A book review is targeted at helping the reader to grasp the overall picture of the particular piece of literature and shaping the basics of its content. Apart of this, this type of academic paper provides the audience with the critical assessment of the strengths and drawbacks of the literary work. In the long run, this guarantees the quicker comprehension of the book without its actual reading. Correspondingly, the book review example shows the students how to make the just estimation of the source in a generalized manner.
The autobiographic book Girl Meets God: On the Path to a Spiritual Life by L. F. Winner tells the story of the writer’s spiritual reformation from Judaic to Christian worshipper. The long path of understanding her religious belonging is depicted in chronology starting from the early childhood till the moment of becoming the conscious adult able to determine the life philosophy to rely on. For Winner, the most vital keys to the Universe are literature and communication with the different people who have ultimately enriched her knowledge of the world and helped her to find the own place in it. In the long run, she adopts the opinion that it is rather hard to reject the previous religion out of her life at once. That is why she becomes the practitioner of Christianity while keeping the respect to Judaism.
By this, the author delivers the important message to the audience that the choice of the religion is the natural right of every individual and there is no powerful authority to affect his free will. Moreover, judging from her personal experience, Winner raises the question of the possible coexistence of two or more faiths in the lifestyle of the one and the same personality. Though this issue may be considered quite controversial in its nature, it marks the novelty of the literary work and stimulates the readers’ fantasies and thoughts. In addition, another crucial idea that can be easily identified in the book is the contradiction between the religious adherence and the religious break-up, which both define the attitude of the believer to the certain faith. Regarding this, the discussed piece of the memoir is not deprived of the serious topics and messages, what proves the academic significance of the analyzed source.
Furthermore, it should be noted that likewise the similar works of this genre, the book possesses its own merits and disadvantages. For instance, the core strong facets of this reading include the indoctrinating potential, the straightway narration, the logical and cohesive organization of the text, and the inclusion of the vivid examples taken from the author’s life. Despite these numerous pluses of the source, the serious doubt is left concerning its scientific credibility, the scarcity of the cited materials and the restriction of the story’s perspective to the author’s own experience. However, these miscalculations appear to be inconsiderable if paying attention to the overall value of the book. Hence, Girl Meets God can be rightly seen as a good example of the autobiographic story addressed to the wide public.
References
Academic Skills & Learning Centre. (2016). Writing a critical book review. Web. 23 May 2016. Retrieved from https://academicskills.anu.edu.au/resources/handouts/writing-critical-book-review.
Brizee, A. (2016). Writing a book review. Purdue Online Writing Lab. Web. 23 May 2016. Retrieved from https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/704/1/.
Indiana University Bloomington. (2011). Writing the book review example. Web. 23 May 2016. Retrieved from http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/book_reviews.pdf.
Plaja, L. (2016). Tips for writing book reviews. Book Trust. Web. 23 May 2016. Retrieved from http://www.booktrust.org.uk/books/teenagers/writing-tips/
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The Writing Center at UNC-Chapel Hill. (2010). Book reviews. Web. 23 May 2016. Retrieved from http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/book-reviews/.