Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
I read this book in preparation for my first job and I have to say, for a book that is majority research, this book is compelling and kept me hooked the whole time. Highly recommend if you are interested in learning more about Mormonism and interrogating faith in general.
“I think people within the religion… are probably happier, on the whole, than people on the outside… But some things in life are more important than being happy. Like being free to think for yourself.” A detailed, heavily-researched, and well-structured look at religious fanaticism and extremist fundamentalism, exploring the role faith plays in the country and in the control of meaning.
Parts were interesting but it encompassed a vast history and jumped around a lot. It didn’t feel organized and it drove me absolutely crazy there was no table of contents.
This is well-written and fascinating. It's nonfiction, but it's as gripping as a suspenseful fiction novel.
In the Author's Remark section towards the back of the book, Jon Krakauer states that the book didn't turn out to be the one he started off with, and that the focus switched in the writing. While that may be forgivable in fiction, I'm not sure if I can give him a pass in a non-fiction work. You can clearly see the great divide between the book that he wanted to write and the book that he ended up with. Even though it's a 4/5 on the rating system, a more accurate rating would be about 3.5/5. Insightful and thorough look at the history of Mormonism and religious fundamentalism, but loses a bit of focus towards the end. But more on that later.
The book begins with the murder of a woman and a baby in the hands of two Fundamentalist members of the Church of the Latter-Day Saints, aka Mormons. They are the Mormon version of what the mainstream media would refer to as the Islamic Fundamentalists, basically. Opening the book with a seemingly mindless murder did draw me into the story, and I wanted to know more about these men's motivations. On that front, Krakauer definitely delivered. He spoke with one of the murders in a high security prison, and you get to learn about how a normal, everyday husband was influenced by his brothers and transformed into a religious extremist. Like any true crime novel out there, this section of the book is incredibly interesting, and it reminded me of Truman Capote's work on In Cold Blood, which is similar in many ways save for the religious twist.
On top of that, Krakauer also gives readers a rundown of Mormon beliefs and history, with how the religion came to be and how it works. We get to see how Joseph Smith came to be and how he attracted believers from all over the US. Again, very intriguing, because the church has always been somewhat closed off, especially to people (like myself) on this side of the Pacific. Krakauer's look at the fundamentalist church's practice of polygamy was also insightful, if not unsettling and deeply disturbing. Again, as above, very arresting materials here and thoroughly, thoroughly researched.
My problem with the book comes towards the halfway mark, when Krakauer decides to talk about the blood-soaked history of the LDS Church. The section after Joseph Smith's death involves a large cast of characters, and it quickly descended into a convoluted history lesson. Four or five chapters were devoted wholly to how the LDS Church was persecuted by the government, the wars (and almost-wars) waged during that time, how the Indians got involves, and an exploration team that was murdered by LDS members. All very detailed and all very intriguing, but Krakauer decided to delve into this part of Mormonism history AFTER describing, in detail, how our murderers killed the woman and the baby. Yes, the titular scene happens halfway through the book, so you are left with little to "look forward to", as macabre as that may sound. I wanted deeply to go back to the murderers and see how they lived out the rest of their days as free men, how they were arrested and how they were charged. Yet, Krakauer devoted at least a hundred pages to this OTHER part of Mormon history, which added little to the central plot (even though this is, essentially, non-fiction). Yes, you do need to know the church's history to understand these men's motives, but I felt like he has already driven the point home by this point, and he really did't need to bang more holes into the board.
Also, I am a fan of Krakauer's work, especially his real-life experience on Mount Everest, which he chronicles in Into Thin Air. Having lived through the ordeal himself, he was able to provide a fairly well balanced view of what exactly happened during one of the worst disasters in mountaineering history. When approaching this book, I was expecting the same level of level-headedness, but got something else instead. Krakauer's depiction of Mormonism is more than a little skewed here. It is funny, because as an atheist, you would think that I would enjoy a book that bashes Mormonism. Instead, I wanted something a little more fair and balanced. Perhaps some conversations with your average everyday Mormons would be nice. I mean, he even states in the Author's Remarks that he used to hang out with a bunch of normal everyday Mormons. Couldn't he have talked to any one of them to get a different perspective?
I bring the point up because there are a lot of misunderstanding in the world going on right now with regard to religion and religious beliefs. While I believe that humanity does not need religion to survive—in fact it has cause much suffering over the years—I also believe that there are two sides to every coin. While there are people who'd manipulate religion to their own benefits—like fundamentalists of any religion—there are people out there who just want to get by. We already have enough demonising when it comes to religious fundamentalism, so it is more than a little tiresome to read yet another biased view on a religion. I believe that religion will eventually die out, whether that will take decades or centuries, but I'm not sure if biases will get us there any quicker. I mean, I suppose a book that attacks FUNDAMENTALISTS is fine, but Krakauer doesn't seem to make that distinction towards the end. Yes, he starts off by saying that polygamy is practice ONLY by the fundamentalists, but he doesn't shy away from the opinion that BOTH sects of LDS shared a bloody history of violence and bloodshed. As mentioned, the book turned into something else, and I suppose it does show.
