Welcome to Litsy!

By far the most exciting read is The Chosen... to hear the familiar streets of Williamsburg described in the opening chapter as "cracked squares of cement,.. softened in the stifling summers,'... my small, crowded district of Brooklyn.... A book about my home! ...

What a wonderful new sensation, to delve into the pages of a book and realize that the familiar sense of alienation, of confusion, was gone.

"Don't you see, girls," Mrs. Meizlish proclaims, "how easy it is to fall into that category of choteh umachteh es harabim, the sinner who makes others sin, the worst sinner of all, simply by failing to uphold the highest standards of modesty? Every time a man catches a glimpse of any part of your body that the Torah says should be covered, he is sinning. But worse, you have caused him to sin. It is you who will bear the responsibility..."

I waited so long for this to actually come to the library and then for it to be my turn to listen to it
I loved it and now I can watch the Netflix series
Men shouldn‘t be allowed to be in charge of anything imo

I took a mental health day ❤️ I made a big breakfast for my husband who still went to school, I puttered, I went to the post office and finally mailed a package that‘s been waiting for months to get sent ( I have beat the baby‘s arrival so yay me) I bought my sister a Christmas present, got McDonald‘s for lunch and I‘m making chicken stew for dinner. I feel like a human being instead of a crazy educator for once

I have waited for this forever

This was about Deborah‘s experiences growing up in a strict Hasidic sect in Williamsburg, NY. Her discovery of books and reading, learning to think for herself and what lead to her decision to leave.

This was utterly fascinating, but totally not what I expected. I thought it would be mainly about her struggle to leave her strict Hasidic sect, but instead that was only the last chapter and the afterword, and there wasn‘t much detail.

Instead, the book was about life inside the sect, particularly the treatment of women and children, as well as her failed marriage that ultimately caused her to leave.

#booked2022
#aboutcultorreligion

Fascinating insight to the authors upbringing and I applaud her for making decisions that she felt would make her life better.
I‘ve given it a so-so because I just couldn‘t engage fully with her writing style and sometimes it spoiled the flow of the story for me.
#aboutcultorreligion #booked2022

I loved this! As others have mentioned, it's quite different from the show. A lot of it is her childhood memories, discovering the world of books and thinking her own thoughts. I find this world fascinating (can you say huge Chaim Potok fan) but honestly, Potok is a man and a huge dimension of women's suffering in this world had never been clear to me until reading this. I think she's remarkable!

This is a memoir of Deborah Feldman‘s life inside the Hasidic Community in Williamsburg. I listened to this on audiobook and quickly got tired of the voice reading Feldman‘s part. One thing is that this book is more thorough and exact than the Netflix series which is not an accurate account and has no depth. If you know nothing about this community try but if you do give it a miss.

This was very moving, even though it was very hard to read at points. Trigger warnings for sexual assault & violence, child abuse, and child murder. Her story is phenomenal as is her courage. It took guts to do what she did and even more guts to write about it. I‘ll be watching the rest of the adaptation soon & plan to read her second memoir when I get a little distance from this one.

She goes with her husband for marriage counseling and this is the rabbi‘s reaction after he hears their history together. At least someone finally had a reasonable response to what she went through instead of pretending everything was fine!

“I feel as if I have no physical refuge. What a curse it is to not feel safe in one‘s own body…” I am amazed at the courage it took to write all this, let alone live it. Trigger warnings for something I can‘t quite put into words: maybe the difficulty of seeking medical help for something others only think is in your head? And also TW for sexual assault and trauma in case you need a heads up.

This is so sad…

@Eggs #WondrousWednesday

Tagged by @persephone1408 💙

📖 Tagged
🍇 Mmh... a lot! But I will say strawberries
🤩 The Seven Husband of Evelyn Hugo
💞 I'm grateful to be just one step away from one of my biggest target 🤟🏻

“The librarians always smile when they see me, silent encouragement in their eyes…I wish that I could [take books home], because I feel so extraordinarily happy and free when I read that I‘m convinced it could make everything else in my life bearable, if only I could have books all the time.”

Just started this…

351 p. I was really curious to look inside the very closeed community. It is really sad and frustrating to see how a woman, as a concept, is degraded to be just a servant for a man. But it's great that a story came out: not everyone born into a community wants to be a part of it and we might just be able to help someone if we know it's happening.

#unorthodox #DeborahFeldman #Hasidism

My first title for my #AxeTheStacks challenge! I was struggling a bit around the 40% mark and almost bailed; but I‘m glad I pushed through! The last half was incredibly fascinating. #howjessicareads21

Working on my first #AxeTheStacks title! I also need to sit down tomorrow and make a specific list of books to attempt this month!

Wow this was a powerful book. I really don‘t know much about any parts of the Jewish faith, and I know this is not a typical Jewish story, but I feel like I learned a lot. What strength!

Starting a new one on World Book Day #unorthodox #deborahfeldman #worldbookday 📖

Watched the miniseries with a friend, then read the book. Interesting compelling read.

Not quite what I expected but still a firm pick. I thought this would be more about her struggle to leave the community, but it was much more focused on her life living as a Hasidic woman before she left. As the writer points out, it can be so hard to find first hand accounts of women‘s lives in Hasidic Judaism and that was so fascinating and valuable. I didn‘t think the writing style was perfect but it didn‘t stop me enjoying the book

On the eve of my twenty-fourth birthday, I interview my mother.

