siphoning off a few thoughts

wonderful behavioral insights; less convincing on the philosophy

I will likely listen to this book again.  I listened to it because (a) I loved Lewis’s Narnia chronicles at various points in my life and was interested in more, and (2) leaders of my church have often quoted this particular book, so I figured I’d see what all the hubbub was about.  Essentially C.S. Lewis here outlines Christian doctrine as he sees it and then discusses virtues which are essential to Christianity (not – to be clear – claiming that Christianity has a corner on them).  I’m far from a philosopher (and so – as he admits in the book – is Lewis), but I found the first part not entirely convincing.  While I enjoyed some of his doctrinal elucidations, I found some of his reasoning unclear, and he occasionally used the terrible “obviously” (using that rather than good reasoning when a point was not obvious, at least to this muddled reader). I got a little bit bored.

His behavioral expositions, on the other hand, were deeply insightful.  He both made points that I had never considered before and will review and also reframed behaviors I believe in with novel perspectives.  Either way, I highly recommend the book on that point.

I listened to the unabridged audiobook read by Geoffrey Howard, who did a solid job.  Also, the entire book is available on-line.

Below, I quote a few passages I really enjoyed.

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I have read a few Orson Scott Card books and enjoyed them (Ender’s Game, Speaker for the Dead, and the two that followed).  Anyway, for Mormon Times, he wrote a column with 3 summer reading recommendations for Mormons.  None look like page-turners, so I might wait until I get through Stephen King’s recommendations, but…

• “By the Hand of Mormon: The American Scripture That Launched a New World Religion, by Terryl L. Givens, is the single most effective defense and explanation of the Book of Mormon ever written. …
• Somewhere along the way, Christianity got lost, and Richard R. Hopkins shows exactly when and where it happened in his vital book How Greek Philosophy Corrupted the Christian Concept of God. …
• Whether the Christianity that came to dominate the Roman Empire was authentic or not, the fact remains that it did, and Rodney Stark does an excellent job of charting the process in Cities of God: The Real Story of How Christianity Became and Urban Movement and Conquered Rome.”

“All three of these books prove that good writing can make deep and important information accessible to the general reader.

Reading any of these books is also likely to raise your standards of what to expect from scholars, both in the church and the outside world. Once you know what good scholarship looks like, it’s harder to get taken in by nonsense.”

This was recommended by a friend.  My thoughts:

profound and practical insights about relationship to Jesus Christ, couched in an unfortunately mediocre “story”

The short: I recommend this book. I learned a great deal about those things that matter most. The writing isn’t great.

The story: Rick has an unhappy marriage. He is thinking of giving up. His deceased grandfather appears to him in vision and takes him to the scene of several Bible stories, teaching Rick how the Savior’s atonement applies to his marriage. Rick tries to implement the lessons.

The good: Ferrell highlights several elements of the atonement that I had not previously considered and others that I needed reminding of. He uses the story of Abigail in the Old Testament (I know: Who? But she’s really in there) as a metaphor for Christ suffering not only for our sins but for the sins of those who have offended us, leaving us with little recourse but to forgive (Chapters 3-7). He deepens the metaphor with the story of the prophet Jonah and his withholding of charity towards Nineveh even as the Lord had already forgiven (Chapters 9-14). He movingly fleshes out the Savior’s sacrifice in Gethsemane (Chapters 22-25). These are well worth the read.

The bad: A tiny fraction of the book is dedicated to the actual story, the rest is conversation between Rick and Grandpa and – mostly – monologues from Grandpa. Take the absurdly long speech from John Galt in Atlas Shrugged and multiply it by ten. The book is either too long (it should have been a series of essays, skipping the slim story altogether) or too short (it should have had a more developed story). Given that Ferrell’s writing is not exceptional, I vote for the former.

But since we cannot dictate terms to the author, I am left to recommend the book as it is. The insights outweigh the annoyances. In particular, I recommend Parts 1, 2, and 4.

