Sweeter Than All The World
“A creative exploration of the interrelationships between personal identity, religious faith and historical particularity…. Wiebe is…successful in crafting a range of haunting and evocative images.”–Mennonite Brethren Herald“A beautiful, moving book….there is some absolutely lovely stuff here….The descriptions…are marvellous….the book achieves a wonderful cinematic clarity…”–Mark Sinnett,The Globe and Mail, Saturday, October 27, 2001“With the audacious confidence of a mature writer, [Wiebe] breathes life into a series of Mennonite characters, who tell their stories from beyond the grave, in the first person and in present tense.”–Maclean’s“This is a profoundly serious book. It is a many-voiced testimonial, a discrete series of monologues, and it functions by accumulation, one horrific tale after another, augmenting into a chorus of witnesses….Sweeter Than All the Worldis a construct of iron tongs and stone, a testimony to what Italo Calvino called … “the virtues of weight.”… [T]his novel deserves respect. It is an important work; a fictional compilation of voices from Mennonite history, and a resonant portrait of a contemporary man inflicted with a chronic (and, it would seem, inherited) sense of brokenness.”–Margaret Sweatman,Ottawa Citizen“His great strength lies in meticulous research, passion for his subjects, and a powerful narrative sweep….Fascinating.”–Quill and Quire“Intellectually and psychologically challenging….a difficult exercise is ultimately rewarding….–Calgary Herald“A panoramic examination of Mennonite history through the story of one particular family.”–Saskatoon StarPhoenix“Wiebe is a writer who does his homework…There is much of interest here, unusual and pertinent points of history, and they are vividly revisited…. the book rises to poetic heights as Wiebe’s unerring sense of place allows it to soar…”–London Free Press“There are breathtaking scenes infused with poignant beauty…”–Times-Colonist(Victoria)“Rudy Wiebe has written his epic….richly satisfying and worth reading and pondering again and again.”–Kitchener-Waterloo Record“Wiebe succeeds in making [history] dramatic, intriguing, romantic and tragic.”–Calgary HeraldPraise forA Discovery of Strangers:“A work of extraordinary originality and beauty.”–The Globe and Mail“A pleasure of the first order — the pleasure of true art.”—Edmonton JournalPraise forStolen Life:“So rich...I couldn’t put it down.”–Ann-Marie MacDonald“The most powerful book I’ve ever read.... Insightful, poetic, gripping.”—The Hamilton Spectator