Saints

I didn't realize this was a book dealing with Mormonism when I scooped it up at the library. I almost took it back, but going to the library with 2 kids under 4 is no fun, so I decided to make the best of it. I really enjoyed the first half of the book (before the family became Mormons and moved to the new world). While the rest was historically interesting, I never could get into it. It did inspire me to know more about Joseph Smith (there is a huge Mormon church being built in our neighborhood), so I am now reading Rough Stone Rolling.

Not the book I thought it would be - very degrading to the memory of the early Saints & not consistent to actual history in regards to many of the characters. It ranks right up there with the play I saw at BYU written by a theater major about some adulterous pioneers.

same complaints as with his Rebekah book....I didn't like the way he portrayed Joseph Smith and the plural wife thing. Weird. The story about the girl sacrificing to join the church was touching, but he took too many liberties with Joseph's character. I prefer the historical fiction books that keep the real characters out of the main spotlight so that they pretty much stick to recorded sermons, etc.

Orson Scott Card is a literary genius. I was amazed at how he got me thinking at different levels. I really enjoyed the first half of this book immensely. Once he started into the Prophet's intimate side of life, it really went downhill for me. It made me uncomfortable and I felt the book lost some of it's perspective. I enjoyed the book but am not sure I would recommend it too much.

A chore to read

I am the biggest OSC fan in the world, but this book goes from impossibly dreary to miraculous mormon worship in 2 seconds flat. I'm disappointed and will not bevreading any of his stuff for a while.

Not a book I would recommend to just anyone, but it is one of my favorites! I used to get sick at just the mention of polygamy before reading this book. And while I'm not saying I would actually be able to live it now, I'm more at peace with it being in the LDS history. Card did paint the first two prophets pretty rough around the edges, but I didn't really have any problems with it. It made them more real to me. If you think you could go through the literal hell they did and not have some feelings of aggression or anger, I think you might be deluding yourself. Some things did bug me, but on the whole, I found it a moving story, and one that profoundly affected me and made me a better person for having read it.

In one of Orson Scott Card's essays I read several years ago, he mentioned that he got a lot of flak for this book. People didn't like how he wrote about Joseph Smith--his human-ness as well as his Prophet-ness. They didn't like seeing Emma as anything other than an "elect lady" or a apostate villain. Who would presume to speculate on how the Prophet spoke to his wife in bed? Orson Scott Card, that's who. Naturally, I had to read this book.

I found it at in the Chicago library system and raced through it much faster than I thought I would and found myself thinking about it and wishing I could pick it up more often than was really possible.

The story follows Dinah Kirkham, a young woman from Manchester, England, and her family as they move down and then up the social standings and eventually meet Heber C. Kimball (over 150 pages into the book). At this point, Dinah has been married for several years and has two children with Matthew Handy. This marriage was quickly arranged after an incident with the factory foreman. The Mormon missionaries are the only thing that brings some measure of joy into her life, and the gospel even makes her situation with Matthew better for a time. After several months, the Apostles tell the Saints that as many as can should move to Nauvoo to build the Kingdom of God.

Dinah's mother and one brother, Charlie, have joined the Church. Her husband and her other brother, Robert, have not. Dinah's father abandoned them when the children were young. Robert is a prosperous engineer, and Matthew works for him. Together they conspire to keep Dinah and her children in England with a charge of mental incompetency, and they serve her with that charge as she is on the boat for the United States before it leaves. She makes the most painful decision she could and leaves her children and goes to Nauvoo because of the bright and burning testimony she received months ago.

The rest of the book deals with her relationship with Joseph Smith, Vilate Kimball, and many other prominent figures in Church history. It discusses Joseph Smith's plural wives and how the doctrine of celestial marriage nearly tore the Church apart and was really the ultimate cause of the Prophet's martyrdom.

I can see why so many people did not like the book. It presents an unvarnished look at what those early days must have been like, especially for those plural wives. Through it all, however, is Dinah's unshakable testimony that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, that his revelations were true, and that whatever God required was right. This book does not tear down faith; it builds and strengthens.

Note: As you might guess from a book about polygamy, there is some sex. Never graphic, never inappropriate, never unrealistic. Having looked over some of the other reviews on this site, I noticed that many readers thought it "trashy" or some other such silly term. Sex is not inherently trashy; as members of this Church, we believe that the sexual relationship between husband and wife is one of the most sacred and special and beautiful of all our earthly relationships. It's not a sin to talk about it or describe certain aspects of it tastefully and with that idea of sacredness in mind. Certainly, there are encounters that are NOT sacred in this book, and they are treated as something significantly less so. But there are many good and proper encounters that are treated with realism and respect for their sacred character. Don't let a little reasonable description of husbands and wives turn you off from an excellent and uplifting book such as this.

Sorry but I had a huge issue with the main character after she joins the Mormon church and leaves her family (husband and children) for her faith. All credibility was lost at that point because lets just face it anyone who thinks that's ok or condones such behavior must be off their nut.