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| Same Kind of Different as Me |
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 Has anyone here read this book? When my sister gave it to me for Christmas I picked it up ahead of all the books I'm behind on reading, maybe because it's written in such simple language that I knew it would be a quick read, and it was. It's the true story of the unlikely friendship between Ron Hall, a rich white international art dealer, and Denver Moore, an uneducated homeless black man who grew up as a share-cropper in the deep south. And Ron's wife Deborah who brought the two together.
The story is well-written, told in alternating voices of the two men, who don't meet until almost halfway through the book. One of those books that will likely stay with you forever, as its raw treatment of homelessness, terminal cancer, racial discrimination, and questions of faith are sure to broaden the reader's world view. Not a pleasant read though. A painful one, because it so well portrays the depths of pain that human reality can bring.
A New York Times bestseller, and deservedly so. That said, I don't recommend it for those in the midst of deep grief, or for anyone's bedtime reading. It will disturb you. It will challenge you. It will expand you.
"I used to spend a lotta time worryin that I was different from other people," says Denver looking back on his life, "even from other homeless folks. Then after I met Miss Debbie and Mr. Ron, I worried that I was so different from them that we wadn't ever gon' have no kind a' future. But I found out everybody's different - the same kind of different as me. We all just regular folks walkin down the road God done set in front of us."
Same Kind of Different as Me, by Ron Hall and Denver Moore, with Lynn Vincent, 2006.
Available from Jacob's Well for 13.19.
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| To add a comment to "Same Kind of Different as Me" |
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| January 14, 2009 |
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| I will read it.... I just finished the Kite Runner and Splendor in the Sun by Hosseni(Sic).... Good books |
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| January 14, 2009 |
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| I will definatly add this my reading list for this year! Thank you! God Bless |
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| January 14, 2009 |
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| I haven't read it but it sounds like one I may want to look at soon. |
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| January 14, 2009 |
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Sounds excellent, I'm on it!
xoxo |
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| January 14, 2009 |
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| Mary, Donna, Barb, and Cheryl, sounds like a book club in the making! I'd love to hear your thoughts when you read it! You'll definitely have some! |
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| January 20, 2009 |
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| This is an awesome book! You will be changed after reading it. It is well worth putting down every other book and picking it up for a quick read. You will not be disappointed. |
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| January 20, 2009 |
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Pastor Tim, it's intense. I'll be interested to hear what you think!
Amy, thank you for a commentary from another reader!!! |
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| February 02, 2009 |
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The over-arching story line was powerful, but I would like to lift up some fragments of what jumped out at me as I read. I sure hope I'm not breaking any copyright laws by typing a few things here.
At the end of chapter 12 on p61 Ron says "I have learned that...I cannot see into a person's heart to know his spiritual condition. All I can do is tell the jagged tale of my own spiritual journey and declare that my life has been the better for having followed Christ."
Page 93 Denver says "Seemed like to me she had spiritual eyes: She could see right through my skin to who I was on the inside."
On page 140 the speaker says that he found out "that sometimes we just have to accept the things we don't understand." Even so, he knew that praying was "the most important job I ever had..."
I personally learned long ago that doctors are not God, which agrees with Debbie's statement on p143 about serving a "God who knows our number of days."
In chapter 53 on p192 I love the quote "That's the good thing 'bout God. Since He can see right through your heart anyway, you can go on and tell Him what you really think." Also on p231 "...I'm a nobody that's tryin to tell everbody 'bout Somebody that can save anybody."
And the last one is a C.S. Lewis quote that's shown on p230 regarding the clash between grief and faith. "The tortures occur. If they are unnecessary, then there is no God, or a bad one. If there is a good God, then these tortures are necessary for no even moderately good Being could possibly inflict or permit them if they weren't."
This book is a must-read. Any comments from anybody? Again Kathy, thanks for telling us about this one! |
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| February 03, 2009 |
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| Barb, thanks for coming back and sharing your impressions! It's a very quotable book, filled with thought-provoking observations, and I am so glad you enjoyed it!! |
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| April 16, 2009 |
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Kathy, I bought the book at my father-in-law's church. I cried and laughed my way through this book. Ron and Denver came to Gene's church the following week and I didn't get to meet them, because of other plans.
The book... it is amazingly beautiful and tender; so full of truth. My husband read it and feels the same way. |
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| April 17, 2009 |
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| Joey, I'm so glad you enjoyed the book, and I appreciate you sharing it with us!! |
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| April 17, 2009 |
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| Kathy et al. it sounds like an awesome book. Thanks for the recommendation! |
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| April 17, 2009 |
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| Hi Joyful! If you read it, be sure to tell us what you think! |
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| April 17, 2009 |
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| Sure will. Write now though I have a few other books to tackle, lol. |
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| April 17, 2009 |
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| I know what you mean. I just started a book a got 2 Christmases ago. That's how far behind I am! |
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| April 17, 2009 |
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LOL. Reminds me of my latest read "A Suitable Boy". I started in November and I've only gotten to page 217 out of 1474 pages! I'm usually an avid reader but these days concentration is little to none. Have also got a number of good bible study resources I'm trying to work through *smile* BTW, mstovall, I read Kite Runner. This is one of the most powerful books I've read in a long time. If you've got Splendour in the Sun, do you want to lend it to me? *smile* |
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