This was a great, slim (I want to say little but I found it quite powerful) read.

excellent insights on many levels

When Richard Bushman sent the final proofs of Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling to the publisher, he started an author’s diary which he kept regularly for the following year, through publishing, reviews, book signings, lectures, and more. This slim book is that diary, and in just 130 pages it delivers the insights of several books. I think the book will be interesting to biographers who will see kindred struggles, to writers seeking to reach diverse audiences, and to Mormons who seek orthodoxy without sacrificing intellect. (It will be most interesting, however, if you have read Rough Stone Rolling.)

In the pages of this diary, we read Bushman’s candid reactions to reviews: “I realize I don’t like to read any kind of review, even the favorable ones. I am annoyed by what the reviewers choose to emphasize in Joseph’s life. Most of them pick up a few fragments and present them as if they were the key elements” (31-32). He also admits to monitoring other indicators of reception: “I look up my Amazon rank a couple of times a day. I tell myself I am curious about how the system works, but it is mostly vanity I know” (55). The play-by-play response to reviews illustrate the frustration of an author in seeking for his work to be understood and seeing reviewers read only part of the book or completely miss the point.

Bushman also provides some of his own doctrinal exposition. He is a practicing Mormon (a patriarch and a temple sealer, both respected positions in the Church) with – as he puts it – an orthodox testimony. “A man…said, I bet your testimony is different from that of people in this room. I said it was, but that I believed in the gold plates” (108). He shares in this very personal book some of his views on our relationship to God (60-61), his view of a potential new public persona for the Church (105-106), and spiritual counsel on how to deal with doubts about Joseph Smith (110-111).

Bushman’s principal dilemma in writing Rough Stone Rolling was trying to speak to both believing Mormons (many of whom have heard only praise for Joseph Smith throughout their lives) and curious non-Mormons (many of whom have never taken Smith seriously despite his accomplishments). As he reads reviews and gives talks, it becomes clear that he has lost some of the Mormons (one unnamed General Authority suggests his book will provide ammunition for anti-Mormons, others are supportive) and many of the non-Mormons (who see him as too sympathetic). He formulates an alternative approach he could have used to help non-Mormons along, and he questions (but ultimately defends) his decision to be explicit in his position as a practicing Mormon. Throughout, and especially in an essay he includes in the last few pages (123-127), he explores the question of how much of oneself to insert into a biography.

Finally, on a personal note, I enjoyed encountering books and people I have read. He talks about Greg Prince’s recent (excellent) David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism and about having interactions with Laurel Thatcher Ulrich (whom I have had the pleasure of getting to know). He talks about interactions with Church leaders – Elder Holland, Elder Packer. These made the book feel a little more like family.

Fascinating, quick read, with parts to be enjoyed more than once. Highly recommended.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book aimed at the believer.  My thoughts below, followed by notes on a number of portions of the book that struck me particularly.

a loving witness to the Prophet Joseph Smith

Truman Madsen here draws on a deep well of primary (and other) sources to bring the reader to know the prophet Joseph. Madsen writes, “If my elementary shifting of documents and sharing of impressions moves others to look not simply at Joseph Smith but through him to the Master – and, with those efforts, to take a searching look at themselves – my efforts will have been more than worthwhile” (p5).

This book is the written adaptation of Madsen’s famous Joseph Smith tapes, recorded from a series of lectures at BYU’s Education Week. I heard these tapes when I was a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in 1994 or 1995 and was deeply inspired. A few years ago, I borrowed a copy of the tapes from my brother and had a very different reaction: I found Madsen’s wildly dramatic delivery of the lectures distracting and annoying. But the stories were still powerful, so I obtained a copy of the book. I’m very glad that I did.

The book could be subtitled, “Marvelous and powerful stories you don’t know about the prophet Joseph Smith and his friends,” for ultimately – beyond the structure Madsen places on them – that is what the book entails. Much of the deliciousness appears in the footnotes, where Madsen gives his sources (again, most of them primary) and tells stories that don’t fit in the lectures.

