The Journey of Growing Up Amish: A Memoir

Peter: I really liked this account of the struggles of one Amish man to continue in the traditions of his family. I bought this book to better understand what the Amish were about and how they lived. The book really gave a window into their life, although from a person who struggled with this type of life. His writing style is engaging and really nice to read. He has great insights into the good and the bad of Amish life but always remains respectful and introspective about the Amish life. I was a bit surprised at how different a Christian life the Amish have as compared to an Evangelical Christian. I would highly recommend this book for anyone interested in the Amish life and its struggles for one man that was born into it.

Canada on Jan 31, 2020

Aletha Gatward: Interesting read. It was hard to like the main character as a person though, but that's not really the point of the book. I wouldn't read the book again, but I'd recommend it to someone interested in Amish culture.

Canada on Jul 18, 2017

Rbt.: This well written and transparent first-person account tells the story of one aspect "closed cultures" where abusive leadership and pervasive manipulative pressure, coupled with a legalistic mindset demands strict obedience and loyalty to the culture and its leaders. In this case it is the Amish community, which normally is seen as idyllic by the outside world. But the story could have been written about any number of other closed cultures in North American society. In this case, the abusive leadership, including that of the author's father, drove the author and a number of friends away from the only life they really understood, leaving them cultural orphans in society. Its a troubling story. Fortunately, he eventually found his feet. Likely others did not. He doesn't hate the society he left, but seems to be profoundly disappointed by it and his inability to adapt as most other young adults seemed to be able to do.

Canada on Jan 20, 2014

Eskimo: Versand und Zustand des Buches, wie von Amazon gewohnt, sehr gut.

Das Buch ist interessant für jemand, den die Lebensweise ethnischer und religiöser Gruppen, wie hier die der Amish people, interessiert.
Der humorvoll bis witzige Schreibstil erhöht den Spaß am Lesen - ich bin nur nicht ganz sicher,
ob dadurch diese Gemeinschaften bzw. ihre grundsätzlichen Inhalte und Ziele ein wenig ins Lächerliche gezogen werden
und die Beschreibung somit von der Realität abweicht?? (Immerhin ist das Buch von einem "Aussteiger" geschrieben...)
Deshalb habe ich die Punktezahl mit 4 angegeben.
Aber es ist ja immer gut, sich von mehreren Seiten her zu informieren.

Wer noch wenig über diese Gruppen weiß wird dies Buch gern lesen. Es ist sehr lebendig geschrieben und zwar aus der Sicht eines betroffenen Jugendlichen.
Voraussetzung:
Relativ gute Englischkenntnisse und Sinn für fremdsprachlichen Humor.
Ich habe begonnen, mich über`s Internet über den Autor zu informieren, bin aber noch nicht durch.
Da gibt es einiges!

Germany on May 17, 2013

Tim Challies: Evangelicalism has a strange obsession with the Amish. The Amish are the theme of countless novels and they also appear in cookbooks, books of moralisms, books on the virtues of the simple life, and on and on. They are held up as models of cultural and theological simplicity, people who can point us to better days. The problem, of course, at least as it pertains to theology, is that this is simply not a true representation.

Ira Wagler grew up Amish, spending his childhood in both Canadian and American communities. He recently released a memoir that has made its way onto the bestseller lists. Growing Up Amish (a title that pretty much says it all) records his memories from childhood all the way to his mid-twenties when he eventually broke free of his family and community.

Wagler is truly a gifted writer which makes this memoir beautifully crafted and wonderfully poignant. He draws the reader into his world as he grapples with his identity, as he leaves the community and returns, leaves and returns again, and as he tries to understand who or what he can be if he forsakes his Amish identity. His experience of truly being converted is the turning point of his...

United States on Jan 02, 2013

Religiosity: This book was an easy to read and respectfully written account of a young man's childhood and struggle to find spiritual peace. I liked that I could sympathize with all parties, not just the author but also his parents and siblings and feel for the impairments they all faced as a result of growing up bound within the narrow confines of this society. A few elements were missing a bit imo. While alluding briefly to general discontent and missing the stability of home, it still felt like a somewhat abrupt decision that he returned home on several occasions given the angst he had just went through to leave. I wanted to read more about the struggles he encountered trying to fit into his new English life when he was on the outside. One surprise for me was when Ira alluded to his religious conversion close to the end of the book. In that respect, I felt very surprised that the devout Amish church leaders had not previously clarified that he had such an experience already. It appeared that he became a baptized member of the Amish without being what religious people typically refer to as a born again Christian. Just wondered to myself how common this may be in the Amish community, in that...

Canada on Nov 20, 2012

Sandra K. Stiles: I have always loved reading and hearing about the Amish life. There are several reasons for this. I grew upon a farm in Indiana. My parents became Christians when I was five. With no one to guide her in her walk, my mother decided it was better to err on God's side. Board games, dancing of any kind, and most television shows became off limits or a sin. My books and comic books were scrutinized. My mom's first question whenever I told her about a new friend was, "Are they a Christian?" I had few friends growing up because they did not fit into my mom's "category" of what a Christian was. I worked on the farm just as the Amish do. When we moved to Florida I learned that what we called a garden the people down here called a truck patch or small farm. I learned how to can and freeze fruits and vegetables. We smoked our own meat. In the winter we filled a concrete tub in our `milk house' up with snow and put perishables in it. It was a tough life yet one I miss.

It may be these memories that have always drawn me to Amish fiction. I can see so many parallels. I was thrilled to read Ira Wagler's book Growing Up Amish. In this book we get a look at the "real" Amish. Not the ones so...

United States on Sep 04, 2011