@ShyBookOwl, #FirstLineFridays

This was an intriguing look at a secretive sect of folks— but the pacing and narrative felt rushed. I wanted more reflection from Feldman, whom I really admire as a person.

This memoir of a young woman who escapes her restrictive Hasidic Jewish culture shows how a deep longing for belonging and freedom can alter a woman‘s entire life. It is moving, fascinating, and enlightening, although somewhat immature in its storytelling sequence. Recommend for understanding culture only.

Feldman‘s memoir goes into detail on her upbringing in a Hasidic community in Brooklyn, from her absent mother to her arranged marriage, her wedding at age 17 and beyond.

Read November 5-12
Rated 3/5 ⭐️
Book 46/60

Although ultimately interesting, I found this memoir slow. It swelled much more in the minutiae of life in a Hasidic household than it did on the author‘s extrication from this way of life. Maybe that‘s what was intended, but it didn‘t work for me as much as I‘d hoped.

2-5 October 2020 (audiobook)
Whilst this was addictive, found myself questioning the author‘s authenticity. It may have been the narrator, but her voice seemed whiny, self-righteous and negative. Perhaps due to my own privilege- obviously I have not grown up in an oppressive family or an orthodox, patriarchal culture. I also felt sympathy for the husband - the kissing, housekeeping and bond with their child, made him seem remarkably progressive.

Audio life is a good life

4.5/5

I watched the miniseries inspired by this book and knew I had to read about Deborah's real life experience. It's quite different from the miniseries which focuses on a fictional woman named Esther inspired by Deborah's story. If you're interested in learning about different religious subcultures, I'd definitely recommend both the book and the show on Netflix.

And here I thought being raised Catholic was stifling. Oof.

This was absolutely fascinating and heartbreaking and hopeful. I knew nothing about the Satmar Hasids and think I was most surprised by their antipathy towards Israel. Looking forward to the Netflix series.

After watching the Netflix series, I wanted to read the source material. Really interesting memoir about a community I didn't know much about. #recommended

Well liked on here so definitely seemed worth 99p!

My next read... curious about the #Netflix show and I have a policy of not watching adaptations until I‘ve read the source material, so here goes. I‘m not sure how I missed this one when it was published originally, but I‘m glad I found it. I love a good memoir, and as someone who has spent a surprising amount of time in proximity to the Hasidic community for work reasons (but as an entirely non-Jewish outsider), I‘m very interested in this one.

I recently watched this show on Netflix. I had the book for a while but never got around to reading it until now. It gave some good insight into the Hasidic community. I think it must be very hard to leave a community you were raised in and it‘s all you know. I give the author a lot of credit for being strong enough to leave. The show was only loosely based on the book and was fairly different from the book. I think both were pretty good.

I watched the Netflix series and then I listened to the audiobook. The book gives a lot more details about life in the author‘s strict Hasidic community. I found it to be very interesting and informative. However, the Netflix series portrays her exit from the community so much differently than the book that it didn‘t seem like the same story. I‘d be interested to hear what others think about this. #IsItJustMeOrWhat

Really enjoyed this book! Perfect narrator, interesting story. I‘m really glad Deborah was able to make her escape from the restrictive lifestyle that made her so unhappy. I‘m looking forward to watching the Netflix series knowing she and others who left the Hasidic faith were involved. I have her second memoir, Exodus, on my radar for an upcoming #audible credit. 4.5⭐️

A good book but just not my favourite...

#GoodReads2020Challenge

A memoir by someone from a religious tradition that is not your own: the details of Hasidic life feel like something you know of but you don‘t really KNOW, very enlightening #readharder2020

This series! I just saw the first two episodes and I am blown away. The music, the actors, the atmosphere, the rituals. I am loving it with tears in my eyes but I need to sleep. And read.

By the way, I have not finished Tiger King. I hated all those people and it kept getting worse and worse. I felt I didn‘t want to know more about that world. Is that bad?

Oh and do I need to read the book after finishing the Netflix series?

Ok I have only let myself watch the first episode of this new Netflix series (just forced myself to not watch the next episode immediately). I‘ll definitely be binge watching it, and of course, reading the book for more details. Fascinating!

My current obsession on Netflix. It's so good. I'm fascinated and totally invested in what happens to Esty. I'm on ep 4. So good that I had to get the memoir on which it's based on Kindle, so I'm reading it as well.

March 2020

I have been having some difficulty settling down to read during this time, but I have been finding other ways to become absorbed in new worlds. This week, Unorthodox on Netflix has completely hooked me. Perhaps the book which inspired it will bring me back to the page. #hereshoping #quarantineproblems

So I just spent 3 hours binge watching the first 3 episodes of Unorthodox on Netflix. Anyone else watching ??? It‘s loosely based off of the memoir by Deborah Feldman by the same title. So far I can recommend both book & series. My daughter tells me I REALLY NEED to watch Tiger King!!! I fear I might not be doing too much reading in the next few days 😜

This memoir explores Deborah‘s complicated desire to be a good Satmar girl while feeling trapped by customs that limits her freedom. When she gives birth at nineteen, she finds the courage to leave. I read this in about 24 hours, because I couldn‘t put it down. I was rooting for her every step of the way and had to google her after I was done to make sure she was okay. She is. My only quibble is that I found the pacing to be off.