Saturday, April 19, 2014

I Will Lead You Along: The Life of Henry B. Eyring by Henry J. Eyring



Things I liked:
1. More frank than your average LDS-leader-bio hagiography (but this isn't Rough Stone Rolling).
2. Lots of excerpts from President Eyring's journal, which provided lots of in-the-moment color.
3. Most church members know the leaders just as conference speakers which, of course, plays to the strengths of some but not to others. President Eyring's speaking style is not one of my favorites (I think it is that second person address thing), so it was good to see a different side of him.
4. His sketches. Wow.

Things I didn't:
1. I've said this about other bios, but it is disturbing to see how much time they spend away from their families, both in their professions and in their church callings.
2. There is something . . . vaguely unfortunate/unsettling . . . about the insularity of church leaders as portrayed in this book. It makes me feel like a Bad Person to say that, but you really get the feeling that they and their multi-generational LDS families and their overlapping educations/career/calling paths exist within a bubble that is largely separate from the rest of the church.

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