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Reviews tagging 'Confinement'
Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith by Jon Krakauer
5 reviews
andmingmingtoo's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.75
This book sets itself apart from most other "true crime" by going beyond the who+what+where+when to ask why-- instead of just focusing on one tragedy, this book asks how the setting and history surrounding what happened led to it occurring.
(Also bonus points to this book for making me hyperfixate on mormonism. It's so hard to explain to my friends that I'm having a mormon phase but not in a religious way, it's in a learning about neat history way)
(Also bonus points to this book for making me hyperfixate on mormonism. It's so hard to explain to my friends that I'm having a mormon phase but not in a religious way, it's in a learning about neat history way)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Violence, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Incest, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Death, Sexual assault, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Sexism, and Rape
Moderate: Confinement, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Suicide, War, Suicidal thoughts, and Racism
Minor: Deportation, Homophobia, Cursing, and Alcohol
The main case in this book involvesavidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
A look into Mormonism, its history, and the current day as of the writing, especially into the Fundamentalist sects, polygamy, and the crimes committed by members.
Obviously, Warren Jeffs has been arrested since this writing so that part was out of date, and I wish the book had an updated chapter.
One annoying thing about this addition is that the "this book is continued on disc x" and "disc x" parts hadn't been removed from the digital audiobook! I'm SURE Random House has the money to take that stuff out. And it ruined the flow of the book.
Overall, it was a very informative book that will teach you things you probably don't know. There were things I didn't know, and I've listened to multiple deep-dive podcasts on Mormonism. It was a decent true crime/religion book, and the narrator wasn't bad!
Extra ratings: Fluff - NA Heartfelt- 4/5 Helpful-1/5 Horror -NA Inspiration -0/5 Love aka Romance- NA Mystery - NA Predictability - NA Spice - NA Suspense - NA Tear- 4/5 Thrill - NA Humor-0/5
Obviously, Warren Jeffs has been arrested since this writing so that part was out of date, and I wish the book had an updated chapter.
One annoying thing about this addition is that the "this book is continued on disc x" and "disc x" parts hadn't been removed from the digital audiobook! I'm SURE Random House has the money to take that stuff out. And it ruined the flow of the book.
Overall, it was a very informative book that will teach you things you probably don't know. There were things I didn't know, and I've listened to multiple deep-dive podcasts on Mormonism. It was a decent true crime/religion book, and the narrator wasn't bad!
Extra ratings: Fluff - NA Heartfelt- 4/5 Helpful-1/5 Horror -NA Inspiration -0/5 Love aka Romance- NA Mystery - NA Predictability - NA Spice - NA Suspense - NA Tear- 4/5 Thrill - NA Humor-0/5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Blood, Murder, Child death, Violence, and Adult/minor relationship
Moderate: Incest, Racism, and Rape
tiernanhunter's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Blood, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Violence, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Religious bigotry
zakcebulski's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.25
This book... holy fucking hell.
I picked this book to read while I was on a trip to Utah, because it seemed timely and appropriate. This book absolutely infuriated me to the point where I had to stop reading it for sometimes hours at a time.
Under the Banner of Heaven is broken up in to two distinct sections- the first is the history of the Mormon religion- starting with Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, John Taylor, Nauvoo, Illinois, and the eventual arrival of the Mormons in Salt Lake City, Utah.
It uses these events to show the ripples that these people's actions had decades and decades later in the form of the splinter sect of the LDS- the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints- the FLDS- who are, in my estimation- true villains of Americana.
Now, I have recently been infected with the bug of interest into world religions, and Mormonism is an absolutely fascinating one. I think that this stems primarily from the fact that it is such a storied, and bloody history.
Joseph Smith is, to me, one of the most brilliant minds of his time, and, a man who was intentionally so, one of the most impactful people in American history. Now, this is absolutely not to say that I am supportive of Joseph Smith- on the contrary, I think that the ripples cast out from his life and death have been negative. But, to say that he is anything short of brilliant, I think, undermines the impact that he has had.
Joseph Smith was able to not only create a complete religion based off of Christianity- but he was also able to get hundreds of hundreds of people to believe in it.
I thought that the birth of the Mormon faith was absolutely fascinating to read about, and to learn of the constant attempts by the United States government to eradicate this religion. I felt that the parallels between this religion and the birth of Christianity in general were absolutely awe-inspiring- the irony of Joseph Smith's assassination closely mirroring the legend of the Crucifixion of Christ is not lost on me.
