From: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com (aml-list-digest) To: aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: aml-list-digest V1 #485 Reply-To: aml-list Sender: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk aml-list-digest Wednesday, October 17 2001 Volume 01 : Number 485 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 17 Oct 2001 08:52:10 -0600 From: owner-aml-list@lists.xmission.com Subject: [none] t> for ; Mon, 15 Oct 2001 17:16:06 +0000 Received: from [24.1.39.139] by webmail.worldnet.att.net; Mon, 15 Oct 2001 17:16:06 +0000 From: maryjanejones@att.net To: aml-list@lists.xmission.com Subject: [AML] Geoffrey CARD, _God's Army_ (Book) Date: Mon, 15 Oct 2001 17:16:06 +0000 X-Mailer: AT&T Message Center Version 1 (May 2 2001) Message-Id:= <20011015171606.IOGS8481.mtiwmhc22.worldnet.att.net@webmail.worldnet.att.ne= t> Sender: owner-aml-list@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk Reply-To: aml-list [MOD: I don't know what went wrong with the earlier sending of this, so I'm= =20 trying it again...] This may be old news for some of you, but.... Excel Entertainment Group is venturing into the realm of=20 publishing with the upcoming release of GOD'S ARMY, the=20 book. Geoffrey Card, son of Orson Scott Card, has=20 completed his novelization of Richard Dutcher's film. =20 Expected release date is mid-November. Two additional=20 books by two different authors are expected to be released=20 next year based on the characters of Sister Fronk and=20 Elder Dalton. Here are some of the advance reviews (they'll likely be on=20 the jacket): "Astonishing insight into the missionaries=92 minds and=20 hearts. We see their burgeoning faith, understand their=20 unique struggles, and sympathize with their difficult=20 choices. This story is REAL." =97 Rachel Ann Nunes, best-selling author of the Ariana=20 series "An intense and powerful novel which, like the film, comes=20 about as near as anyone has ever done to capturing the=20 hard yet wonderful, soul-harrowing yet transforming=20 journey toward achieving the pure love of Christ that is a full-blown Mormon mission." =97 Richard H. Cracroft, Professor of English, BYU "The closest thing there is to a movie sequel. Geoffrey=20 Card writes in a rich voice, respecting the integrity of=20 the movie while richly filling in between the scenes. I=20 couldn't put it down! Cudos to Card and Dutcher." =97 Ron J. Hammond, Ph.D., Educator & Author _______________________ Mary Jane Jones Media Relations, Excel Entertainment Group - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Oct 2001 09:33:54 -0700 From: jltyner@postoffice.pacbell.net Subject: [AML] Re: (AML) Audience for Journals As respects to journal writing and Scott replying to his own post: I haven't always been consistent about keeping one but I did in my teens from about ages 13-18. When I have gone back and looked at how I felt and what I wrote it's been very revealing. I joined the LDS church when I was nearly fifteen and I've been able to read an account of a person evolving spiritually, mentally and physically. But, lest it sound like I was always high-minded and spirtiual there's an awful lot of entries about boys and shopping too. I try to keep that in mind when I'm exasperated with those same obsessions on my teenage daughter's part, . When I do buckle down and write now I always write with a future audience in mind, specifically my children and their children. And I know it will mean something to them. I know this because my husband's mother died when she was only fifty, (way too young to go), and the small amount of journal entries she made comforted him and made him cry wishing she had said more. Besides that journal and the letter she wrote him on his mission and his memories of their many conversations, that's all he has of her thoughts and hopes and dreams. He knows that's more than many have, he just wishes he had more. BTW, he's a lot more consistent and timely about keeping up his own journal. Kathy Tyner - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 13 Oct 2001 02:30:26 -0600 From: "D. Michael Martindale" Subject: Re: [AML] Horizon Publisher Thom Duncan wrote: > Did I fail to mention that I've found several copies of my novel stuffed > away in used LDS bookstores? That's almost as discouraging as having not > sold a copy: to have sold a copy and then someone didn't like it enough to > keep it. I found a copy of my opera in a used CD shop once. I know how you feel. But the next time I visited the shop, it had been sold. Redemption. - -- D. Michael Martindale dmichael@wwno.com ================================== Check out Worldsmiths, the new online LDS writers group, at http://www.wwno.com/worldsmiths Sponsored by Worlds Without Number http://www.wwno.com ================================== - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Oct 2001 11:48:25 -0500 From: Larry Jackson Subject: [AML] Re: The List and the WTC Frank Maxwell: Larry, how would one obtain a copy of the talk that was presented? After reading your description of the process, I'd like to read the final version. ... [MOD: I think I would prefer not to post this one to the List, since the topic isn't primarily literary.] Larry Jackson: In the meantime, I'll ask if it's ok with my co-conspirator, since the words weren't all mine. ... _______________ I have corrected the spelling