Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A fascinating account of life with the "son of the Messiah.", September 4, 1998
By A Customer
Nansook Hong's is a compelling account of her life as the longsuffering wife of Hyo Jin Moon, Reverend Sun Myung Moon's eldest son. The book is a must read for anyone who is interested in the psychology of religion, or in the plight of batterred women. Don't be put off by negative reviews from members of Reverend Moon's Unification Church. As a former Unificationist myself, I especially recommend this book to anyone who is connected with the Unification movement in any way. Those of us who have witnessed the violent outbursts of certain members of the Moon family firsthand will have no trouble in recognizing the truth of Nansook's account. The Unification Church is not an entirely evil organization, but it has more than its share of problems, and it has been sweeping them under the carpet for far too long. I hope that Nansook's book will open the members' eyes and help bring about much-needed changes. Nansook has been greatly wronged by Reverend Moon and his movement. I hope that they will be big enough to concede as much. I was sickened by the hostile campaign launched against Nansook by the church following her departure, but I understand that this ill-advised campaign had apparently not been approved by Reverend Moon himself. I like to think that Reverend Moon is a sincere man, even if his theology is unsound. I congratulate Nansook on her escape and on her willingness to tell the truth, and I wish her well in her new life.
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40 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Rev. Moon: A Life in Diametric Opposition to His Teachings, July 14, 1999
By A Customer
Nansook Hong's insider account of life under the same roof as Sun Myung Moon and his wife and children reveals the magnitude of the fraud perpetrated by Moon, who teaches his followers to remain totally abstinent until they are married by him. Even after marriage they must often endure additional waiting periods, undergo a bizarre sexual ritual (the "3-Day Ceremony") and put up with lengthy separations from their spouses, all at the express commandment of Sun Myung Moon. They regard these deprivations as virtuous and a necessary part of building the Kingdom of Heaven. But, as Nansook Hong reveals in this devastating tell-all account, Sun Myung Moon does not live up to his own teachings. He has frequent affairs, which he rationalizes as "providential", that is, mandated by God. He tolerates the same behavior in his children and merely seeks to conceal it from public knowledge. He forbids his followers from using drugs, yet turns a blind eye to his own children's drug abuse. He frequently visits gambling casinos in Las Vegas and claims that somehow by doing so he is spiritually elevating the other gamblers. Nansook Hong's brave book tears away the facade and reveals the rot at the core.
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25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Candid, moving and heart wrenching, September 28, 1998
By A Customer
Born and raised in the Unification Church, those of us whom have left to seek a higher level of existance can relate to the trauma of leaving a religious cult. Those on the outside can finally begin to understand the ties that bind in such misuses of faith. Ms. Hong's account is both believable and horrifying, in that she accurately relates events of her fourteen years of dedication to a monster of an abusive husband and father and mother-in law, and bares her soul to all in a noble effort to dispell the mask this family hides behind. Some may view her as a greedy, vengeful woman, looking for some means to get back at the Moons for their terrible abuse, but as an insider, I say bravo for her courage, something so many ex-members have not been able to muster. I only hope that this will be the beginning of a passage out of darkness for so many members of the Unification Church, who, in their blind faith to the Moon family, have lost so much of themselves along the way. For all those who have been wavering on the fringes of the church, too afraid to leave, but too confused to stay, may this be the push they need to find help and break away. Ms. Hong has an important message for anyone who yearns to understand more about this opulent family, claiming to be the messiah. She is neither vindictive, nor greedy. Ms. Hong tells the TRUTH behind all this betrayal, something the members THOUGHT they had found all along.
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