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3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
this story is fascinating to an ex mormon, but reads like a textbook so I only made it halfway thru. the true crime tv series w andrew garfield is chilling & insanely good, so maybe just go watch that?
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
At times its relevant, but there is way way way too much history of Mormonism in this book for me. And there is very little payoff for reading all of it, Krakauer does barely anything to connect the history he traces with the case in the modern day. Worse, I think the handling of the murders is (surprise, surprise in a genre oversaturated with this) deeply insensitive.
challenging
dark
informative
medium-paced
Mostly focused on the background of the LDS church, including persecution faced by early Mormons and the division caused by plural marriage. The true-crime story of the murder of Brenda and Erica Lafferty is woven throughout, as well.
Like many, I picked this up because I wanted to understand the background before getting further into the Hulu series. The series focuses heavily on the murder, and Krakauer attempts to draw a line from the early Mormon fanatics to that horrific crime
I have no attachment to the Mormon church, and have met only a handful of LDS folks in my 40-plus years of life, and I still found myself feeling that Krakauer seemed to be overly harsh. To be sure, the Mormons experienced crimes both as targets and perpetrators.
I’m not sure that makes it an especially violent faith, though. Many established faiths are responsible for atrocities large and small, and I’m not sure the Mormons are more prone to religiously motivated violence than anyone else.
Make no mistake, though, that there is violence depicted in this work. (Cw: I skipped over the specifics of the murder of Baby Erica). The Laffertys planned this act openly, with even an infuriating scene where their mother knits while listening to plans for her grand daughter and daughter in law to be murdered. Didn’t bother to tell anyone.
That roughly sums up my thoughts.
Like many, I picked this up because I wanted to understand the background before getting further into the Hulu series. The series focuses heavily on the murder, and Krakauer attempts to draw a line from the early Mormon fanatics to that horrific crime
I have no attachment to the Mormon church, and have met only a handful of LDS folks in my 40-plus years of life, and I still found myself feeling that Krakauer seemed to be overly harsh. To be sure, the Mormons experienced crimes both as targets and perpetrators.
I’m not sure that makes it an especially violent faith, though. Many established faiths are responsible for atrocities large and small, and I’m not sure the Mormons are more prone to religiously motivated violence than anyone else.
Make no mistake, though, that there is violence depicted in this work. (Cw: I skipped over the specifics of the murder of Baby Erica). The Laffertys planned this act openly, with even an infuriating scene where their mother knits while listening to plans for her grand daughter and daughter in law to be murdered. Didn’t bother to tell anyone.
That roughly sums up my thoughts.
challenging
dark
informative
medium-paced
While the hook of the story is a gruesome double murder carried out by Mormon fundamentalists claiming they were divinely commanded to commit the crime, the book is really more an historical overview of the Mormon church and its fundamentalist offshoots. The narrative jumps between the modern era, talking about the increasing prominence of the Mormon church, and its distant and more recent history, including oppression of the Mormons by early settlers and some instances of violence in the church's history that it would probably soon rather forget.
Not knowing a lot about the Mormon church--the first major "American religion"--I found it to be both informative and interesting, thanks to Krakauer's investigative reporting skills. Maybe the most impressive part was Krakauer's ability to navigate and explain in readable terms extremely complex family trees (including a young teen who, through a plural marriage to her stepmother's father, becomes her own step-grandmother). Some of these parts of the book were difficult to follow because of the complexities of the relationships, and difficult to read because of the descriptions of atrocities committed by some of the fundamentalist polygamists in the book, but it was still a compelling read that had a good mix of history and narrative structure.
Not knowing a lot about the Mormon church--the first major "American religion"--I found it to be both informative and interesting, thanks to Krakauer's investigative reporting skills. Maybe the most impressive part was Krakauer's ability to navigate and explain in readable terms extremely complex family trees (including a young teen who, through a plural marriage to her stepmother's father, becomes her own step-grandmother). Some of these parts of the book were difficult to follow because of the complexities of the relationships, and difficult to read because of the descriptions of atrocities committed by some of the fundamentalist polygamists in the book, but it was still a compelling read that had a good mix of history and narrative structure.
I really expected this book to be all about the mystery surrounding a double murder perpetrated by a pair of Fundamentalist Mormon brothers in Utah in the 1980s. Imagine my sheer joy when the book became a very in-depth analysis of the Mormon religion and its own lengthy history o' mysteries.
And it's quite infuriating to read about the history of Mormondom and it's fundamentalist offshoots. Sure, the story is quite one sided and it warrants getting a balanced look. But it certainly is damning. And a great read! Check it out.
And it's quite infuriating to read about the history of Mormondom and it's fundamentalist offshoots. Sure, the story is quite one sided and it warrants getting a balanced look. But it certainly is damning. And a great read! Check it out.
dark
informative
reflective
medium-paced