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Exodus  By  cover art

Exodus

By: Deborah Feldman
Narrated by: Deborah Feldman
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Publisher's summary

In 2009, at the age of 23, Deborah Feldman packed up her young son and their few possessions and walked away from her insular Hasidic roots. She was determined to forge a better life for herself, away from the rampant oppression, abuse, and isolation of her Satmar upbringing in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Out of her experience came the incendiary, best-selling memoir Unorthodox, and now, just a few years later, Feldman has embarked on a triumphant journey of self-discovery - a journey in which she begins life anew as a single mother, an independent woman, and a religious refugee.

Taking her cues from favorite childhood books read in secret and the modern classics only recently introduced to her, Feldman explores the United States, from San Francisco to Chicago, New Orleans, and the Southwest. In her travels, and at home, Feldman redefines her sense of identity - no longer Orthodox, she comes to terms with her Jewishness by discovering a world of like-minded outcasts and misfits committed to self-acceptance and healing. Inwardly, Feldman has navigated remarkable experiences: raising her son in the “real” world, finding solace and solitude in a writing career, and searching for love.

Culminating in an unforgettable trip across Europe to retrace her grandmother’s life during the Holocaust, Exodus is a deeply moving exploration of the mysterious bonds that tie us to family and religion, the bonds we must sometimes break to find our true selves. Feldman proves herself again to be a captivating storyteller, and her singular life has been an inspiration to countless others and for listeners everywhere.

©2014 Deborah Feldman (P)2014 Penguin Audio

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What listeners say about Exodus

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

A Stream of Conscious Experience...

I waited to do both of my book reviews until I had completed listening to both Unorthodox and Exodus. I expected Exodus to have the same level of depth and Intrigue as Unorthodox and left feeling disappointed.

Providing a disjointed account of her travels while she sought to understand her grandmother's Holocaust experience and more about her own life, she shares random and iften disjointed stories about certain people, experiences with anti-Semitism and her life after leaving her community.

I loved Unorthodox...both the book and the series, but feel that this one will only be for die-hard fans who want to learn a little bit more. I expected much more depth and insight and felt that both were promised and so I left the book feeling underwhelmed.

That said, I highly recommend Unorthodox and this one only if you want more of her subsequent experience told in her own voice and don't mind the lack of introspection that it seems to promise and you are okay with following along a stream of conscious experience.

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14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Touching

When I finished listening to "Unorthodox", I thought I needed more of Debora Feldman's story. Then I realized that she had a second book and that she was the one reading it. One cannot miss her second book. I cried in so many paragraphs. Just love it.

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5 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Unoriginal writing. All over the place.

we really didint need to hear about every.single.guy that she came across and slept or didint sleep with, it got tedious and boring. Also she seems to be often shocked by things that don't require that kind of response.
p.s I am a woman, the account is under my husband's name.

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4 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Obnoxious

I loved Unorthodox, but this book Was obnoxious. The relationships she’s entered and her obsession with making every single tiny detail in her life about about being Jewish even though she made such a big deal of leaving her religion was just like, shuuuut up already. I couldn’t even finish it

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2 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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What a Drag

The story was pointless as a follow up to Unorthodox. I am still trying to figure why we needed to hear this story and why it could have been an extension to the previous book. I learnt nothing, just that the author seemed judgmental.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Exodus from Unorthodoc

Really enjoyed finding out what happened after Deborah left Berlin and how her life outside came together from within.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Not what I expected

I was expecting this book to be a continuation of the first, Unorthodox, describing her journey after leaving the Hasidic community. This book does, but it's more about Deborah's journey to understand her Jewish identity in the world. It doesn't follow a timeline, it jumps around in time to different events and topics. You don't hear about the hurdles of the divorce, custody issues or death threats from the community that she received after leaving. This is about her journey of identity. It's good but not what I expected and probably wouldn't have read it. Regarding performance-- it was good except for the foreign accents she mimicked at times.

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1 person found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Meh

I wanted to love this book, but I just can’t. I liked the stories within, the narration was good, but there wasn’t a cohesive line through. Maybe if it was more chronological it would have been better.

I think unorthodox was much better. I did enjoy learning more about her after she left Williamsburg and her Hasidic community.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great idea to read her own book

In the background is Debrahs’ love for her grandmother, who was lost to her. The book is not just about the author trying to find herself but also to “become” her grandma in her youth, to deeply identify with her sufferings . In so doing the author tells us about the Holocaust from one person’s view . We learn too about how Europe has processed their history.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Deborah’s exodus

Deborah’s description of the changes in her life after her departure from Hassidic Judaism is interesting to hear. I would have preferred a different narrator but the author still did a pretty good job.

It is tragic to have to choose between losing one’s family and losing oneself. In the end I believe she made the right choice.

I was disappointed that she did not share more about her relationship with her mom and son so I hope for a 3rd book.

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1 person found this helpful