Robert ElmerRezensionen

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First sentence: Scripture tells us in Luke 11:1 that the original twelve disciples asked Jesus how to pray. It was a good question then, and one worth asking again today.

Fount of Heaven is a collection of prayers from the early church fathers; these prayers come from the first few centuries of the church.

I believe they are arranged somewhat topically. Though to be fair I had a hard time decoding the topics and themes. In part, I think there IS a definite gap. The writings feel foreign which can be explained for at least two reasons: the authors were born thousands of years ago AND there are big cultural shifts. It isn't a bad thing to get snapshots from the past. Especially if you want to take the time to really settle in and engage with the writing. This requires perhaps getting out of your comfort zone and putting in the effort to find meaning, to go beyond the surface level.

I was hoping this one would read more like Valley of Vision, a collection of Puritan prayers. It didn't. That's not the author's fault.

The author I found myself 'liking' most was Augustine. I think for me personally I might have been better off seeking something that was just focused on Augustine. I'm sure such books exist!

I also think this one probably wasn't meant to be read cover to cover in a week. Again, I think if you were to have this book in hand and spend weeks, months, or even an entire year with it, you might find it valuable.

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First sentence: What does it take to pray like a Puritan? And why would we want to?

Robert Elmer has collected 'prayers' from the works of over thirty Puritans for his prayer book, Piercing Heaven. These prayers seem to be arranged mostly topically. There are titled chapter headings: "Teach Me to Pray," "Help Me Ask for Help!," "Help Me Through My Doubts," "Help Me Through My Time of Sadness and Suffering," "Help Me Endure Temptation," "Help Me Rest in God's Love," "I Believe--Help My Unbelief!," "Prepare My Heart for the Lord's Day and the Lord's Table," "Take My Life and Let It Be Consecrated," "Help Me Give the Gospel to Others," "Forgive My Sins," "Help Me Praise and Thank the Lord," "Help Me Begin the Day," "Help Me Live the Day," "Help Me Close the Day," "Your Kingdom Come." Prayers vary from a few sentences--one paragraph--to a full page(s)--many, many paragraphs. Each prayer is attributed to a specific Puritan. (Brief biographies are included for all authors. And there's an index for each author.)

Perhaps you are seeking out Piercing Heaven because you love, love, love, love Valley of Vision. Confession, that is why I checked this one out from the library. I really crazy love and adore that poetry collection. So how do the two compare???

The [only] weakness of Valley of Vision is that it lacks all attribution of authors. Readers almost have to take it on faith that the author/editor Arthur Bennett is using the actual words of actual Puritans. Readers don't know how many Puritans are represented within Valley of Vision. Readers don't know how crafted/manipulated the original texts were to get them into poetic form. Readers certainly don't know which Puritan wrote which poem. Everything about Valley of Vision is a complete mystery.

As I mentioned above, every author is attributed in Piercing Heaven. There are even author biographies and an author index.

But is that enough to make it better than Valley of Vision?????

I found Piercing Heaven to be a bit of a busy layout, a bit cluttered. Perhaps I am just too set in my ways. But the white space of Valley of Vision is super-helpful. It blocks out distractions. It aids meditation and prayer.

While Piercing Heaven may be a true(r) representation of the Puritans' actual words/works, the Valley of Vision is a thing of BEAUTY in terms of language and literary style.

Now, to be completely fair: I did not read Piercing Heaven the way it was intended. The fact that it was a library book with a definite due date didn't help matters. But also I was more curious than prayerful. I wanted to read it cover-to-cover in a week. I didn't have time (or opportunity) to use it as a topical prayer book...or even a legitimate prayer book. For those that do pray individual prayers--over weeks, months, years--that use this book as a devotional/spiritual aid, I'm sure it would prove more beneficial.

I was reading with one thing in mind: do I love it enough to buy myself a copy of this to have on hand????? And the answer was, I can probably make do with the Valley of Vision for my Puritan needs.½

Arranged by subject, indexed by author, this book contains prayers by 34 early church fathers, theologians, and Christians from the first 500 years of church history. It also includes a brief biography of each author with a list of sources quoted. Working from 19th century English translations, the editor has abridged and updated the language for clarity.

