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A review by jennutley
Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling by Richard Lyman Bushman
4.0
I decided in 2011 that I was going to start an experiment. Could I use the same formula I used to learn the about England's Tudor period to obtain a better historical understanding (and hopefully additional enthusiasm) of my religion? I started with two books: The Life and Teachings of Jesus Christ, vol. 1 and this book Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling.
Like others have said, this book is not an easy or fast read. It is quite academic and spends quite a bit of time explaining the doctrines and organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It took me a while to get through this, but it was well worth it.
At some points, I felt like I was reading historical fiction. You know, when you know that something bad is about to happen and you want to strangle the characters for walking blindly into their own destruction? I sometimes felt that way about Joseph. I wanted to warn him that starting a bank or destroying the Expositor's printing press probably weren't the best ideas. It is sometimes hard to think of Joseph Smith as a man who did great things but made his share of mistakes along the way (but of course, this is refreshing as well). Aren't we all rough stones, rolling?
The subtitle of this book is "A cultural history of Mormonism's founder." The author spends a great deal of time really setting the stage and describing how Joseph, his family, his life's work, and his organization fit into their time and place. Though this can be some of the hardest material to wade through, I was glad to have been immersed enough to better understand why people reacted to him the way they did. My disappointment with this technique though, was that it seemed that events happened because of the environment and the actions of others and downplayed the role of both the Spirit and Joseph's natural charisma.
If you are interested in the subject, I'd highly recommend this one. (I would especially recommend it during a D&C study year. The chronology of the revelations is a fascinating aspect of this book.)
Brigham Young: American Moses is next. Recommendations of other good biographies of early LDS Church folk would be appreciated.
Like others have said, this book is not an easy or fast read. It is quite academic and spends quite a bit of time explaining the doctrines and organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It took me a while to get through this, but it was well worth it.
At some points, I felt like I was reading historical fiction. You know, when you know that something bad is about to happen and you want to strangle the characters for walking blindly into their own destruction? I sometimes felt that way about Joseph. I wanted to warn him that starting a bank or destroying the Expositor's printing press probably weren't the best ideas. It is sometimes hard to think of Joseph Smith as a man who did great things but made his share of mistakes along the way (but of course, this is refreshing as well). Aren't we all rough stones, rolling?
The subtitle of this book is "A cultural history of Mormonism's founder." The author spends a great deal of time really setting the stage and describing how Joseph, his family, his life's work, and his organization fit into their time and place. Though this can be some of the hardest material to wade through, I was glad to have been immersed enough to better understand why people reacted to him the way they did. My disappointment with this technique though, was that it seemed that events happened because of the environment and the actions of others and downplayed the role of both the Spirit and Joseph's natural charisma.
If you are interested in the subject, I'd highly recommend this one. (I would especially recommend it during a D&C study year. The chronology of the revelations is a fascinating aspect of this book.)
Brigham Young: American Moses is next. Recommendations of other good biographies of early LDS Church folk would be appreciated.