Official Review: Voices and Groans and Shrieks and Wailings
Posted: 03 Sep 2015, 10:46
[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Voices and Groans and Shrieks and Wailings" by Jerome J Nadelhaft.]
4 out of 4 stars
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Voices and Groans and Shrieks and Wailings: The Incidence of Wife Torture and Wife Murder in 19th Century America (2015), by Jerome J. Nadelhaft, is a 57-page nonfiction book currently available only in the Kindle format. The author is an Emeritus Professor of History.
The title is a quote from Lyman Beecher, a 19th Century Presbyterian minister and co-founder of the American Temperance Society. This book focuses on incidents in America, but the author also occasionally looks at the behavior of men in other countries: e.g., in London, England, a husband knocking out his wife's eye was an everyday occurrence.
Nonfiction books can be every bit as fascinating as fiction, but they have a reputation for being quite dull. This book is not dull. The author has included numerous quotations from newspapers and other publications which include grisly details of torture and murder, so be aware of that if you plan to read this book.
What is the point of including so many gory details? Apparently, the original articles were written with the intent of shocking the public into demanding that something be done to stop wife abuse. The New York Times once tried a different approach, publishing a mock editorial in 1883 suggesting that these screaming women be jailed for creating such a racket. Indeed, one woman was in fact found guilty of disturbing the peace because she screamed while a man was beating her on the street.
The author has done an outstanding job researching the subject, and in addition to numerous interesting facts and incidents, he includes his analysis and commentary. There are two crucial issues regarding this subject matter: (1) Were these outrageous incidents commonplace, or were they rare, isolated occurrences sensationalized by the media? (2) Does the detailed disclosure of torture, etc., help to prevent more abuse? Fortunately, the author addresses both these questions; otherwise, the book would be of little value. The author also brings up the important point that many, perhaps most, incidents of wife abuse were unknown, and quotes an 1878 article: "A poor victim dies quietly of her injuries like a wounded animal ..." Furthermore, abuse also led to an unknown number of suicides.
The author concludes that "violence is the problem, wife abuse the detail," i.e., the root problem is the ubiquitous violence in our society. He notes sports and wars as prime examples, but fails to mention the routine and pervasive slaughtering of animals for food (often to satisfy gluttony rather than for sustenance) and fashionable attire.
The book's biggest weakness is that there are no chapters or table of contents; the book would clearly benefit by grouping the narrative into several chapters. However, this is only a minor problem for such a short book. The grammar is excellent, but there is a recurring typo that appears to be the result of a program bug, and might not appear on all computers.
Voices and Groans and Shrieks and Wailings has earned 4 out of 4 stars. Reading this book will probably turn your stomach. The details are gruesome and chilling, but we must not turn our heads away and ignore history that is repugnant. We need books such as this to preserve the details of our past. This is a first-rate book for anyone who wants a brutally honest account of wife abuse in the USA.
******
Voices and Groans and Shrieks and Wailings
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Like Kappy's review? Post a comment saying so!
4 out of 4 stars
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Voices and Groans and Shrieks and Wailings: The Incidence of Wife Torture and Wife Murder in 19th Century America (2015), by Jerome J. Nadelhaft, is a 57-page nonfiction book currently available only in the Kindle format. The author is an Emeritus Professor of History.
The title is a quote from Lyman Beecher, a 19th Century Presbyterian minister and co-founder of the American Temperance Society. This book focuses on incidents in America, but the author also occasionally looks at the behavior of men in other countries: e.g., in London, England, a husband knocking out his wife's eye was an everyday occurrence.
Nonfiction books can be every bit as fascinating as fiction, but they have a reputation for being quite dull. This book is not dull. The author has included numerous quotations from newspapers and other publications which include grisly details of torture and murder, so be aware of that if you plan to read this book.
What is the point of including so many gory details? Apparently, the original articles were written with the intent of shocking the public into demanding that something be done to stop wife abuse. The New York Times once tried a different approach, publishing a mock editorial in 1883 suggesting that these screaming women be jailed for creating such a racket. Indeed, one woman was in fact found guilty of disturbing the peace because she screamed while a man was beating her on the street.
The author has done an outstanding job researching the subject, and in addition to numerous interesting facts and incidents, he includes his analysis and commentary. There are two crucial issues regarding this subject matter: (1) Were these outrageous incidents commonplace, or were they rare, isolated occurrences sensationalized by the media? (2) Does the detailed disclosure of torture, etc., help to prevent more abuse? Fortunately, the author addresses both these questions; otherwise, the book would be of little value. The author also brings up the important point that many, perhaps most, incidents of wife abuse were unknown, and quotes an 1878 article: "A poor victim dies quietly of her injuries like a wounded animal ..." Furthermore, abuse also led to an unknown number of suicides.
The author concludes that "violence is the problem, wife abuse the detail," i.e., the root problem is the ubiquitous violence in our society. He notes sports and wars as prime examples, but fails to mention the routine and pervasive slaughtering of animals for food (often to satisfy gluttony rather than for sustenance) and fashionable attire.
The book's biggest weakness is that there are no chapters or table of contents; the book would clearly benefit by grouping the narrative into several chapters. However, this is only a minor problem for such a short book. The grammar is excellent, but there is a recurring typo that appears to be the result of a program bug, and might not appear on all computers.
Voices and Groans and Shrieks and Wailings has earned 4 out of 4 stars. Reading this book will probably turn your stomach. The details are gruesome and chilling, but we must not turn our heads away and ignore history that is repugnant. We need books such as this to preserve the details of our past. This is a first-rate book for anyone who wants a brutally honest account of wife abuse in the USA.
******
Voices and Groans and Shrieks and Wailings
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like Kappy's review? Post a comment saying so!
Good Lord. I'm just completely speechless. I seriously don't think that such details from history need to be preserved, although I suppose we're entitled to our opinions, and some people could find merit in this sort of thing. It sounds to me, however, like sensationalism and horror. This author is a professor of history, and this is what he took from the study of history? Wife beating?
