Worth reading to learn the struggles before the glory

This book is about important people doing important work, so it is worth persevering through. The author repeats herself a lot - she is at her best telling the stories and struggles, and I focused on that ignoring her commentary. But the angles she chooses are unusual and new to me, I enjoyed the book.

From the conclusion chapter, this quote summarises the book well - it is about:

“messy, grueling, exhausting work. And like everyone in the midst of a personal crisis, these five people were at their most vulnerable. Because they were so vulnerable—hemmed in by doubt, fear, and, at times, hopelessness—they were also porous, pried open by the shock and awe of their respective situations. What was each to do in this perilous, fertile space? Somehow, these four men and one woman realized that the emotional penetrability they experienced and that caused them so much suffering was also a door into new insights about themselves and new ways of being in the world. Each decided to walk through this door, to use the subtle but powerful opportunity for personal growth contained in every crisis.” ( )

Bought this hoping to get a good summary of the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Got this, but somehow ended up disappointed that the author failed to show, to my satisfaction, how a devout theologian made the moral leap that justified plotting to kill another human being. ( )

Bought this hoping to get a good summary of the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Got this, but somehow ended up disappointed that the author failed to show, to my satisfaction, how a devout theologian made the moral leap that justified plotting to kill another human being. ( )