Retrato do autor

Susan Bergman (1957–2006)

Autor(a) de Martyrs: Contemporary Writers on Modern Lives of Faith

3+ Works 124 Membros 3 Críticas

About the Author

Disambiguation Notice:

(eng) Yes, this is one author, not two.

Obras por Susan Bergman

Martyrs: Contemporary Writers on Modern Lives of Faith (1996) — Editor — 71 exemplares
Anonymity (1994) 43 exemplares

Associated Works

Tremor Of Bliss: Contemporary Writers on the Saints (1994) — Contribuidor — 92 exemplares
Antaeus No. 69, Fall 1992 (1992) — Contribuidor — 6 exemplares
Christ-Centered Phonics Workbook - Level A:1 — Ilustrador, algumas edições2 exemplares

Etiquetado

Conhecimento Comum

Nome canónico
Bergman, Susan
Data de nascimento
1957
Data de falecimento
2006-01-01
Sexo
female
Nacionalidade
USA
Locais de residência
Barrington, Illinois, USA
Nota de desambiguação
Yes, this is one author, not two.

Membros

Críticas

Eric Boggs
Summer Reading essay

The book I read over the summer was called Martyrs by Susan Bergman. This book was a volume of short stories about people who died for what they believed in. This book gives you a time period mainly from the 20th century about people being killed for their different faiths and beliefs. When I read this book it was very eye opening and tragic to see how simply a person can be persecuted and killed for having a different belief.
This book is filled with short stories dealing mostly dealing with protests or revolutions in South America, Asia, and the United States. When I first started reading this book I was absolutely hooked immediately although I am unsure as to why. I had read the little summary on the back of the book to see what it was initially about and I was not all that impressed, but I gave it some thought and decided to read it. Reading the first few pages was what really impressed me because I like the books that give you those philosophical quotes that have meaning. As I continued to keep reading this book I realized quickly that this was about religious tolerance. All the stories had at least one thing in common with one another. Every story had a person who believed in their religious traditions and attempted to expand that idea those around them. While each story dealt with a traditional religion or main belief it either contained death either from opposition or intrusion.
As we have seen it in the past and currently changing tradition is hard to do. When you take someone’s history and try to change what has always been there it is difficult to manage. In past we have seen wars erupt because of religious differences and people have always tried to make their beliefs just in the eyes of the world. I had realized this before I had actually read this book but what I didn’t realize was how difficult it and even revolting it is to change belief and faith. For example I was reading this short story about these Christian missionaries in South America and they were trying to convert the natives there. When the story first started out the narrator told us a little about the village and others around it. The narrator had stated that the villages surrounding it were very hostile to foreigners and these missionaries knew that. As I kept reading this particular story I obviously can’t experience the fear or situation that they were in but the words that the narrator was using gave me a very good picture. It was very apparent that these missionaries were in a very hostile environment and they knew that they should probably leave. It wasn’t until after the narrator had explained to what actually happened to the missionaries did I even know how inspiring and mentally strong some people can be. I realized that ideas and interfering with someone’s beliefs can’t change the way a person is completely.
What actually happened to the missionaries in this South American village was something that you hear but just the scene of how it happened is just unforgettable. What I got from the narrator telling this story is that a nearby tribe had actually attacked a group of missionaries trying to convert the village. The narrator had stated that they had somehow managed to distract and split the group of missionaries into ones or two’s where they actually speared them to death. What really got me obviously the fact the missionaries pretty brutally murdered but the fact that they had actually had weapons on them and they were fully loaded. What interested me was the fact that these missionaries knew that they were obviously going to be attacked and decided to die in a religious so to speak fashion. The narrator had pointed something that I found very inspiring and courageous. He had said that these missionaries could have easily killed the tribesmen trying to kill them but decided not to. It was very apparent that these missionaries were going to die and they accepted that. They accepted the fact that they were going to die in a terrible way, but were at least going to die in the good that they believed they were doing by spreading their beliefs. The missionaries had kept faith and they knew that world was going to view it as another religious casualty but the missionaries themselves died for they believed in. This is what got to me the fact that they knew that death was arriving but accepted it and found true happiness in the fact that there faith and beliefs was going to stick with them to the end.
This book was very eye opening to me and even made my jaw drop sometimes. How much pain can a person go through and how much can one person put up before reaching a breaking point is sometimes unbelievable. The amount of religious persecution and religious killings to show that no we will not accept your ideas is very high. In reality this book filled short stories actually happened in reality. It had stories containing Martin Luther King, the Boxer Rebellion, villages in Africa, and villages in South America. Although this book seemed to be on a serious note I did enjoy reading this because it was very eye opening and I actually learned quite a bit from this. What I liked about this book was the fact that the narrators explained everything in a mostly understandable way and gave tremendous meaning and emotional feeling to what the people went through. I also liked the fact that some of the short stories had quotes that went along with the story and just gave it more meaning because once you understood the quote had stated and how it goes along with the story you realize how serious it and how you look at your life.
This book was very informative but enjoying at the same time. I would definitely recommend this book to another person if you enjoy reading about religion. Although I would caution that some of the descriptions might actually scare you and well if you’re looking to be a missionary then I would probably advise to maybe not read it because it does contain a lot of killings. On a happier note what people belief and don’t belief is obviously completely up to that person. Although there will always be differences among people it’s just how they are dealt with from going out of control. All in all I enjoyed reading this and I would definitely recommend this to another person.
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
eboggs1 | 1 outra crítica | Aug 26, 2010 |
Anonymity is on a very short list of books that changed my life. I read it as a young man and it made me realize that anonymity is not possible. It changes your life to believe that everything you do in secret will probably have light shed on it, someday.

As for the book, it's a compelling read. Bergman writes her prose with a poet's sense. Her spiritual perspective is firm and profound but not irritatingly conservative. She has sharp moral lines but softened with a heart of compassion. Well done.

Some people will read this because Bergman is the sister of Anne Heche. You won't learn that much about Heche (who wasn't as famous when the book was printed) but you will learn much about the family that raised her.
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
alfredd | Aug 14, 2009 |

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Estatísticas

Obras
3
Also by
3
Membros
124
Popularidade
#161,165
Avaliação
3.8
Críticas
3
ISBN
9
Línguas
1

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