Plain Secrets: An Outsider Among the Amish

As someone who grew up Swartzentruber Amish in the same community as the "Shetler" family I consider this to be one of the best books on the Amish I've ever come across. It accurately tells the real story without being offensive. My only problem with reading it was knowing how private the Amish are I felt like I was eavesdroping! If you are looking for an accurate account of life inside the Swartzentruber Amish community this book is a must read.

I stumbled upon this book when looking for a book on the Amish after finishing a number of Beverly Lewis books. Being from Ohio, and having graduated from Ashland University, this book was one that explaind a lot of my questions, having seen Amish in the community when I was in college. Joe Mackell is or was a professor at Ashland. (way after I was there!) A very easy read memoir, this book complimented the fiction that I had been reading. I also appreciated learning about Ohio Amish in a contemporary light.

In this window into the day to day life of members of a strict Amish sect, Joe Mackall delivers a clear and reflective portrait of a people living fully in accordance with their beliefs. As Mackall opens and warms to the family he comes to know as intimately as any "English" can expect to know the Amish, we also are drawn into their circle of faith. But he does not exclude us from his doubts about the limitations of such a life. He talks with young people who have fled their Amish upbringing and we feel, with them, the anguish of their choice. In leaving to enter the larger world, they find themselves shunned by family and community, bereft of any support as they try to find work and support themselves with only an eighth grade education and no proof they are even U.S. citizens. For those who stay, the life is a hard one, full of intense peace and also staggering losses. Their families are large, but children often die due to inadequate health care, and also as a result of accidents involving the horse-drawn buggies they drive on dangerous roads. These conflicts of faith and practice abound, and Mackall gives patient regard to every facet of the choices these Amish make as well as the choices he, himself, makes in living life as each believes he should. In addition, the writing is nearly transparent. I'd thought to read a few pages every night before bed, but found myself finishing the book in less than a week, grateful for Mackall's insight.

With finely honed prose as honest and deep as the people portrayed here, the author opens a window into a world we couldn't otherwise experience. I loved learning about the most conservative Amish, but I took even greater pleasure in getting to know this one Amish family. The author is careful in avoiding sterotypes and generalizations. Instead, he paints a world for the reader, using language that allows us to sense and feel the wonder for ourselves. It's by far the best Amish book out there, and the best book of any kind I've read in a long time.

Am so glad the author has written this book, because I have had Amish friends, both old order and modern, since 1990 and have learned so much from them as well as how so many outsiders (English) do indeed either romanticize about the way they live or sadly mock and make fun of them. I have a number of books on plain living that involve Amish, Quaker, Mennonite ways. And am glad to see this book from someone who is writing about a great friendship with one person and his family. And am so glad to see (unlike other books on the Amish) the author go out of his way to remind the reader that what he is writing about is his personal experience with one small group or member of one sect of the Amish. It has also allowed me on my quest to live a more simple life to see that less can be more and that much of what modern society says is a must, actually makes for more work. Like carpeting which gets dirtier and is harder to clean than a wood floor that can be swept and damp mopped. Or wallpaper that gets stained over the years and goes out of date, and thus is not a real need. If nothing else this wonderful book Plain Sects: An Outsider Among The Amish may well educate others about what really matters in life. As well as allow the reader to see that a work ethic that actually involves hard work can be good for the mind body and spirit. People can also learn how a community takes care of its own, and what true forgiveness is. Something that I think even the author who admits to not fully understanding the rigid rules some Amish have, may miss, especially when it comes to church rules that are enforced even to the point of shunning or excommunication members (which is rare), is that even amongst traditional English religions like Catholicism, and the Baptists etc, excommunication for not following church rules used to be the norm. And for reasons that many outsiders never fully understood. Its just that unlike the Amish and a few other conservative English sects, the denominations have become more cafeteria or pick and choose what you wish to follow when it comes to denominational rules.