The book starts from the assumption that Joseph Smith is a prophet and a good man. For a more historical and thorough treatment of Joseph Smith (also by a member of the Church), try Bushman’s Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling.

I found it very inspiring. It indeed led me to look beyond Joseph and the other early members to the Savior: their love for Him and for His work inspires me to seek to do and to be better.

Notes on my favorite parts below

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My mother-in-law gave me this sweet book for my birthday.  I must have marked up two-thirds of the pages.  Highly recommended.  My thoughts:

exceptional collection of thought and counsel

In this selective collection of discourses, Brother Eyring teaches us how to hear the Lord, how to heed, and how to help others. In almost every chapter, I found myself making abundant marginal notes, sometimes to remind myself to implement a piece of counsel in my life, sometimes to emphasize how true a point felt, and other times to make sure that I remember a point for when the opportunity to apply to arises. The counsel I read in this book has affected how I read the scriptures, how I pray, how I listen to lessons and talks in church, and how I will approach friends struggling with their faith. These aren’t changes because of what seem like good ideas (although they are) but rather because the teachings feel true.

Perhaps this book is better than the average “Teachings” volume because of its selectiveness. With only 15 talks, each talk in this slim volume exhibits insights and inspiration.

I recommend this book highly, as one of the two most spiritual (non-scriptural) volumes I have ever read; the other is Yearning for the Living God: Reflections from the Life of F. Enzio Busche. I intend to gift this book liberally.

Many of the talks are also available on-line. I list the talks and where they were given, with an asterisk by those I found particularly helpful during this reading. I’m sure that next time I will be inspired by different passages. 
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My wife gave me this interesting volume of history for our anniversary in 2006, and I’ve read it bit by bit over the last several months.  My thoughts:

worthwhile peek into the lives of ordinary saints

The best known characters of Mormon history are the presidents of the Church* (from Joseph Smith to Thomas Monson), Joseph Smith’s immediate relatives (such as Emma or Joseph Smith, Sr.), and a handful of other people included in the canonized works (such as the three witnesses of The Book of Mormon). Of course, the Church’s current membership of 13 million has been built by a much broader group of people. Arrington and Bitton draw on diaries, oral histories, and other sources to construct character sketches (most of them under ten pages) of 17 people who for the most part don’t fit into those categories; I’d only heard of a few of them. The subjects range from the founding of the Church in the mid-19th century to the people who grew up in the early 20th century (the book was published in 1981, after all).

Arrington and Bitton haven’t managed to write a page-turner (Don’t expect The Da Vinci Code or even Prince and Wright’s David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism), but the accounts contain enough choice experiences and insights into the evolving Church to make this volume well worth the reading.

I wish the book had included more women (only five of the 17), but to the authors’ credit, the subjects are diverse in other ways: one isn’t a member of the Church (Kane), one left the Church (Wight), one held firmly heterodox doctrinal beliefs (Ericksen), one grew up among Hopi traditionalists (Sekaquaptewa). The authors try not to pass judgment but rather to present the stories as the individuals or their families recorded them. The examples of these hardworking rank-and-file members inspired me in their imperfections as much as their diligence and faithfulness.

[I even encountered an ancestor of mine by surprise: Oscar Kirkham makes an appearance in the life of Edna Ericksen (p132).]

Here is a list of the book’s chapters, with the (sometimes approximate) vital dates as available in the book, to give a sense of the time spanned:

1. Joseph Knight: Friend to the Prophet (1773-1847)
2. Jonathan Hale: Preaching the Restored Gospel (1800-1846)
3. Lyman Wight: Wild Ram of the Mountains (?-1858)
4. Colonel Thomas L. Kane: A Friend in Need (?-1883)
5. Jean Baker: Gathering to Zion (?-1880)
6. Edwin Woolley: Bishop of the Thirteenth Ward (1807-1881)
7. Charles L. Walker: Sage of Saint George (?-1904)
8. Lucy White Flake: Pioneering Utah and Arizona (1842-?)
9. Edward Bunker: Living the United Order (1822-1901)
10. Lemuel H. Redd: Down the Chute to San Juan (1836-?)
11. Chauncey West: Nineteenth Century Teenager (1877-?)
12. George F. Richards: A Link in the Chain (1861-1950)
13. Helen Sekaquaptewa: Traditions of the Fathers (1898-?)
14. Ephraim and Edna Ericksen: The Philosopher and the Trail Builder (1882-1967, ?-?)
15. Margrit Feh Lohner: Swiss Immigrant (1914-?)
16. T. Edgar Lyon: Missionary, Educator, Historian (1903-1978)

