The Girl from Botany Bay by Carolly Erickson

Mary Bryant was born into a poor family in England. She became a 'highwaywoman,' was sentenced to death, was given a reprieve and sent to Australia with the first batch of convicts, married and had two children, escaped to Timor in a 25-foot boat, was caught, saw both children die, was sent back to England to be punished, caught the fancy of the nation and Samuel Johnson, was given a reprieve, and promptly disappeared from the historical record. Wow.

In Sacred Lonliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith by Todd Compton

This is almost two separate books:

(1) Mini-biographies of the almost three dozen women who were married to Joseph Smith. On this level, it is a fascinating read--full of the trials, daily life, and amazing faith of these early LDS women.

(2) An interpretation of early LDS polygamy. This section was more of a mixed bag for me. I think that Compton's idea of these marriages as 'dynastic' probably makes sense; but I also think that his condemnation of polygamy as institutional neglect is a little overdone since not a one of these women experiences what we might call 'normal' LDS polygamy: married to Joseph Smith and then, usually, either Brigham Young or Heber C. Kimball after the martyrdom, they did not experience what most polygamous wives did.

This is, nonetheless, one of the most important texts for understanding early Mormonism.

Under the Banner of Heaven

I have a friend –I know her through the homeschooling community–with an interest in the Church. She told me that one of the books that she read about the church was Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith. Now, she’s not stupid–she didn’t expect it to be unbiased–but she did want to know my reaction to it. So I read it and then sent her this email:

Hi xxxxxxxxx,

I read Under the Banner of Heaven this weekend, and I think my reaction to it is probably about what your reaction would be to a book that argued that homeschooling should be illegal on the basis of a few abusive families who hid their abuse by claiming to homeschool.

I was really amazed at how fast and loose Krakauer was with the evidence. I could give you literally dozens of examples, but I doubt you want to read all that, so let me just pick a few:

(1) His entire explanation for Joseph Smith’s polygamy is that it was about fulfilling his sexual lust with what Krakauer calls ‘nubile adolescents.’ This thesis becomes a little less convincing when you know the ages of some of the women that he married: 47, 50/51, 53/54, 58, and 56 (while Joseph Smith was in his 30s).

(2) His basic thesis is that religious belief in general–and LDS belief in particular–causes people to be violent because rationality goes out the window when people think they can talk to God. This is a fairly easy thesis to prove or disprove–about all it takes is a quick look at the statistics to see if areas with high LDS populations have a higher or lower violent crime rate than the national average. Utah County is often used for this type of thing since it has about a 90% LDS population: “An FBI report showed the Provo-Orem area to have the second-lowest rate of violent crime in the nation for the year 2000.” Of course, Krakauer doesn’t mention this but instead focuses on a few lurid and sensational cases–as if there were a single minority group (racial, religious, lifestyle, whatever) that couldn’t be painted as a hothouse for violence on the basis of a few of its members.

(3) He writes about a revelation John Taylor had in 1886 that stated that polygamy would never be ended and that some church members would be called to be ostracized by the church for practicing polygamy. What he doesn’t mention in the text is that his only source for these revelations is . . . a book printed by the FLDS Church! But in the text, he makes it sound as if the revelations are only disputed by a few angry LDS leaders when, in fact, no historian would uncritically accept these as a historical source given their attestation.

(4) He pins the blame for the Mountains Meadow Massacre cleanly on Brigham Young, despite the fact that one of his own main source for that chapter [Juanita Brooks] wrote, “The complete—the absolute—truth of the affair can probably never be evaluated by any human being; attempts to understand the forces which culminated in it and those which were set into motion by it are all very inadequate at best” (Brooks, p. 223).

(4) He often seemed to confuse the doctrine and practice of the LDS and FLDS churches; whether this was deliberate, sloppy writing, or based on his own ignorance of the differences, I can’t say. There are many false statements in the book, such as that the LDS church strongly discourages marriage between black and white members which is completely false. (In fact, a respected couple in my own congregation is an interracial couple.) Another one is that members–particularly women–are encouraged to be mindless sheep. But his own example of Brenda Lafferty as a headstrong woman who wouldn’t tolerate any nonsense suggests otherwise.

