Jon Krakauer
Paperback | Pages: 400 pages Rating: 4 | 150024 Users | 10252 Reviews
Define Appertaining To Books Under the Banner of Heaven
| Title | : | Under the Banner of Heaven |
| Author | : | Jon Krakauer |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 400 pages |
| Published | : | 2004 by Pan MacMillan (first published July 10th 2003) |
| Categories | : | Nonfiction. Religion. History. Crime. True Crime. Mystery |
Narrative During Books Under the Banner of Heaven
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.Details Books As Under the Banner of Heaven
| Original Title: | Under the Banner of Heaven |
| ISBN: | 0330419129 (ISBN13: 9780330419123) |
| Edition Language: | English URL http://www.randomhouse.com/features/krakauer/response.html |
| Setting: | Utah(United States) |
| Literary Awards: | Colorado Book Award for General Nonfiction (2004) |
Rating Appertaining To Books Under the Banner of Heaven
Ratings: 4 From 150024 Users | 10252 ReviewsJudge Appertaining To Books Under the Banner of Heaven
This 2003 book by Jon Krakauer provides a well crafted interweaving of two histories: the origin and evolution of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), and a modern double murder committed in the name of God by brothers Ron and Dan Lafferty, who subscribed to a fundamentalist version of Mormonism. These histories are interrelated because the murder was motivated by endeavors of the Lafferty brothers to follow their understanding of the original manifestation of LDSThis book is fantastic. Krakauer looks at the history of violence in the Mormon religion (both against them and perpetrated by them) and how this violence, romanticized by modern fundamentalist Mormon polygamists, led two men to kill their sister-in-law and her baby because they said God told them to. These men felt, and continued to feel, no remorse because of their doctrine that "killing for the Lord" is entirely acceptable if it is necessary to do God's will.Krakauer's greater point is to
If you, like me, went to Catholic school as a child, you may remember the story of how God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his only son, Issac. But just as soon as Abraham got little Issac up to the top of the mountain and was standing over him with a dagger, God said, and I'm paraphrasing here, "LMFAO... you were really going to do it, weren't you?"While I admittedly can't remember exactly how my teachers framed this story, I don't think they wanted us to take it as a warning about walking off
The Spirit of AmericaHarold Bloom has called Mormonism the American Religion. Not only was it created in America, Mormonism also articulates the American Dream in both its history and its doctrine: the ultimate deification of its members united in a theocratic independence of civil authority. Mormonism, although a relatively small sect, represents the mainstream of American evangelical, perhaps national, consciousness. What Under the Banner of Heaven demonstrates, if nothing else, is just how
4.0 to 4.5 stars. For non-fiction, this book had me absolutely riveted from the very beginning. This true crime narative has three main themes, all of which I think Krakauer accomplishes extremely well. First, this is a true crime story of the brutal double murder of Brenda Lafferty and her 15 month old baby girl at the hands Ron and Dan Lafferty (the older brothers of Brendas husband). Second, is a survey of the origin and early history of Mormonism and the basic doctrines of the Mormon
You know, I probably shouldn't have read this directly after finishing In Cold Blood. I'm not saying the combination brought out the homicidal psychotic in me, but I did have to pay for stabbing the hell out of a turkey in the Albertson's meat section the other day. Is there a stranger sect out there than the Mormons? I mean, golden plates ... lost tribes ... Nephites battling Lamanites ... Orrin Hatch.... Well, yes, I guess one look at Tom Cruise jumping up and down on Oprah's couch suggests
this book is quite different from what i thought it would be. i was excepting in cold blood true crime vibes, and that is present, but much of the book explores the history of a particular religion and how extreme religious belief can sometimes inspire violent actions. while the in-depth history sections were not my favourite (ive never been a history person, no matter the topic), i love JKs writing. theres just something about it that makes me feel like he could take any subject and make it
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