Books

Author: Sarah Vowell Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover Pages: 272

Follow up:

This is possibly the only non-fiction book about the puritan settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and Providence that references Spider-man.

It's the first book I have read by Sarah Vowell. It caught my interest after I saw her on The Daily Show. She is an essayist and humorist and frequently appears on public radio's This American Life. She also provided the voice of Violet (the teenage daughter) in the perfect film, Pixar's The Incredibles. This book, The Wordy Shipmates is an interesting and thoughtful look at the puritans, in particular two men, John Winthrop and Roger Williams. It's also a very casual or colloquial book. Vowell meanders her narrative, jumping from her own childhood vacations to historical locations like Plymouth colony to the letters of John Winthrop to the speeches of President Ronald Reagan.

I read the Kindle edition of this book, so I do not know if it is true for all editions or just a peculiarity of the Kindle version, but I found it surprising and sometimes a little disorientating that there were no chapter breaks. The narrative was uninterrupted, with no pauses or transitions. Add to that the meandering nature of her writing and I frequently found myself wondering what the point was or where it was going. The book did manage to keep my interest, though. It was a fairly quick read. I read it in two evenings (possibly because there was no chapter break to tell me to put the book down and go to sleep!)

The purpose, at the beginning of the book, appears to be to analyze how its puritan origins formed America as it exists, today. Vowell frames her argument around a phrase from a sermon by John Winthrop. That phrase, saying that the colony would "be as a city upon a hill," was a phrase that was later picked up and repeatedly used by President Ronald Reagan. He expanded it to be a "shining city upon a hill". This sermon, along with the amusing seal of the Massachusetts Bay Colony sets an interesting picture of those early colonists, especially in their dichotomy of considering themselves a "model of Christian charity" and their tendency to murder and abuse the indigenous peoples of New England.

Vowell paints a vivid portrait of the two leaders, mentioned above. New to me was the revelation that Roger Williams, one of the founders of Rhode Island, was a staunch believer in the separation of church and state. He was a theologian and true puritan, yet he foresaw the dangers of mixing church and state. I've heard more than one conservative radio host make the claim that the nation's founders did not believe in a separation of church and state. I knew that they were being dishonest as far as the deist founders such as Jefferson, Washington, and Franklin were concerned, but my general understanding of the puritan colonists was that they were so religion-obsessed that they'd pretty much been driven out of England and the Netherlands. Winthrop and William's letters, sermons, and other records do confirm that their faith controlled the structure of their lives, but they actually did have an appreciation for freedom of religion. Williams had the view that his religion was the correct one, but it wasn't their place to punish those that had other beliefs - God would take care of damning them to hell! Winthrop was more tied to the role of doctrine, but he also had a charitable side that kept him from harsh action.

The last section of the book focuses on some of the horrific abuse the puritans enacted on the natives, such as the Pequot. That section will change the way any reader thinks about the holiday of Thanksgiving.

Overall, I found the book an interesting and enjoyable read - I just wish it had had a bit more structure.