recommended!

Like Reynolds' other stories-this book of the SOuth captures the hear nd soul of family, loyalties and love. Ninah's brave choices, and courage to see beyond the closed ways of a patriacharal system bring this story's best into sublime. There is more to life than Grandpa Herman's Truths.

I really like this one. It was a fast read for me.

I couldn't get into this book. I didn't even finish it; not my kind of read.

It's been awhile since I read this, but I LOVED it! One of my favorites.

I did not particularly care for this book. The writing can be engaging at times, however, I found the subject matter to be strange and, at times, disturbing. I am not even sure that I can say that this is an interesting 'look' inside a religious cult. There is so much focus on punishment and suffering. I found scenes like repeatedly dunking a caged, pregnant 14 year old girl in a lake because she refused to 'confess' to be as disturbing as some of the child abuse stories we read about in the papers and hear about on the news today. At best, I would say this was a strange book.

At the Church of Fire and Brimstone and Gods Almighty Baptizing Wind, Grandpa Herman makes the rules for everyone, and everyone obeys, or else. Try as she might, Ninah can't resist her prayer partner, James, and finds herself pregnant. She fears the wrath of Grandpa Herman, the congregation and God Himself. But the events that follow show Ninah that God's ways are more mysterious than even Grandpa Herman understands.

the first time i read this i was astonished by her honesty!

Amazon.com
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. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Wonderful book!

I loved this book

great book!

I loved this book so much, it made me want to go out and learn how to weave.