I was excited to pick up another recommended favorite book
of a friend when I saw that Jon Krakauer was the author. I had read a few of his other books (see
reviews) and was ready for this one.
Upon seeing the topical area, the history of the Mormon church and how
one of its’ ultra-conservative members murders his brother’s wife and child, I
thought ok… we’ll see. The book’s title
is Under the Banner of Heaven, a
story of violent faith. Krakauer is a
solid writer and tells a good story, all non-fiction. The story begins with the murder of a woman
and her infant daughter by the brother of the woman’s husband and intertwines
the history of the Mormon Church in the United States. The “back and forth” of the history and the
murder confused me a bit, not always sure why Krakauer felt compelled to share how the murders were connected to the
violence and “specific literal read” of the Bible. While I learned a great deal about the faith
traditions’ humble beginnings and the on-going fascination with polygamy, which
helps create the demise of the woman and her child, I just never got that
interested. I felt I had heard this
story on Dateline NBC a number of years ago, and to be perfectly honest, I
wasn’t in the least bit interested.
Rarely have I really gotten close to putting a book down because I had
absolutely no interest in the book in the least, I finished it. Sometimes I will dislike a book because the
characters are not connecting to me, or the story is slow, this one, just
didn’t get pulled into the horrific bloody murder (which Krakauer is not afraid
to provide the goriest details…. And then comes the details of polygamy – from
the really young to the elder sisters and everyone in between, ugh! For those interested in historical religious
faith tradition stories, you may find this one compelling, otherwise if you
haven’t read Krakauer’s other books, take this as a chance to get excited with Into the Wild or Into Thin Air. I could have
skipped this one and been happy to do so.
Sorry….
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