Customer Reviews

Quaker Witness

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I was quite surprised to learn from the biography at the end of "Quaker Witness" that author Irene Allen "is a Harvard- and Princeton-educated geologist" -- what I had found most disappointing about QW was the depiction of a fictionalized Harvard paleontology department, having spent much of my life in or associated with scientific academia, and in predominantly male departments (math, computer science, physics, astronomy, relevant because of the sexual harassment theme). The tone just somehow didn't ring true, more reminiscent perhaps of several decades ago than the early 90's when this was supposed to take place.

I have read others of Allen's series about Elizabeth Elliot -- an elderly woman living in Cambridge on the edge of Harvard, member and Clerk of the local Friends (Quaker) Meeting -- and found them rather enjoyable because of the Quaker background, the local Cambridge color, and Elliot's personal life. The somewhat stilted writing had seemed appropriate to my assumptions of the deliberate pace of Quaker life and views. But when this same tone is applied to the world of academic infighting and striving, it makes me reevaluate my confidence in her portrayal of things Quaker.

A list of just a few things that struck me as "off", compared to my own experience and observation: It seems odd that a graduate student would still be living in a dormitory after, presumably, several years at a school, as heroine Janet Stevens is; it requires *some* sort of explanation. Allen writes "the word 'prayer' ... seemed inappropriate from a science student [Janet], educated to secularism." I don't know any scientist who would say or believe this, much less a grad student with interior urges to religion. Many scientists have deep and sincere religious beliefs, and while it would be considered inappropriate to start a lecture with, say, "Jesus brought me here today to present this equation he inspired", most consider faith or lack of faith irrelevant to the value of the science produced: it's not important whether God or simply chance guided your hand to that fossil, but what the fossil says about life. (The above quote also seems inconsistent with another student's devoted Catholicism.) The cutthroat competition Allen portrays, even paranoid secrecy, among grad students is very foreign. Students are constantly bouncing ideas off each other, collaborating, helping each other out. Also, though students and non-tenured faculty do put in long hours, as Allen describes, that is as much through fascination with their work, deadlines, and sometimes the need to keep an experiment or observation going for an extended period without funds to hire more assistance, as it is desperation for advancement. The crucial piece of apparatus, the "oxygen line" which released the poisonous gas used to murder the evil professor, is described several times. While probably technically correct (though incomplete: where does the carbon come from which combines with the released oxygen?) I find it bizarre that a scientist would not also bend the ear of the unwary visitor with extensive description of *why* they were extracting the oxygen from ancient fossils (presumably to measure isotope ratios which would tell about the climate). While I'm sure there were a decade ago, and still are, departments with the resolutely anti-female attitudes of Allen's Harvard paleontology, this has hardly been SOP for decades. Incidents, nowhere near as pervasive, I heard of in the 60's and 70's were regarded as shocking, or at least tasteless, anomalies. Contrary to the near uniform shunning by fellow students that Janet suffered, in real life the woman in a largely male department is eagerly sought out, and has been for decades.

Nonetheless, this is still an engaging book, and the mystery aspect is quite well thought out.

After reading "Quaker Silence" I looked forward to Irene Allen's second book, "Quaker Witness". In this entry in the series, Quaker Elizabeth Elliot becomes involved with Janet, a young graduate student at Harvard who is pressing charges against a professor who has been sexually harassing her. When the professor is found murderered, Janet becomes the chief suspect and Elizabeth, who believes in Janet's innocence, launches her own investigation.

This book has some flaws which make it less effective than "Quaker Silence". There are a couple of subplots in the story, which feature an ex-convict who comes to live with Elizabeth, and a disagreement about putting in a wheelchair ramp at the Quaker Meeting House where Elizabeth is the Clerk. These are handled clumsily and don't really fit well with the rest of the story. Also, the character of Janet is not very sympathetic as she expresses herself very sharply and sometimes sprinkles her conversations with profanity. These character flaws do not endear her to the reader, who is supposed to sympathize with her plight. The best aspect of this book is Elizabeth herself, whose inner thoughts are shared with the reader and who exhibits great strength of character and true devotion to God.

This was fun read, a little too cluttered in places, but the character of Elizabeth Elliot is utterly charming and fascinating, which made the book worth reading. I'll be seeking out more of this series, just for the fun of reading about Elliot.

Had never heard of this series before, but ended up getting the book as a freebie, so I thought I'd read it. I started in, enjoyed the first several chapters before it began to lose its luster. Three separate times, I put it down, wondering if it was worth continuing -- I had no 'investment' in this book, after all.

But I kept on -- for one thing, the plot is interesting, as is the insight into academia, the petty nastiness, the gamesmanship, the toleration of less-than-worthy professors because no one "wants to take the time" to deal with a bad professor. I understand. Secondly, the characters are interesting if not quite believable. As holder of a doctorate myself, I can't quite see how "Janet", the harrassed PhD student, could have gotten this far in the world lacking a recognizable backbone. Like some of the other characters, I too wonder why she put up with it as long as she did. Then, too, the whole Quaker thing is interesting. I didn't realize there were still those who spoke with the soft "thee" speech pattern, or really addressed each other as "Friend". I admire the morality.

So what's wrong? The writing style. If you're looking for 242 pages of unrelieved declarative sentences, one after the other, then this is your book. If you don't mind having the characters constantly, endlessly, identified by their profession or religion, then go for it. I was nearly to the point of twitching when on and on, there were sentences reading, "The Quaker sat down...." or "The Clerk looked at her desk and wondered...." Excuse me, Irene Allen, but you gave your characters have actual names. Is there some Quaker doctrine about not using them? The gimmick of constantly referring to Elizabeth Elliott as "The Quaker" or "The Clerk" -- and Janet, as "The student" -- grew tiresome very quickly.

Bottom line: I finished it, none the worse for wear. I liked the plot, enjoyed the characters, wouldn't mind reading more about them, in other books. But if all of them are written in this stilted, off-putting style, I think I'll pass. "The Reader" has had enough, thank you.