Nun: A Memoir

Rating:
Summary: Nun: A memoir
Review: It is an excellent biography. Mary Wong decided to be a nun when she was only 14 years old. She was influenced by the nuns at her Precious Blood Elementary School. They always smile and are very kind to the students. They are patience and knowledgable in the classroom. However, she was too young to see the emotional layers underneath the cheerful surface. Only had she entered the convent, she realized the conflicts between a normal life and a community life. Most important was that she had to "give up" her family, including her father, her mother, her brothers, and her sisters. She was only allowed to see her family on special occasions. After 12 years struggling and trying very hard to fit in the community life in the convent, she gave up and decided back to the "world." In this book, Mary Wong described the strictness and restrictness life in the noviate. What I like most is that she shows her respect and love to all the nuns she learned and lived with. Even though she left, she still believes that "best things are more than bad things in the life of convent." This is a book that reminds my own experience in Catholic school in the mid-1970s. The fun I had with the nuns and the things I learned from them. It is a book that makes you remember the "good old days."

Rating:
Summary: Realistic!
Review: Mary's life as a nun started in 9th grade. Why do people become nuns? For her the purpose was to strive for the highest goal she knew. Behind the scenes she tells how she was popular in the high school for nuns, the pranks they played, the fun they had, plus how their lives were ordered down to the last detail. They had to get dressed alone in their cubicles by dressing under their nightgowns. That way they were never indecent. Finally she asked herself if the life of a nun was worth throwing away a normal life and family for. Really intersting book. You won't be able to put it down!

Rating:
Summary: Realistic!
Review: Mary's life as a nun started in 9th grade. Why do people become nuns? For her the purpose was to strive for the highest goal she knew. Behind the scenes she tells how she was popular in the high school for nuns, the pranks they played, the fun they had, plus how their lives were ordered down to the last detail. They had to get dressed alone in their cubicles by dressing under their nightgowns. That way they were never indecent. Finally she asked herself if the life of a nun was worth throwing away a normal life and family for. Really intersting book. You won't be able to put it down!

Rating:
Summary: From Cloister To Freedom
Review: Mary's story is the story of thousands of young Catholics who searched for God and found Him/Her in the convent, seminary or monastery. She tells of the strictness she experienced in the noviate and as a fuly vowed nun. You and I get to experience the life of the convent from the eyes of this dedicated nun. She begins to doubt the austerity and restrictiveness as a result of the openness of Vatican II. She takes the plunge to Freedom. We see her struggle to find the same God experience outside the Convent. She does find this in her marriage and new life. What I like best is that Mary shows her deep appreciation and love for all those nuns she learned and lived with. It's a book that will move you to tears, remembering the old ways.

Rating:
Summary: Good Two-Thirds of the Way Through...
Review: Why does this happen to me??? I begin a book, it's capturing me: my mind, my heart...then all of a sudden, it takes a turn for the worst! I thought, without a doubt, such would NOT be the case with this book because I was pushing toward the end, and still feeling full and satisfied, hardly able to put it down! Then I started to feel things unravel. Don't get me wrong here: this was a strong book, with a powerful sentiment. I was especially drawn my this woman's desire to serve God as a lifetime vocation. I enjoyed reading about her life growing up, identifying with much of what I read, seeing myself in her as a young girl. I can appreciate one's desire to serve God so fully, so passionately. Indeed, I admire it. But when this woman decides to finally leave (for reasons which just didn't quite satisfy me as much as if she would have left earlier after developing the same similar health problems as many of the other nuns), it's as if she not only tosses the Catholic church out the window, but God as well! Now, listen...I'm sorry to lower the overall score here, and I'm sure those of you who have read the book will probably heartily disagree with me. I'm not, nor have I ever been Catholic. But being a Christian, I feel like this: if you don't want to be a nun, FINE! There are certainly other ways to serve God. But don't decide NOT to be a nun, then act like you don't even KNOW God's word, like you have no desire to be obedient to this God you claim you felt called to serve. When the author decides to leave the convent, she becomes involved with a man, and the dropping of a very particular clue leads us to believe she ends up having sex with this man. Okay. There's nothing wrong with having sex, Mary, but WHY NOT GET MARRIED FIRST!!!!???!!!! Is celebacy only celebacy when ordered to bind yourself in it??? Doesn't God's word still count for ANYTHING when He commands us not to have sex outside of the bounds of marriage???? Why is it that when I read about priests and nuns who just can't take the celibate thing anymore, they have sex within these "meaningful" relationships, but they don't get married???? Obviously, by marrying, they would have to forsake their vocation, but aren't they being just as disobedient by blatantly disregarding God's word??? Or doesn't the Bible matter anymore??? Is it just that nuns are overwhelmed with a rule for this and a rule for that, that when they finally do taste a morsel of freedom, they run with it??? I don't know, but I was just disappointed. I mean, after Mary left the convent, she spoke a lot about her travels, her intellectual conquests, etc., her marriage to a Protestant (was he at least a believer??? She doesn't even SAY!!), but she really fails to say anything about whether or not she still has a passion for God; she doesn't mention ANYTHING about the continued importance of her RELATIONSHIP with God...it's all about the world, and freedom, nail polish and male "friends". Sure, I can understand that she feels she has a lot to "catch up" on. I can really appreciate this. But what happened to this all-consuming desire to serve God? What happened to that "pull", that "tug" in her inner being? I get the impression that lots of other things became much more important, and that now she just wanted to "live life"...suck the marrow out of life!! I know, I know, I'm strange, and no one will probably be able to relate to my point of view, but I'm used to that. Thanks for listening to me ramble (had a lot on my mind...I just finished the book last night).