Customer Reviews

Transcending: Reflections of Crime Victims

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Can a book about crime victims be described as "beautiful?" In the case of Transcending, by Howard Zehr, the answer is a resounding yes. Transcending is a beautiful collection of personal essays and striking photography that explores the intimate feelings of victims of violent crime.

Dr. Zehr, an internationally known advocate of restorative justice, proves again with this book that he is a leader in this area. More than many of his colleagues, Zehr holds steadfast to his belief in the importance of victim's rights and needs. While his contemporaries are inclined to move quickly into the benefits of restorative justice for the offender, Zehr maintains a conviction that victims must always come first.

As I read Transcending, I could imagine Zehr demonstrating acute listening skills with the survivors he interviewed. I suspect he may have squirmed at times from what he heard; such as a resistance to forgiveness by some survivors, an act Zehr advocates as a peacemaker and a proponent of the Mennonite faith. By declining to edit out bad grammar and even strong expletives that may be difficult for some readers, Zehr has maintained the integrity of this project.

My only criticism of the book is that it doesn't include more victims of crimes other than murder. Victims of child abuse, rape, domestic violence, and drunk driving death an injury deserved equal voices.

Zehr is fond of quoting Vaclav Havel, who said, "Transcendence is the only alternative to extinction." Either one moves toward getting better or is slowly killed by the killer, too. The 39 survivors who share their stories here make the choice - sometimes after a long personal war in darkness - to press on and make something meaningful from their experiences. Because their brief stories, usually 3 or 4 pages in length, are direct quotes, the collection is powerful and honest. The integrity of the words, coupled with the artistry of Zehr's images, result in a sense of having the victims in the same room. As readers, we can almost feel their arms around us and hear their words of encouragement. They seem to be saying, "I think you can make it, too."

This book is essential reading- Zehr captures the symbolic journey through metaphor and ritual that victims of violent crime make in their recovery from inconceivable trauma and loss. Every human being needs to know they have the capacity to recover, and the victims stories documented in Zehr's book give testimony to the ability to recover and transform in the midst of that great pain. As an academic, I was moved by the amount of insight into the process of recovery that a reader can glean from the remarkable photographs and accompanying stories. As citizen of a country with a tremendous amount of violent crime, I felt empowered to learn how other women and men had learned to cope with the pain of domestic abuse, murder, and other horrible, life-changing crimes. Thank you Zehr for giving testimony to the human capacity for recovery.

bought this book online after reading a small review in the newspaper. within a day of receiving it i had read it and passed it along to a friend, who has passed it along to a friend, who has passed it along to a friend. doesn't help book sales, but certainly zehr's book is transforming lives. what a amazing and positive impact!

Yes, its a book of touching stories about survivors of crime. They are all lovely, moving and well-written. Except that almost none of them were actual victims themselves. The victims in most of these cases did NOT survive and it is their relatives that survived. Only the last section deals primarily with the direct survivors. As someone else mentioned in their review, murder is almost the only crime discussed. Also, statistically this book is awful. Black men are the victims of crime overwhelmingly. They there is EXACTLY one black person in each section, excluding the last section where there are 2. White women (especially older women) are overwhelmingly the LEAST likely to be the victims of violent crime, yet almost half the book deals with them. Granted, many of them lost sons or husbands, but they were WHITE sons and husbands. Additionally, this book reads like an ad against the death penalty as each person tells about how, in their struggle to find peace, they forgave their (insert relative here)'s killer and decided (or rediscovered) that they were again the death penalty. Only one is in favor after his tragedy. I would bet money that THAT is statistically wrong too. Also, unless you are prepared to deal with a LOT of preaching, probably not the book for you.