Elmer’s work suffers from several historical anachronisms. He is old enough that this is just carelessness, not ignorance. In wartime 1940s, household telephones would not have been common. And children did not use backpacks for school until much later; they used satchels or just belt straps.
The main character, Peter, seems incurious; odd for any healthy child.
There are a couple more silly details in the story. After the roundup has started, and the Jewish neighbors are gathered at the Andersen apartment, several spend the day looking out the windows. Uh, NO.
Other than the 11 year old twins carting a wooden boat silently out the door and down a steep ramp in the night... well, the rest of the story is fine.
Except why didn’t they send the pigeon back right away with news they reached Sweden?

I must take back the criticism of the phones. See:
https://www.history.com/news/wwii-danish-jews-survival-holocaust

The fighting between Jews and Arabs in the chaotic times leading up to the British withdrawal from Palestine in 1948 brings hardship and danger to both Dov, the young Jewish refugee from Poland, and Emily, the daughter of a British officer.

Given the nature of the historical events in this novel, it’s almost a given that the story would be gripping and dramatic. The author doesn't fail to deliver in this very engaging look at Denmark during WWII and the rescue of its Jews. The action doesn't wait to happen; the story opens on a showdown between Resistance and Germans, with poor Steffen caught in the crossfire. From that introduction, the story just keeps picking up steam with intense dashes across the sea to Sweden for Denmark’s Jews, heartbreak when those rescues fail, and the discovery of one’s self in a country controlled by tyranny. I thoroughly enjoyed how the author was able to keep the suspense up throughout the entire work.

Steffen and Hanne were fantastic characters. Filled with depth and character, I felt like they were very real and changed with the events as they happened. Steffen found his brand of resistance within religion and preaching out against the Germans. Hanne stayed to help with the rescue efforts and as a result became caught up in the danger herself. The changes in her spirit as the relentlessness of the Holocaust bore down on her was heart-breaking to read at times.

I enjoyed how the author handled their relationship. I was wondering how that would all work out, he being a Lutheran preacher and she a Jew, if not a very observant one. But it was handled with skill and a delicacy I enjoyed. I didn't feel like Steffen was ever forcing religion onto Hanne nor conversion, which is a trap I could see an author falling into very easily. The Christian elements were very much there, between philosophical discussions and inner reflections. Yet, they didn't interfere with this very beautiful relationship that developed between Hanne and Steffen. I liked how they found a reason to fight on and inspire each other.

There were some issues with minor characters. I felt that, at times, they were flat stereotypes or inconsistent characterizations that plagued the overall story tone. Henning flip-flopped between berating his brother for not doing enough and then he gets all pissy when Steffen actually does start resisting in his way. I can see where maybe he’s concerned for his brother and just doesn't know how to channel that. Yet, always doing this? Never coming to grips with Steffen’s activities? Then, there’s Aron, the stereotypical schmuck of a fiance-type figure who believes everyone should do what he says and doesn't feel the slightest bit of guilt in sacrificing everyone else for his safety. More than once I wished he’d fallen into the Baltic and drowned…

For a Christian fiction that handles a delicate subject matter like the Holocaust, I felt this novel does a admirable job. It’s a dramatic story with two main characters I grew to love and admire. Their relationship was beautiful to watch develop and mature. The Christian themes were handled with taste and didn't overshadow the story itself. And while there were issues with some of the secondary characters, I feel I could definitely recommend this novel to lovers of WWII-themes historical fiction. It’s truly a good book.

Maybe I couldn't get more than five chapters into this book because I've been recently spoiled by the beauty of "The Trees" (by Conrad Richter), but no matter what the reason, I ditched this book quickly. It was nothing but tripe, clichéd, unoriginal, vapid, hackneyed, banal, formula romance, with a plot that I could see a mile from the first mention of how the Jewish nurse noticed the nice teeth of her Christian patient.

Maybe it gets a little better, but life is too short to find out...