The book begins with the murder of a woman and a baby in the hands of two Fundamentalist members of the Church of the Latter-Day Saints, aka Mormons. They are the Mormon version of what the mainstream media would refer to as the Islamic Fundamentalists, basically. Opening the book with a seemingly mindless murder did draw me into the story, and I wanted to know more about these men's motivations. On that front, Krakauer definitely delivered. He spoke with one of the murders in a high security prison, and you get to learn about how a normal, everyday husband was influenced by his brothers and transformed into a religious extremist. Like any true crime novel out there, this section of the book is incredibly interesting, and it reminded me of Truman Capote's work on In Cold Blood, which is similar in many ways save for the religious twist.
On top of that, Krakauer also gives readers a rundown of Mormon beliefs and history, with how the religion came to be and how it works. We get to see how Joseph Smith came to be and how he attracted believers from all over the US. Again, very intriguing, because the church has always been somewhat closed off, especially to people (like myself) on this side of the Pacific. Krakauer's look at the fundamentalist church's practice of polygamy was also insightful, if not unsettling and deeply disturbing. Again, as above, very arresting materials here and thoroughly, thoroughly researched.
My problem with the book comes towards the halfway mark, when Krakauer decides to talk about the blood-soaked history of the LDS Church. The section after Joseph Smith's death involves a large cast of characters, and it quickly descended into a convoluted history lesson. Four or five chapters were devoted wholly to how the LDS Church was persecuted by the government, the wars (and almost-wars) waged during that time, how the Indians got involves, and an exploration team that was murdered by LDS members. All very detailed and all very intriguing, but Krakauer decided to delve into this part of Mormonism history AFTER describing, in detail, how our murderers killed the woman and the baby. Yes, the titular scene happens halfway through the book, so you are left with little to "look forward to", as macabre as that may sound. I wanted deeply to go back to the murderers and see how they lived out the rest of their days as free men, how they were arrested and how they were charged. Yet, Krakauer devoted at least a hundred pages to this OTHER part of Mormon history, which added little to the central plot (even though this is, essentially, non-fiction). Yes, you do need to know the church's history to understand these men's motives, but I felt like he has already driven the point home by this point, and he really did't need to bang more holes into the board.
Also, I am a fan of Krakauer's work, especially his real-life experience on Mount Everest, which he chronicles in Into Thin Air. Having lived through the ordeal himself, he was able to provide a fairly well balanced view of what exactly happened during one of the worst disasters in mountaineering history. When approaching this book, I was expecting the same level of level-headedness, but got something else instead. Krakauer's depiction of Mormonism is more than a little skewed here. It is funny, because as an atheist, you would think that I would enjoy a book that bashes Mormonism. Instead, I wanted something a little more fair and balanced. Perhaps some conversations with your average everyday Mormons would be nice. I mean, he even states in the Author's Remarks that he used to hang out with a bunch of normal everyday Mormons. Couldn't he have talked to any one of them to get a different perspective?
I bring the point up because there are a lot of misunderstanding in the world going on right now with regard to religion and religious beliefs. While I believe that humanity does not need religion to survive—in fact it has cause much suffering over the years—I also believe that there are two sides to every coin. While there are people who'd manipulate religion to their own benefits—like fundamentalists of any religion—there are people out there who just want to get by. We already have enough demonising when it comes to religious fundamentalism, so it is more than a little tiresome to read yet another biased view on a religion. I believe that religion will eventually die out, whether that will take decades or centuries, but I'm not sure if biases will get us there any quicker. I mean, I suppose a book that attacks FUNDAMENTALISTS is fine, but Krakauer doesn't seem to make that distinction towards the end. Yes, he starts off by saying that polygamy is practice ONLY by the fundamentalists, but he doesn't shy away from the opinion that BOTH sects of LDS shared a bloody history of violence and bloodshed. As mentioned, the book turned into something else, and I suppose it does show.
It's like Deadwood meets Big Love- sorry for the tv references but that's the most apt description for me. It took me about the first 80 pages or so to get into this. There's a lot of disturbing content & I'm a little bit of a lightweight in that department. But, it is completely fascinating.
challenging
dark
informative
tense
medium-paced
A fascinating tale of religious fanaticism. Some of the Mormon history bogged me down but it was generally quite interesting. Bordering Utah I have a keen awareness and aversion to Mormonism and it was a good excessive to learn more about a religion I find actively avoiding.
Parts of this are incredibly interesting and also infuriating to learn. Other parts are astoundingly boring. Unfortunately the boring bits got in the way of enjoying the good bits.
Pretty enthralling history. I love that for years after writing this story the author has remained friends with the family of the victims, and has worked with a foundation to help women who escape fundamentalist Mormonism.