Cut Me Loose: Sin And Salvation After My Ultra-Orthodox Girlhood (2014) - Plot & Excerpts
This book was more about a lost girl trying to find herself between two worlds secular and Ultra Orthodox. She weaves her way in and out of these worlds . Some of the events in her life were so difficult to fathom. Before I read this book I read unOrthodox by Deborah Feldman which I found to be a more in-depth story and enjoyed that book a little more. Leah seemed to go down spiraling path which lead to mental illness. Of the massive and burgeoning recent trove of "OTD" (a troublesome term; what is this standardized "D" they're all "O" from? Who sets the standards of normalcy? A debate for a different time) books, this one is not necessarily the highest art (some of the other represented wordsmithery are electric-fantastic), but in my opinion, the most important, because it contains within it the greatest lesson of all:Don't ever push your kids away or throw them out of the house or excommunicate them, for any reason whatsoever, because you are responsible for what happens to them, you stupid buffoon.The casual way in which her family shoves the author out of the way is so troubling, it moved me. It is well known that discipline for teenagers, ideally, is to push away with one hand (fostering independence) and draw them closer with the other (for the reassurance of love, duh). Yet, her parents hold her away with the four arms they have available. What did they think was going to happen?And to think, she was shoved away despite her curiosities, questions, desires, musings, and reflections being absolutely, totally and completely NORMAL in every which way. Yet, her regular D is considered deviant, while her families odd-yet-accepted shifted-off-humanly structured D is considered the correct one.The book is written with an air of longing and true-to-the-core sweetness, because Vincent remains an innocent child, longing for parental approval, no matter what life brings her.I feel so much empathy for her, partly because her story has a concrete trust and realness to it. She employs a method used by Solomon Northup in hish book 12 Years a Slave: that is, to record minor details, so that an inquiring sort could confirm truths claimed and confer upon the tale utter credibility. This is in contradistinction to Deborah Feldman, who is a truth-omitter at best, and prevaricator at worst. The book is written in a way that I believe everything contained therein - which makes the reading painful, but necessary.I should say the packaging of the book is marvelous as well. The cover image is stark, and draws the eye, while "Cut Me Loose" is also a quadruple-entendre and therefore quite clever.One niggling point to make, though: these female-written "OTD" memoirs all seem to portray men as set on autoscrew. Is this the reality? Was I neutered along the way that I'm not familiar with this behavior? Or is this a reality I just haven't been privy to, while these women are, in spades?
What do You think about Cut Me Loose: Sin And Salvation After My Ultra-Orthodox Girlhood (2014)?
Very disturbing. Author had many family problems before leaving this ultra orthodox community.
—Caroline
I don't have kids, but I couldn't imagine rejecting a child for such a minor thing.
—Pippinos
Not wonderful. The painful story of a woman making an abundance of bad choices.
—jessie
