Title: Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith Author: Jon Krakauer
Series/Standalone: Standalone
Genre: Nonfiction, True Crime, History
Pages: 432
Publisher: Anchor Books
Year Published: 2003
Format: Audiobook
"A Story of Violent Faith
A multilayered, bone-chilling narrative of messianic delusion, savage violence, polygamy, and unyielding faith. This is vintage Krakauer, an utterly compelling work of nonfiction that illuminates an otherwise confounding realm of human behavior.
Jon Krakauer's literary reputation rests on insightful chronicles of lives conducted at the outer limits. In Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith, he shifts his focus from extremes of physical adventure to extremes of religious belief within our own borders. At the core of his book is an appalling double murder committed by two Mormon Fundamentalist brothers, Ron and Dan Lafferty, who insist they received a revelation from God commanding them to kill their blameless victims. Beginning with a meticulously researched account of this "divinely inspired" crime, Krakauer constructs a multilayered, bone-chilling narrative of messianic delusion, savage violence, polygamy, and unyielding faith. Along the way, he uncovers a shadowy offshoot of America's fastest-growing religion, and raises provocative questions about the nature of religious belief.
Krakauer takes readers inside isolated communities in the American West, Canada, and Mexico, where some forty-thousand Mormon Fundamentalists believe the mainstream Mormon Church went unforgivably astray when it renounced polygamy. Defying both civil authorities and the Mormon establishment in Salt Lake City, the leaders of these outlaw sects are zealots who answer only to God. Marrying prodigiously and with virtual impunity (the leader of the largest fundamentalist church took seventy-five "plural wives," several of whom were wed to him when they were fourteen or fifteen and he was in his eighties), fundamentalist prophets exercise absolute control over the lives of their followers, and preach that any day now the world will be swept clean in a hurricane of fire, sparing only their most obedient adherents.
Weaving the story of the Lafferty brothers and their fanatical brethren with a clear-eyed look at Mormonism's violent past, Krakauer examines the underbelly of the most successful homegrown faith in the United States, and finds a distinctly American brand of religious extremism. The result is vintage Krakauer, an utterly compelling work of nonfiction that illuminates an otherwise confounding realm of human behavior."
My Rating: 1.5/5
This book has made me think about how I go into reading. Normally, I am not one to read the descriptions of books, as I feel they often give away too much or set my expectations up in a way that are not met. But lately, for nonfiction reads, I have found myself surprised time and time again about what I end up reading, not normally in biographies or memoirs, though. For this reason, I've decided I am going to read the descriptions of books before beginning to read them.
For example, I heard about this book online somewhere in relation to cults. After reading, I can see why it was put on the list it was in relation to cults, but it is more of a deep dive into Mormonism, the sects, and the continued beliefs that include or surround the religion. This is not what I thought I would be reading. I also didn't realize that it was quite so graphic with the crimes of the Lafferty brothers. As of right now, I don't know who I would recommend this book to, but I'm sure it is for someone, just not me.
Finally, the layout of this novel was well done. Switching between the past of the religion and leading to the present (at the time of publication), we do see the direct correlation and cause and effect; that being said, in audiobook format it was sometimes disorienting.
Sidny