Life Behind the Wall is a collection of three novella-length stories for the YA crowd. Each is set in part of Berlin in a different time period between 1948 and 1989.

Book One, Candy Bomber, begins in the summer of 1948. Erich Becker, a 13-year-old Berlin resident, hates the Americans whose bombs wrecked his city and killed his father. He regularly prowls Berlin’s Tempelhof Airport, sneaking into U.S. cargo planes in search of food for his hungry mother and grandmother. He meets U.S. soldier DeWitt who is a journalist, befriends Erich, and writes a story about the hungry children of Berlin. He comes around to Erich’s house with bags of treats like canned peaches and takes Erich and his cousin Katarina up in his plane to do some candy drops over Berlin neighborhoods.

Soon it becomes clear that DeWitt’s interest is in more than Erich. He wants to marry Erich’s mother and move the family to the States. Will Erich be able to forgive the Americans for what he holds against them?

Book Two, Beetle Bunker, begins in 1961. Its main character, 13-year-old Sabine, is a polio survivor who hobbles around on crutches. She lives with her mother, grandmother (Oma Poldi Becker), older brother Erich (from book one), Onkel Heinz and Tante Gertrud in Oma’s crowded flat in East Berlin.

In this book we see the Berlin wall erected and are part of a daring tunneling attempt to escape from the East to West sectors of the city.

Book Three, Smuggler’s Treasure, begins in 1989. Liesl, the 13-year-old daughter of Sabine and Willi (from book two), lives in West Berlin. She tries to act cool the day she and mother are stopped at the checkpoint and thoroughly questioned on their way to visit Uncle Erich who still lives in the Communist side of the city. Mother and Uncle Erich are most upset when they find she has stuffed her stockings and clothes with slim Bibles. She gets into more trouble when she digs into the family history while researching for a school project and still more when she joins some older kids in a protest at the wall.

This part of the story sees the Berlin Wall come down and also reveals the mysteries surrounding Sabine’s father (Liesl’s grandfather).

These stories offer a great experience of another time in history. They show firsthand the poverty, bravery, resilience, and resourcefulness of the people of East and West Berlin during the Cold War era. They are also an example of how the divided city affected families.

The setting seems realistic with its atmosphere of suspicion and secrecy. Characters must be careful not to be seen with the wrong people or overheard saying the wrong things because they don’t know who to trust and who might be snitching on them to the authorities. Chapter numbers in German and lots of other German words and expressions sprinkled throughout also give a feeling of authenticity to these stories.

None of the main character kids in these books are content to sit around. The stories are fast-paced and filled with adventure and danger. The age of each of the heroes (13) tells us that these books will appeal to tweens and early teens.

The end of Book One has a “How It Really Happened” section that explains which events in that story actually happened. All the books conclude with a set of Questions for Further Study designed to deepen and broaden the reading experience for individuals or groups.

As well as giving YA readers three interesting and fun stories, this book would be excellent supplementary reading for home schoolers and Christian school classes doing a study of the Cold War period (all three books are written from a Christian point-of-view).

I received Life Behind The Wall as a gift from the publisher (Zondervan-Zonderkidz) for the purpose of writing a review.

I hated this book! I had to force myself to read every page. If I didn't feel committed to this MS book study, I would have quit it about 10% into the book. I decided to try to figure out what it was that I didn't like. Here's what I cam up with:

I believe most of what he says. But the words in this book came across as shallow, preachy, incongruent. They felt like nails on a chalk board. Could he really be that obnoxious?? I'm wondering if the problem is because this book is a rewriting... a modern, dumbed down version of the book. In the original language or at least in an early translation, it is possible that his words would have come across as loving and helpful. Here, however, they just pissed me off.

Ok story. Definitely worth the extra time I stayed up reading it the last two nights. This makes me want to read about the Danish Resistance during WWII.

The first in a series set in Australia I spotted this as a free e-book and as it was a kid’s adventure set in Australia I grabbed it. Patrick’s father John was framed by the Editor of the Newspaper where John worked as a reporter; and the chief of Dublin police was in on it too. Patrick and his young brother witness the framing but no-one will listen so John is convicted and sent to Australia.

