The title of this book caught me first, followed by the subtitle’s mention of “a modern-day slave.” It looked like a quick read and a unique storyline, so I decided to give it a shot. I didn’t realize I was picking up a book I’d have such a hard time putting back down.
Same Kind of Different as Me is a true story, one which opened my eyes to several deficiencies in my own realm of understanding, some tangible and others spiritual. If you want to be challenged, to ask yourself some thought-provoking questions, you should sit down for a few hours with Ron Hall and Denver Moore.
The writing is good. Not earth-shattering, but strong. Given the intrinsic power of the story itself, the writing could have been worse and I probably still would have given the book a high rating. It reads something like an autobiography, but with the creative flare of a novel. This unusual style hooked me, yet left me wanting more. More detail, more back story, more follow-up. For the sake of time and space, large chapters of the characters’ lives had to be brushed over or left out entirely, and though I recognized the metamorphosis of their personalities and convictions, it was clear (and natural) that much of the transformation occurred as a result of the passage of the years not described in detail. I understand the necessity of this, but for someone who is constantly asking “Why?” this was a difficult pill to swallow.
What I will remember most about this book is the honesty, particularly that of Ron Hall, with whom I found myself relating on more than one occasion. His remarkable experiences with wealth, prestige, shame, reconciliation, pride, humility, grief, loss, and redemption hold lessons for each of us, which is no doubt why Ron chose to share them in this book’s pages. We are, after all, the same kind of different.