* The Church refers to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

I recently finished this history of the presidency of Spencer W. Kimball, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1973-1985.  Here is what I wrote for Amazon:

part essential reading, part travelogue + an amazing CD-ROM

A few years ago, I read Edward and Andrew Kimball’s original biography of their father (Spencer W. Kimball, twelfth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). I failed to examine the publication date before starting the book and so was deflated to find that it ended in 1977, the year before the landmark event of Kimball’s presidency, the revelation lifting the priesthood ban for black members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Ed has filled the vacancy with this second biography, covering the years of his father’s presidency (1973-1985). The result is mixed but ultimately invaluable. The five chapters (20-24) discussing the priesthood revelation as well as the run-up and aftermath of the revelation are essential reading in LDS history and very well done. (They brought my aunt literally to tears of joy.) These chapters make this book an essential complement to David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism, which gives a wonderfully insightful look on the dynamics of the priesthood ban in the 1950s. A later chapter (38) deals with Spencer Kimball’s disability in his final years, and Ed’s frank treatment gives an important insight into how the Church works in this context. Throughout the book, Ed gives us lots of details about changes in church policy which I found interesting as a younger member of the Church. Finally, the first appendix (“Personal Encounters with Spencer Kimball”) is essentially a tribute, using the experiences of many people with President Kimball to demonstrate the President’s many virtues. Ed doesn’t shy from his father’s flaws in the course of the book (although he is admittedly a sympathetic biographer), but I found this final, loving section particularly inspiring, reading how President Kimball’s love for all people and his hard work permeated his life.

Sometimes the book devolves into travelogue and gets tiresome, as in the chapters on the area conferences (32-34). Those chapters still have interesting stories and useful history, but they drag. The flaw I found most frustrating throughout is that the book has no footnotes giving sources. Especially in the chapters on the priesthood revelation, Ed quotes regularly and for the careful reader, not having a footnote immediately available can be annoying.

The book comes with a CD-ROM that contains all the footnotes and much, much more. It includes the “writer’s cut” of the biography (rather than the compromise between writer and publisher. Julie Smith, in her review of the book, has compared the two cuts and found that the additional material in the writer’s cut generally consists of (1) “fat that any good editor would have cut,” (2) “material that recounted differences of opinion between members of the Quorum of the Twelve and/or the First Presidency,” (3) material that is more “liberal” (e.g., expression of President Kimball’s sympathy for Sonia Johnson, an LDS supporter of the ERA who was excommunicated, (4) additional demonstrations of human weaknesses, and (5) “text on topics that might be embarrassing to the Church (failed policies, bad public relations, …Kimball’s suggestion that the priesthood ban may have been an error, etc.)” [1]. Although I wish that more of the material had made it into the published book, I am glad that we have all of this material available on the CD-ROM.

The CD-ROM also contains five other books (Camilla: A Biography of Camilla Eyring Kimball, Ed and Andrew Kimball’s previous biography in both Spanish and English, and two other books on Spencer Kimball (this and this), and The Writings of Camilla Eyring Kimball). It also includes brief audio clips (most shorter than a minute) to demonstrate President Kimball’s voice before and after his throat surgery and a host of articles about President Kimball in BYU Studies, Dialogue, and Sunstone (among others). I look forward to enjoying the CD-ROM for a long time.

[1] Julie M. Smith, “Book review: Lengthen Your Stride: The Presidency of Spencer W. Kimball,” Times and Seasons (blog), 12 October 2005.