The family then follows John on another ship only for Patrick to jump overboard off the Australian coast to save a ship-hand and watch the ship sail off. Patrick and his new travelling companion fall into one adventure after another, fighting sharks off, battling hunger, falling down a sink hole and saving Patrick’s family (who believe Patrick dead) from the nasty Editor who has followed them to Australia.

ESCAPE TO MURRAY RIVER ends on a cliff hanger and with lots of loose ends to lead the reader into the rest of the series. The short novel is filled with suspense and plot twists and readers will learn the early history of Australia in an easy to read and balanced manner. There is a Christian message – Patrick does quite a bit of praying – but it doesn’t intrude into the story.

Free Kindle download.½

Free on Kindle. Spoilers. It was OK. I worry that she was supposed to be seeing the wonders of Jesus at a few points. Probably the book was soft and romantic. But I liked the characters and the story was interesting.

'Wildflowers of Terezin' by Robert Elmer was a great surprise. I say that because it was a free e-book. Now I feel a little bit guilty that I didn't have to buy it! I hope that Robert Elmer writes more adult historical fiction in the future.

Even though this book is fiction, Robert Elmer writes that the places are real and many of the situations like the Danish Underground like using an ambulance to rescue Jewish citizens were real. I picked this book out to read because I love to read about the underground groups during wars. Books like this always encourage me to think that even when the situation is abominable, you can still do something to help. This book is set during WWII and in Denmark and a concentration camp in Czechoslovakia.

Pastor Steffen Arne Petersen goes about his own business at the beginning of the story while his brother is actively involved in the Danish underground. But something changes him, he makes a visit to the local hospital to see a parishioner and he is captivated by a Jewish nurse. The news gets out that there were be a round up by Jews on a day that they will be home because it is a Jewish holiday. Pastor Steffen gets involved in sneaking them away and spreading the news.

Nurse Hanne Abramsen is the Jewish nurse, she always thinks of her family and her patients first but she starts to feel affection for the Lutheran pastor. She insists that she is safe from the roundup because she works for the hospital but eventually falls into the hands of the Nazis. There are several scary meetings for both the nurse and the pastor with the Nazis.

This book is a little predictable but I confess that I liked that because I loved the two main characters so much! I was completely on their side. I have left out a lot of memorable characters but I am hoping that you will read this book.

The bonus in this book is picking up a few words of Danish.

I really enjoyed reading this book and learning about the Danish underground and recommend it for all who like to read World War II historical fiction.

It was an enjoyable read. The first half was riveting but the second became predictable and spend by quickly. That being said, you get the ending you want, so it did make it worthwhile

very Christian fic, but not fundamental so it was ok...

This book is awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i reccomend it completely!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is about twins (a girl and a boy) they live in denmark ... read the rest for yourself!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Too predictable and really slow. The religious theme was way overdone.

In 1948 Berlin, Germany, while trying to survive the Russian blockade of the city and also grieving for his father and sister who were killed in the war, thirteen-year-old Erich is befriended by a United States airman.½

Plot Summary: What happens, When & Where, Central Characters, Major Conflicts
Joan has temporarily moved to Van Doren, Washington while on sabbatical from the college where she is a music professor. While there she attempts to fit into the tightly knit Dutch reformed committee and teached piano lessons. She has one student who seems hopeless--but that student's grandfather Gerrit shows a surprising talent. Will she be able to coax him into taking lessons? Does he have his eye on more than using music? And will Joan be able to cope with her family problems as well as Gerrit's bad heart and struggle to keep the family farm?


Style Characterisics: Pacing, clarity, structure, narrative devices, etc.
A sweet romance focusing on interpersonal relationships. The characters are real, though an inordinate number of crisises occur to add drama. Joan's faith struggles add a deeper touch, and the scenes where both she and Gerritt learn a lot from each others churches make a good point. And it's always nice to have a romance featuring an older couple without glamour and heartstopping looks.


How Good is it?
A sweet, mellow romance, without the emphasis on superficial appearances.½