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    Surprised by Oxford: A Memoir
    Surprised by Oxford: A Memoir
    Surprised by Oxford: A Memoir
    Audiobook12 hours

    Surprised by Oxford: A Memoir

    Written by Carolyn Weber

    Narrated by Nancy Peterson

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    Surprised by Oxford is the memoir of a skeptical agnostic who comes to a dynamic personal faith in God during graduate studies in literature at Oxford University.

    Carolyn Weber arrives at Oxford a feminist from a loving but broken family, suspicious of men and intellectually hostile to all things religious. As she grapples with her God-shaped void alongside the friends, classmates, and professors she meets, she tackles big questions in search of Truth, love, and a life that matters.

    From issues of fatherhood, feminism, doubt, doctrine, and love, Weber explores the intricacies of coming to faith with an aching honesty and insight echoing that of the poets and writers she studied. Rich with literary references, Surprised by Oxford is at once gritty and lyrical; both humorous and spiritually perceptive. This savvy, credible account of Christian conversion and its after-effects follows the Oxford liturgical calendar as it entertains, informs, and promises to engage even the most skeptical and unlikely listener.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateMar 19, 2019
    ISBN9781515919490
    Author

    Carolyn Weber

    Carolyn Weber holds her BA from the University of Western Ontario and her M.Phil and D.Phil degrees from Oxford University. She has been Associate Professor of Romantic Literature at Seattle University; she has also taught at Westmont College, University of San Francisco and Oxford University. Carolyn and her husband share the joy of parenting three spirited children in Santa Barbara, CA and London, Canada.  Find her online at www.pressingsave.com.

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    Reviews for Surprised by Oxford

    4.5/5

    112 ratings8 reviews

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    • 5/5
      This is a wonderfully written and beautiful story of how God woos us with His love and by His grace! Love the weaving of all of the literature with her life story too.
    • 5/5
      This book is very well written and beautifully narrated. Even though it's an autobiography, sometimes you think that you're in a novel. That's because of the author's background. The book's title is allusive to CS Lewis autobiography just because both of them became Christian in Oxford and, in my opinion it was very clever!
      Extra point to the narrator, made the audiobook even better!
    • 5/5
      One of the best written, content rich, spirit honouring and honest Christian memoir I have read in years ! The narration was excellent, thanks Nancy... thank you Caro for sharing so special a journey !
    • 5/5
      A wonderful memoir of the author's journey to faith while attending Oxford to obtain post-graduate degrees in literature. Beautifully told and engaging, the story weaves the thread of Ms. Weber's spiritual awakening into her Oxford experience. Also, the narration of the audio book is spot on.
    • 1/5
      She worships Mary, not Jesus. A masterpiece of literature, A Masterpiece of Heresy.

      "This virgin who gave me my "mojo", who gave me my God grove for which I had been built"
      " I looked at the statute of Mary, and she looked back. As I sat there, just the two of us, it occurred me: all for which she had labored ..."
      "For some reason, I felt more comfortable talking to Mary about this."
      "... until I bared all that had happened to my soul with Mary that night."
      "... Mary's chimed midnight [...] I stayed up all night in prayer, in awe, and in reverence.


      There is one guarantee for those who finish this book, you will never forget it. It is certainly not as captivating as Francine River's Voice in the Wind, but it stands out for its high art of writing. She is definitely a master in this area and her writing style is superb. It is more, in combination with an excellent reader of the audiobook, the first third of the book is excellent in many areas.

      But here it ends.

      I do not know why most problematic books which I have read, follow as similar pattern, initially tame and outmost diplomatic, rarely any questionable quotations or theology. Is it the publishers who assume that most people read only half of a book and therefore push the authors to tidy it up? Or is it Satan disguised as the Angel of Light, intriguing us and once we are on the hook, to drop all the unholy bombs? In this case the latter is probably true. The author is a false teacher and many elements of the book indicate that she is fully aware of her misleading.

      She felt at one point in the book the need to state that her searching is for a non-denominational church, but this is certainly a distraction, as the book is deeply saturated with Anglican and Catholic doctrine, authors and rituals. The claim that she converted at Oxford to Christianity, is spurious at best, probably false to be frank. She is much rather a JESUIT, based on her specific endorsement of Jesuit personalities and books (see below).

      "... my friend Angie, a fellow scholarship student and a devout Catholic with Puerto Rican roots, likes to remind me ... we live in intimate relationship with each other and with the saints, we understand the community of intercession".

      "Grace means you get to light your candle on the top rung. So that is what I did for the first time ever, this night. And that is where I have lit it ever since ..."

      - Several interviews to Catholic outlets after the book was written

      - Previous teaching function at St Peter's College (Anglican).

      - Twitter comment Aug 10, 2022: "Thank you Jessica! Sorry for delay - I've been away! But I do find Pope always a good place to return to ;)"

      - Her '10 Of My All Time Favorites' on Goodreads includes: 'Hearts on Fire: Praying with JESUITS'

      - Her conversion story on St. Valentines day seems too mechanical, and many details of this and countless other passages are obviously made up, as she at least indicates at the beginning of the book.

      - Very strange comments after having visited the memorial of the Christian martyrs Cranmer, Ridley and Latimer: "What a strange place for a memorial." [...] I turned to Dr. Restell and asked, "Why does religion have to get so ugly, even among sects of practically the same creed?"

