Mindsinger

Mr. Brouwer has given us an idea of what it is like to live in a police state. Rather like 1984 and Brave New World, the citizens of Appalachia are regimented, monitored and kept in total subjugation. Even when they realize that God and the Church of Bar Elohim are not synonymous and try to reach the Outside, they are relentlessly hunted and punished for their ‘heresy’.
We are given a chilling depiction of Appalachia and quickly come to the conclusion that it is just one more dictatorial state in a long line of such regimes. Even the fact that it masquerades as a religious community is not unique. We are reminded of the Spanish Inquisition and the fervent tirades of Hitler in support of a supreme Aryan race, decreed by God.
That this Appalachian nightmare is ‘chillingly near’ as the book jacket states is a matter of opinion. We can see in present day politics that the far, far right has lost the political clout it enjoyed for a few years. And, the thought of an entire nation or part of such could remain in power for as long as this one would appear unlikely. We have had Russia and China, under the impress of Communism, rule as such a state. But the Spirit of God, through the underground Church, acts like roots growing deep into the fissures of a rock, breaking it from within.
I would have liked to hear more about the Outside; more about its ethos and rules of morality. What brief glimpses we are given make us wonder if it is the exact opposite of Appalachia. That is, the rule of ‘every man a law unto himself’. I hope Mr. Brouwer writes a sequel to this work, set in the Outside, so we can better understand it.
Tomorrow I would like to discuss the child, Caitlyn, and her metamorphoses.
Thank you, Mr. Brouwer, for making us think.