A really interesting book about a religious community with extreme ideas, especially about the role of women. If you think the Muslims are strict, just get a look at these folks, who are right here in the U.S.

The book was very interesting as I never knew anything about the Hasidic community. it was a good read.

The Hasidic community of New York is, by now, fairly commonplace. We see them as background characters in movies, sitcoms, even rock videos, but how much do we really know about this closed community. Enter Deborah Feldman, who grew up within the Hasidic community. From birth she seemed marked for difference. Her father was mentally ill, and her mother left the community because she was a lesbian. Deborah, who wants to read books and speak English, seems constrained by the life of a Hasidic girl and longs to be free. She thinks marriage will be her ticket to freedom, but she quickly realizes that it is just another cage. This memoir is a quick read, but it gives you a fascinating and insightful view of a woman's place in an ultra-orthodox religious community. The view here is no different than that of orthodox Christians, Muslims, Hindus, etc. Any group that uses religion to repress women has a culture very similar to this one. The names and actual practices may be different, but the core belief that women are inferior and need to be controlled lest they lead the men astray carries through. You should read this. Absolutely fascinating.

I could not put this book down. A very interesting look at the world which Deborah Feldman left and the world that she now lives in. I agree though that I would have liked to find out how her ex-husband reacted and whether he still sees his son.

Loved this book. I have always been somewhat fascinated by extreme religious cultures (including polygamy!). I find it so amazing that this goes on in our country in this day and age. This is the story of a young girl growing up in a Hasidic community in Brooklyn. It offers an inside view of what this lifestyle would be like. Fascinating read....

I found this memoir very interesting. I felt I got a glimpse into a community I have not really thought about before. It is well written and lets a reader enter into the Hasidic home and customs. I also would have liked to find out more at the end, but I guess the ending was not the primary target in this story. It was the road to the destination that was interesting. The book might have lost its spark once we would read about divorce, custody battle, new relationships, etc. I found it easy to read and interesting.

Why do we care about these Urban Amish?

Moves slowly at first, then towards the middle really grips you with its heavy emotional content. Well-written and insightful but like the others, i wanted more at the end.

"Unorthodox" chronicles Deborah Feldman's childhood and adolescence. Raised by her grandparents, members of the most insular Hasidic sect, the Satmars, Feldman becomes a bride at 17, a mother at 19 and a divorcee at 22, at which point she enrols in Sarah Lawrence University and cuts ties with the Satmar. Feldman provides a measured and thoughtful accounting of growing up Satmar and invokes the reader's pleasure through mutual discovery of new worlds. As Feldman discovers the forbidden pleasures of Narnia and Roald Dahl, we in turn discover her world: the traditional girls school, the isolated summer camp, and her education in the religious laws of modesty and purity that govern dress, menstruation, and sex. The author shares her intimate thoughts, struggling to reconcile her independent mind with the conformity that is expected of her. We hear her giggles, gripes, doubts, critiques, and challenges to the status quo, which she accomplishes without wholly skewering the people around her. Her accounting of her past is remarkably frank and compelling. The quality of Feldman’s writing is especially remarkable, given the fact that this is her first book, which she wrote in a non-native language. However, the final chapter disappoints as it lacks craft and makes too many proclamations with little substance. Ultimately, she leaves too many loose ends: how does she support herself and her young son? Does she maintain a relationship with her grandparents? Does she continue to practice Judaism? Perhaps a follow-up memoir will provide much needed closure.

The facts she shares about this religion/culture are so bizarre that I felt like a voyeur.