      - She namely described Catholicism and Protestantism as 'sects of the same kind'.

      - She says that the latin mass is simply beautiful and that it is just 'a different service style'.
      "... Mass in Latin. It's so beautiful, I agree, but no one can understand it. Different generations flock to different service styles."

      - She prefers to talk to Mary, what appears to imply that she prefers Mary to Jesus, especially given the fact that she had problems to pray to God, even after her conversion.

      - Her feminism is obviously not cured through her 'conversion', as her teaching as a female pastor and several other passages of the book show. She also endorses Kathleen Norris, who is also a strong feminist and of the same spiritual walk.

      - She claimed out of the blue and without necessity, that Jesus went down to hell while He was in the grave.

      - Several profanities (bs in long form appears at least 3 times in the book), even after her conversion

      - One of her best friends was attracted to the same s*x, she hang out with him after her conversion and did nothing to convert him. She makes it appear that it is just the most normal thing in the world to hang out and to make primitive jokes how she was out of his reach.

      - Between her conversion and her baptism, she had her fortune told and did not warn of this practise at all: "Later, somewhere between watching a snake charmer and getting my fortune told, I began to succumb to the sensory overload. I'm ready to call it a night ..."


      ENDORSEMENTS

      - She builds her entire book and inspiration upon, and heavily endorses the highly problematic teachers John Milton (Paradise Lost) and C.S. Lewis (believed in purgatory; Tao is the highest morality; rejected biblical inerrancy; theistic evolutionist; considered Hindu, Buddhist and Muslims as brothers in Christ). She even attended CS Lewis Society meetings, endorsed several of his books by name and uses terms such as 'Wordsworth' and his 'Law of Undulation', as if everyone would know what she is talking about ...

      - She endorsed St. Ignatius and specifically the fact that he does belong to the JESUITS.

      - She endorsed Pierre Teilhard de Chardin SJ (French JESUIT priest, Darwinian, father of transhumanism) and Anthony de Mello (JESUIT priest)

      - She quotes Teresa de Avila (Key figure of Catholic and Christian Mysticism, First female Doctor of the Catholic church, levitated), John of the Cross (JESUIT, mentored by Teresa de Avila), Thomas Merton (Universalism, 'spark of the divine', student of Zen master and Buddhist, used the terms God/Krishna/Tao interchangeably), Friedrich Nietzsche, Sigmund Freud, Samuel Taylor Coleridge (Anglican), Sheldon Vanauken (Anglican, co-author CS Lewis), Mother Teresa (a fraud, direct enabler of sexual abuser and JESUIT priest Donald McGuire) and endorses even Jerome with the title 'saint', although it is well known that he is responsible as Catholic doctor and secretary to the Pope for the perversion of our Old Testament (+ Mary's perpetual virginity, invoking the saints, befriended with the great antichrist Augustine, who is of course also mentioned in the book).

      - She repeatedly endorses Tolkien and treats his teachings just as ordinary part of Christianity.
    • 4/5
      How shall I characterize this memoir? It’s partly spiritual autobiography, partly a romance, partly a Christian apologetic. That may explain its 480 pages and explain why I found it going in different direction too much which bothered me a bit. What I did like was the first part of the book. Carolyn Weber coming to Oxford as a Canadian to study in this centuries old institution with all its strange customs and traditions. She’s clearly a fish out of water and describe the culture-clash with the brits in a funny way. To be intruduced to this great university is a treat and you do feel like you’re led by the hand into the great halls of wisdom and learning (and extravagant dinner parties with the professors). Her exploration of the Christian worldview starts as she meets an American student who challenge her atheistic or agnostic beliefs. That she eventually also falls in love with him makes her spiritual search for the truth more complicated.I read it actually as the title suggest a nod to C. S. Lewis’ [Surprised by Joy] - but there’s very little about Lewis here, other than her going to a meeting in the “C. S. Lewis Society” (a good scene by the way).

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      A well-written, insightful, and balanced work surrounding coming to faith and wrestling with the realities of faith. Weber paints pictures with words that make the story come beautifully alive.
    • 4/5
      Carolyn Weber’s Surprised by Oxford is a window into the thoughts of a progressive literature student as she considers, and then accepts, the Christian worldview. One of this book’s greatest strengths is its ability to point out one of my greatest weaknesses: my ignorance of poetry and literature. Weber begins each chapter with a snippet of poetry appropriate to the plot of her story, and allusions to classic literature are found on almost every page. I recognized the names of most of the authors, but found my knowledge of the world’s best writing to be quite pitiful.Weber tells her intimate story of arriving at Oxford as a very devout feminist man-hater to continue her education in English literature. She then meets a man who challenges every horrible male stereotype she has absorbed into her mind. He is kind, selfless, confident, protective, knowledgeable, intelligent, honest, and ..... a Christian. Weber takes her readers through her confusion as she tries to explain how this man could so boldly defy her tightly-held beliefs about “What men are like”, and “What Christians are like.” This leads her into a quest to investigate the Bible and determine if it can explain the biggest questions of life.Weber gives her readers a look into the mind of an English major. She thinks about theology and spirituality very differently from many others. This insight is very valuable to those of us who do not see the world through the same lenses. On the lighter side, since this book was written by a literature student, and most of the main characters are also literature students, this book may set a new world record for “Most Metaphors Per Page.” Congratulations, Ms. Weber.