Nearly Orthodox

On Being a Modern Woman in an Ancient Tradition

By: Angela Doll Carlson

Narrated by: Angela Doll Carlson

Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

From Catholic schoolgirl to punk rocker to emergent church planter, Angela Doll Carlson traveled a spiritual path that in many ways mirrors that of a whole generation. She takes us with her on a deep and revealing exploration of the forces that drove her toward Orthodoxy and the challenges that long kept her from fully entering in.

©2014 Ancient Faith Publishing (P)2015 Ancient Faith Publishing

Top Notch

Great story for strong women, the West, history, rural life. Truly captivating start to finish.

Personal

Personal, well written and thought provoking. Not an academic apologetics piece but a story worth hearing.

Angela feels like a good friend when you are done

Really like how many times I chuckled, or smiled, or even said, "yeah, I know, right?!" out loud while listening to Angela tell her journey. Good listen. I have the book but couldn't get around to it, so I decided to listen to it on a long drive. Great choice.

Traditional Christianity is the new, "new wave".!

Inspiring tale. How does a liberal feminist join a traditional faith system. Slightly worded from a woman's perspective.

Nearly Me

This book was a punch in the gut. Angela Carlson nailed a lot of my thoughts and experiences SO on the head in this book. I identified with her descriptions of her youth and high school years (in general, not in the details, of course). All the messy insecurities, self-recriminations, social anxieties that happen when you are a woman in the United States who decides to do something, ANYTHING, against the grain.

The story-telling jumped around, like it does when you are letting your thoughts out to a friend. Very conversational. A chance statement that reminds you of a thing that happened yesterday, or last week or last decade which serves to illustrate the thought you are trying to get across. That can be a little disconcerting because, especially in audio, the jump can seem kind of abrupt. After a couple of chapters, I got used to that style and was not so confused when she went from 2019 to 1982 to 2000 to 2019 (for example) in three paragraphs. I can see why folks would be confused.

There was audible background noise and some electronic hissing that came across, regardless of what device I used. If Ancient Faith Publishing is going to continue with audiobook offerings, they should invest in cleaning up the audio a bit more. This is not the first book I have received from them that has that issue. Professional narrators would be a good idea as well. I understand that the author of an autobiographical work might seem to be the best to tell their own tale, they often come across as monotone, which can make for a boring listen. Just a thought.

All in all I appreciated this book for what it was--a woman's tale of her journey to Orthodoxy. I related greatly to both her and her journey. There were many thought provoking moments and I had to stop listening a couple of times because her path, dirty, dusty, tiring as it was, was so like mine.

3.5 stars

Full Disclosure: I was given an Audible credit to purchase this book in return for an honest review. Thank you for the opportunity to do this, AFP!

All Author, No Orthodoxy

I have no idea what this woman believes. I know she has a fierce loyalty to Roman Catholicism, she has a significant amount of social anxiety, she places a lot of emphasis on her appearance and politics. She says she was a part of a lot of failed churches, but never tells us anything about them. She talks a lot about the stress of her family, but I have no idea if she loves her husband. If she didn’t emphasize how much she does for them I would have the impression she is ambivalent about her children. She spends the entire book coming up with reasons she can’t be Orthodox but none of them are serious. She avoids talking to people in church and only attends Vespers and then wrings her hands that maybe Orthodoxy isn’t for her.

This is more of a memoir or journal than a conversion story or even book about faith.