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There are currently 22 member reviews
for The Tenth Song
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Jerry P. (Santa Rosa, CA)
The Tenth Song
I liked the book by Naomi Ragen and do recommend it despite its pat ending.
The "idyllic" life of a wealthy upstanding Jewish family in Boston is suddenly shattered by a startling event. To add to their legal and financial misfortunes, many people within their Jewish community began treating the family members as outcasts.
The daughter Kayla who is a third-year student at Harvard Law, is upset by her fiancee's demand to delay their upcoming wedding. She's also getting strange looks by her classmates and professors. She leaves school and travels to Israel. She coincidentally ends-up at a spiritual community near the Dead Sea practicing Jewish mysticism. Many of the people there have temporarily "dropped-out" of conventional society for various reasons. They are engaging in a spiritual search with the help of their wise teacher.
Kayla begins realizing what's really important in her life from the spiritual teachings and her self- healing process and becomes a more self-directed person. Her changes are eventually accepted by her reluctant mother and father.
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Nancy L. (Denver, NC)
The Tenth Song
This book began as if it were going to be an indictment of what American has become as a result of the Patriot Act, and it could have been. An innocent man, taken in by the FBI, losing all his "friends" (including his rabbi), smeared in the media and finally expected to plead guilty of a crime for which he had been set up.
Instead, it morphed into a Danielle Steel story about his daughter running away to Israel and meeting a man who just happened to be able to prove her father was innocent all along - not once, but twice. Gosh, what a coincidence!
It was a good read - but unbelievable.
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Jane D. (Boulder, CO)
The roller coaster coasts to an end.
I loved most of the book. It even made me examine my own life and choices. I liked the aspects of Jewish culture and the suspense. When the action shifted to Israel, however, I lost the sense of the individual characters; the group acting and thinking as a single being seemed unrealistic. The ending seemed rushed with everything being tied up into a nice little package. Such horrible events rarely have such perfect endings. The ending disappointed me.
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Debra V. (Kenosha, WI)
The Tenth Song
Well written, inspiring read about life-changing events for a wealthy, ambitious Jewish family. Very spiritual.
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Lauren T. (Orlando, FL)
The Tenth Song by Naomi Ragen
At the beginning of "The Tenth Song" I thought it was just going to be another formulaic story about an upper middle class Jewish family and their relationships in today's changing world. That is what this book is to some degree, but it is also much more. Here you will find unexpected choices and reactions along with an unusual but satisfying ending. As usual, Naomi Ragen's books are well worth the read.
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Laura L. (Providence, RI)
The tenth song
This book addresses some fundamental issues such as life style choices, belief systems, and community. I, as a practicing Jew, found many parts of the book engaging. I liked the issues it brought up, including materialism and making meaning out of your life. The story is easy to read but there is not a lot of depth in the characters. I am not sure how this book would read to someone who was not knowledgeable about observant Judaism. There are many concepts that it assumes one knows about and it appears written for an observant audience.
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Cecilia Z. (Montclair, New Jersey)
Ends a little too neatly
Good book, interesting plot, well-written, but with an ending that is a little too pat. The book is about the impact that a very public scandal has on the members of a successful family. This is a great premise. It sets the stage for the characters to reflect on what brought them to this point in their lives and re-examine what is most important to them. The questions about religion and faith are especially compelling.
In the end, however, things are wrapped up a little too neatly, making the strong parts of the book - the characters' self-reflection - unconvincing. But it is a good read, well-written, with an interesting plot. It was also thought-provoking, especially the parts that deal with the community's response to the scandal.
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