Learning about the constant imagined and genuine persecution of the Mormons by anti-Mormon groups called to mind the existence of early Christians- it was fascinating to learn about.
I can't truly think about another time wherein I was so incensed about an event as I was about the Mountain Meadows Massacre- where Mormons and Native Indians ambushed a group of Gentiles (non-Mormons) solely for the fact that they wanted revenge for the death of their prophet. This is absolutely vile and it is something that goes in to proving how so many religious people are just so hypocritical.
The second half of this book deals with more modern times- with the Lafferty brothers. Now, these fucking pricks are a group of six brothers who are all devoutly Mormon. However, they like to practice what is referred to in the book and in the religion as "plural marriage" aka polygamy. Now, Joseph Smith was a big fan of polygamy (I will not refer to it as plural marriage) to the point wherein it is speculated that he used a fellow Mormon's name to write a pamphlet about the virtues of polygamy, and then printed it with his own press. This act had far reaching ramifications from being the reason for the eventual assassination of JS, to Brigham Young being instilled as the second Prophet of the Mormon church, to being the reason for the splintering of the LDS as a whole.
The FLDS is a branch of the Mormon church which focuses on adhering to the teachings of Joseph Smith, and not to the modern-LDS church which outlawed things like polygamy in the 1890s, accepted black people, and other "radical" (to the FLDS) changes.
This branch of Mormonism is inherently racist, sexist, and fucking disgusting, in my view, as their polygamist acts tend to skew to taking very young wives. It is discussed that many of the wives are underage, some of them are just becoming teenagers.
This is the world that the Lafferty brothers grow in and are educated to believe in. Now, the story focuses on all of these pieces of shit, but, it really dials in focus more to two of the brothers- Dan and Ron.
These two morons are some of the most deplorable jackasses I have ever had the displeasure of learning that I share the Earth with.
Not only do they renounce their citizenship from the U.S. saying that they only serve God, they also give back their social security cards, their driver's licenses and stop obeying speed limits and paying taxes, but, also quit their jobs and start following a guy named Bob Crossfield- the "Prophet Onias" which brings them in to the FLDS.
These jackasses then proceed to try and force their wives to be accepting of polygamy- which is a practice which I am personally against- and which many of them are against as well.
This leads us to be introduced to one of the bravest people that I have read about recently- Brenda Lafferty who is the wife of Allen Lafferty- the youngest of the brothers.
Brenda is strong willed, educated and well-spoken, which makes her someone that the Lafferty brothers cannot just shout down by quoting scripture to her. This, as well, makes her a target for the wrath of the Lafferty brothers who see her as a heel and a threat to their way of life. As such, Ron, who is a tragic character because he starts off as a good man who is quickly and totally perverted by the FLDS teachings.
Ron has a revelation wherein he deems it the "Removal Revelation"- he is "ordered" by God to kill Brenda, Brenda's baby, and two other individuals.
Unfortunately for her, Brenda and her baby are the ones who are sought out and are killed in a very, very brutal fashion. This is upsetting, stomach churning, and repugnant to the core.
After this, Dan and Ron go on the run for a little while before being arrested, tried, and convicted of their crimes.
I think that this book is a fantastic jumping off point for people who want to begin exploring the world of corrosive religious beliefs, group think, and the dangers of not thinking for one's own self.
I think that Krakauer does an exceptional job of creating a coherent story, illustrating the characters and showing the history where the story takes place. Not many people could have written a story that takes place 140 years apart, but so effortlessly captures how the ripples of the past form the tsunami of the present.
I also thought it was goddamn terrifying and fascinating to read this book because Warren fucking Jeffs was just ascending to power after the death of his father Rulon Jeffs. This is horrifying if you know the history of Jeffs' pedophilia which he was hunted down by the FBI for and finally arrested in 2011. This is like knowing there will be a crash but being unable to stop it. It is so heartbreaking to know that Jeffs would commit profane acts under the guise of being the end times prophet.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the basics of the Mormon beliefs and the many splinter groups that came off of it.
This book is upsetting, this book is heartbreaking and potentially traumatizing, but, I think that it is extremely beneficial to those who are interested in this sect of Christianity. I think that Krakauer should be praised for the work that he did here in illuminating, with no sugarcoating, the reality of the birth of Mormonism and the effects of which we are still feeling today.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Violence, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Murder, Religious bigotry, Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexual violence
ktdakotareads's review against another edition
dark
informative
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Incest, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, and Death
Moderate: Blood, Bullying, Colonisation, Confinement, Cultural appropriation, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Racism, Sexism, and Classism
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