Thank you everyone who answered my questions last week. I found them very interesting.
Christine, that is a good point that people are reading the Amish fiction for their “wholesome” qualities, and also that people are not necessarily going to change their views of the Amish, even with “data” to the contrary.
Gumbo Soul, thank you very much for your compliments. There are others who are also sharing their real experiences through their blogs of having grown up Amish. Taken together, I hope people can glean an understanding of what it was like for those of us who actually lived the life of an Amish person. Also, you will notice how our experiences varied. I am still learning just how diverse Amish communities are.
MooMama, it seems your reason for reading Amish fiction is similar to what Christine mentioned. Perhaps it doesn’t make sense to try to understand why Amish fiction is so popular, but I am naturally curious, considering most of the Amish fiction out there doesn’t depict a very realistic portrait of Amish life — at least not as I experienced it.
Becky, I very much appreciate your desire to learn about other cultures/religions and your compliments about Mary Ann’s and my blog. There are more “former Amish” voices soon to be heard via blogs and memoirs. I’m sure the numbers of us will not be as numerous as the authors of Amish fiction, but we’ll still be offering a more authentic depiction of Amish life.
Karen, thanks for your answer about being interested in Amish life. Some people who live around/near the Amish actually become disenfranchised when they see (especially the youth) acting in such a way that their views may be altered of the Amish in general. It sounds like your experiences served to deepen your interest in the Amish way of life. There are certainly aspects of Amish life that mainstream Americans can learn from. I hope you had a wonderful Mother’s Day weekend.
Sarah, welcome to the blog. Glad you find it helpful. Your fiction sounds somewhat different than most out there. Good luck with it.
Richard, interesting that you see the Amish fiction continuing full steam ahead.
Darlene, your point is very well taken — when you read the Amish fiction, you see the difference between fantasy and reality. From questions I’ve fielded at book talks, I’d say many people don’t make that distinction. There are many misconceptions out there about Amish life, and people will cite the books they’ve read as the reason for believing these things.
Thanks again, all, for your answers to my questions.
Note: Just tonight I discovered there were quite a few comments that I missed earlier that never got posted. My gmail groups certain emails together, and I think I must have missed them because of this “grouping.” I posted several of these tonight that were sent some time ago. So sorry about that. I’ll need to be more careful about going through my comments more often.
Christine, that is a good point that people are reading the Amish fiction for their “wholesome” qualities, and also that people are not necessarily going to change their views of the Amish, even with “data” to the contrary.
Gumbo Soul, thank you very much for your compliments. There are others who are also sharing their real experiences through their blogs of having grown up Amish. Taken together, I hope people can glean an understanding of what it was like for those of us who actually lived the life of an Amish person. Also, you will notice how our experiences varied. I am still learning just how diverse Amish communities are.
MooMama, it seems your reason for reading Amish fiction is similar to what Christine mentioned. Perhaps it doesn’t make sense to try to understand why Amish fiction is so popular, but I am naturally curious, considering most of the Amish fiction out there doesn’t depict a very realistic portrait of Amish life — at least not as I experienced it.
Becky, I very much appreciate your desire to learn about other cultures/religions and your compliments about Mary Ann’s and my blog. There are more “former Amish” voices soon to be heard via blogs and memoirs. I’m sure the numbers of us will not be as numerous as the authors of Amish fiction, but we’ll still be offering a more authentic depiction of Amish life.
Karen, thanks for your answer about being interested in Amish life. Some people who live around/near the Amish actually become disenfranchised when they see (especially the youth) acting in such a way that their views may be altered of the Amish in general. It sounds like your experiences served to deepen your interest in the Amish way of life. There are certainly aspects of Amish life that mainstream Americans can learn from. I hope you had a wonderful Mother’s Day weekend.
Sarah, welcome to the blog. Glad you find it helpful. Your fiction sounds somewhat different than most out there. Good luck with it.
Richard, interesting that you see the Amish fiction continuing full steam ahead.
Darlene, your point is very well taken — when you read the Amish fiction, you see the difference between fantasy and reality. From questions I’ve fielded at book talks, I’d say many people don’t make that distinction. There are many misconceptions out there about Amish life, and people will cite the books they’ve read as the reason for believing these things.
Thanks again, all, for your answers to my questions.
Note: Just tonight I discovered there were quite a few comments that I missed earlier that never got posted. My gmail groups certain emails together, and I think I must have missed them because of this “grouping.” I posted several of these tonight that were sent some time ago. So sorry about that. I’ll need to be more careful about going through my comments more often.
Thanks for your reply, Saloma! I’m not sure if different is good, but we’ll see… :)
Yes Saloma i do see these Amish novels exploding even more than they already are. I think the more we change, the more folks become more interested in Amish life. I think its our way of looking back, and seeing where we came from. Im just shocked that no one has produced a serous movie about the Amish since “Witness” in 1985. Richard from Lebanon county’s Amish community.