I could go on with similar examples from virtually every page, but I think you’ve gotten the feel for my response to this book. I hope that if it raised any specific questions for you, you’ll ask me.

Julie

Note: Lest you think that it is only one quirky woman using this book as a primer on Mormonism, go do a search on Amazon using the keyword ‘Mormon.’ This book is the bestselling book under that keyword. Ugh. Those interested in a more thorough response than mine should read this.

Cross posted from Times & Seasons.

Mao: The Unknown Story by Jung Chang

Wow. Mao makes Hitler look like a grade-school bully. Wow. While this book doesn't psychologize Mao much, it was interesting to watch his unremitting focus on personal power and his complete disregard for human life play out against the fates of the 70 million people who he killed. Wow. It is fascinating to watch a character assissination against someone who deserves it.

Light from Heaven by Jan Karon

Is there a word for books that are like comfort food? That's what Karon's books are, and they fulfill the purpose of their creation.

Hungry Planet by Peter Menzel

This is easily one of the ten most interesting books that I have ever read; Menzel went to thirty families around the world and asked them to buy a week's worth of food and then photographed it. Simple and amazing.

David O. McKay: Around the World by Hugh J. Cannon

Every writer's worst nightmare actually came true for Hugh J. Cannon: the only copy of his manuscript was "misplaced" by the publisher.

And it wasn't just any manuscript either: it was the record of his 1920 round-the-world trip with David O. McKay (then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve), on assignment from the First Presidency as "special missionaries" to visit all of the missions and Church schools. The manuscript turned up recently and has now been published. This book is somewhat sketchy about its history, tersely attributing its disappearance to "a change of personnel at the publisher" and giving no more detail about its recovery than that it was found in the McKay home. One almost suspects that there is more to the story.

That would become a frequent impression while reading this book: that I wasn't getting the whole story. McKay and Cannon were on assignment to assess the missions but virtually nothing is said about those missions in this book, save that the missionaries were virtuous and brave. We know from other works on McKay that this isn't all that they found (see here for a reference in Woodger's biography to some of the problems that McKay found in Tahiti). So if you approach this book looking for Church history or doctrine, you will almost certainly be disappointed.

However, if what you want is a good story, well-told in the quaint, wry style of a superior early-twentieth-century wordsmith, you will be delighted. Let me give you a taste of Cannon's writing:

Numerous invitations to dinners and other social affairs where refreshments were served were extended to the special missionaries during the weeks immediately preceeding their departure. Such acts, intended as kindness and greatly appreciated, were poor preparation for a rough ocean voyage. Some of these delightful dinners were destined to come up later in a most distressing manner. Have you ever been aboard a vessel on an extremely rough sea? Have you felt it roll and toss and plunge, then when struck full force by a mighty wave which washes its decks, felt it shudder and tremble as though it had received a death blow and must assuredly sink? And all the while the stomachs of the sensitive passengers are performing similar evolutions and are dancing about as wildly as the ship itself. Frequently not more than a dozen people out of several hundred passengers were at meals. . . . Brother McKay, being the leader of this tour, maintained his supremacy in the matter of seasickness as in all other things. He does nothing by halves, but treats every subject exhaustively, going to the very bottom of it, and this occasion was no exception. Seasickness is undertaken with the same vigorous energy which he displays in running for a train. In either case those in front should dodge.

Seasickness becomes a recurrent theme in this book; they did, after all, travel 37,869 miles by water (Cannon is big on precise numbers: in India, he tells us, he removed 157 fleas from his body). Here's a quotation from a letter that Elder McKay wrote home:

. . . before attempting to dress I ate an apple which Hugh J. handed me. Without hurry I put on my clothes and started for the deck; but the swaying staircase and the madly moving world of water stirred my feelings with a desire for solitude. Yielding, I hurried to my room, where in less time than it takes to tell you, the apple and I parted company forever. I wondered what there was in common between a Jonathan apple and a Jonah that would produce such like effects. Though I arrived at no definite conclusion, one thing was most certain: My sympathy was wholly with the whale. . . . Good-bye last night's dinner! Good-bye yesterday's luncheon! And during the next sixty hours, good-bye everything I had ever eaten since I was a babe on Mother's knee! I'm not sure I didn't cross the threshold into the pre-existent state . . . [He then describes the motion of the ship on rough seas and concludes that] the dance floor is not the only place where disgraceful, degenerate movements may lead to ill.

As a travelogue, this book succeeds marvelously. The photos are plentiful and rich; the wonder with which McKay and Cannon apprehend chopsticks and rickshas, live human shark bait, Maori war dances, and the mystery and magic of the international date line is such that we aren't surprised that Cannon decided to leave out his notes from the zone conferences. To witness pre-globalization travelers describe a "Hui Tau" (the Maori take on a regional conference, replete with circus-sized tents and days-long feasts) is to instantly be able to forgive them their politically incorrect descriptions of the peoples that they encounter. It was all new and it was, to use Cannon's favorite word, as he does at least a half dozen times, "indescribable."

As prophet, President McKay had a strong desire to see this book published. I'm glad he did, and I'm sorry that it took so long to find that manuscript. This unusual little gem is a real departure from the standard 'church books' and a fun read.

Cross-posted to Times and Seasons

Baghdad Without a Map by Tony Horowitz

Just as fun and quirky as his books on Australia and Confederate war re-enactors, this one was a good ride. He paints with a broad brush (is every Yemeni a lazy, qat-addicted criminal?), but if you suspend your inner skeptic, it makes for an enjoyable book.

Early Christians in Disarray

Can you really understand what the Restoration is if you don't have your mind around what the Great Apostasy was?

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barnara Robinson

Oh, this was good. Another read-outloud to the kids.

The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis

Another read-to-the-kids. It's impossible to say anything about a book like this or Harry Potter, so I don't even try.

The Magician's Nephew by C. S. Lewis

(I realized that I should include here the books that I read to the kids.)

I'm still wondering if we should have held off and read LWW first . . .

Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver

With three (slightly) interwoven plots and a palimpset of the natural world behind the characters' actions, this rich and unusual novel held my interest from start to finish. Recommended.

The Girlfriends' Guide to Toddlers

Ah. . . mind candy. I don't agree with much of Iovine's white bread advice, but that's hardly the point, is it? The point is that it is mildly funny and you can read it without all cylinders engaged. And how can you not like someone who describes toddler feet as pork chops with toenails? Recommended for people with the flu, or whatever.

The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant

So this was an engrossing story, but it was also soap-opera-ish, a little too bawdy, and guilty of the most common sin of historical fiction (which is the employment of the proto-feminist protagonist). But I still got wound up in the story. Recommended?

The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare

Not a book I would have picked up on my own--although homeschoolers are always raving about it--but I read this for my book group. It started slowly, with wooden writing and two-dimensional characters. But at some point, I found myself actually interested in the story. It metamorphosed into a rather good read. For me this is saying a lot because I usually detest historical fiction set in biblical times for a whole slew of reasons. Recommended.

A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson

This was a fun little read. I must confess that some of his stories are just a little too perfect and I found myself wondering if he was, ah, embellishing just a little. But this was still an enjoyable book--a nice light read with good background detail and real interest. Slightly recommended.

House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus

This was a good read. Not life changing, but an interesting story well-told with some unusual twists and excellent character development. Recommended.

Confederates in the Attic by Tony Horwitz

Wow. I loved this book. It takes real talent to handle so many diverse stories (hard-core Civil War reenactments, the battle over the rebel flag, Gone with the Wind, history in the Alabama schools, etc.), to tell them with a fair hand, and to keep such heavy topics light. This book is a model for what good nonfiction can be. Highly recommended.

The Mermaid Chair by Susan Monk Kidd

I adored The Secret Life of Bees and this was just as good; Sue Monk Kidd has a gift. There's an indefinable essence that makes a novel engaging; this book has it.

(Although I am still feeling guilty for how much I was rooting for a married woman to have an affair with a monk . . .)