of conspirator, and have also obtained permission to send if anyone else is interested. But you'll have to be brave and ask, as Frank did. Please contact me directly at my address below, not through the List. The talk is in a little five-page pdf file that will look just as it did to those 12 lucky souls who got to give it that Sunday. If you don't have to look up any of the big words, it should take just less than 10 minutes to read. :-> On behalf of the terminally curious ... Larry Jackson ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/. - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Oct 2001 17:13:25 -0400 From: "robert lauer" Subject: Re: [AML] Gen. Conf. Music Concerning "If You Could to Kolob", Scott Parkin wrote: It's a really interesting speculation on the >nature >of both the spiritual and the physical realms. One of Mormondom's >earliest efforts at speculative literature. > I thought that the ideas were based soundly in modern day revelation, LDS scripture and the Endowment ceremny. Since it had been in our hymn book for--what? Over a century?--doesn't this put its concepts more in the line of official Church doctrine than mere "speculative literature?" ROB LAUER - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2001 12:04:38 -0700 From: "LauraMaery (Gold) Post" Subject: Re: [AML] Nobel Winner V.S. Naipaul >His book "Among the Believers" is a damning indictment of >Islam, not just "Islamic fundamentalism"; he doesn't see much >of a difference. >It's stunning to observe that notoriously left-leaning organization >giving the award to this author. You wouldn't be so stunned if Volume 2 condemned Mormonism and Mormon Fundamentalism with the same broad brush. Eh? - --lmg - --------- WHAT DO WE DO? We homeschool! Here's how: "Homeschool Your Child for Free." Order your copy today, from Amazon.com. - --------- . - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2001 14:40:58 -0600 From: Christopher Bigelow Subject: [AML] Mormon Missionary Bibliography [MOD: I'm going to get in here with something I've had in mind for quite a while. Every now and then, we do these kinds of focused bibliographies over AML-List, usually prompted by Andrew Hall's work. It seems to me that if it can be done without too much work, it would be a fine thing to post the resulting bibliographies on the AML or AML-List Web page. The problems I can see are that (a) this would need someone to go through and do fairly careful formatting, and (b) we wouldn't want to post something unless it was complete enough to be useful and we kept it updated on a regular basis. Which probably means a volunteer of some kind. But still, it strikes me that a bibliography compiled, more or less, as a group project would probably be wider and more useful than anything any one person could do, unless he/she (like Marny Parkin's Mormon sf&f bibliography, which I would also love to give a home on the AML or AML-List page, or a link to wherever else it currently resides) puts a tremendous amount of time into something for purely altruistic reasons... Anyway, enough on this thought. Please feel free both to (a) respond to my suggestion here, or (b) add titles to Chris's list below.] Following is a weakly annotated bibliography of what's in my personal Mormon missionary collection. I'm going to post this to AML-List to see if people can help flesh it out at all. (I maintain the collection as background material for my own writing about missionaries--I'm still dabbling with my own missionary memoir 7-8 hours per week.) Let me know if you have anything else or any insights on any of these. Anything major missing? Allred, Gordon T., The Companion, Bookcraft, 1992, 222 pgs Fiction about a dad serving alongside his son, likely nauseatingly didactic. I haven't read it yet. Anderson, Paris, Waiting for the Flash, Scotlin Company, 1988, 133 pgs A fictionalized missionary journal. Lots of internal strife, some conflict with the missionary mindset. Bennion, John, Falling Toward Heaven, Signature Books, 2000 The first third of this novel takes place during the last few months of the narrator's mission, with some interesting characterization of companion and mission president and some unsettled feelings in the narrator. Bingham, Mike, 101 Missionary Stories You Won't Read in The Ensign, Slickrock Books, 1998, 96 pgs Humorous anecdotes from Robert Kirby's press. I haven't read it yet. Bott, Randy L., Prepare with Honor: Helps for Future Missionaries, Deseret Book, 1995, 111 pgs Obviously didactic. I haven't read it yet but bought it to get a flavor of issues on the table. Bytheway, John, What I Wish I'd Known Before My Mission, Deseret Book, 1996, 122 pgs Obviously didactic. I plan to mine it for anecdotes and issues. Cornwall, Marie, et al (eds), Contemporary Mormonism, University of Illinois Press "Part 3: The Mormon Missionary Experience" includes the following chapters: Shepherd, Gordon and Gary, "Sustaining a Lay Religion in Modern Society: The Mormon Missionary Experience" Parry, Keith, "The Mormon Missionary Companionship" Wilson, William A, "Powers of Heaven and Hell: Mormon Missionary Narratives as Instruments of Socialization and Social Control Knowlton, David, "'Gringo, Jeringo': Anglo Mormon Missionary Culture in Bolivia (I haven't read any of these yet.) Eaton, Robert I., Thrust in Your Sickle, But Watch Your Fingers, Horizon Publishers, 1998, 190 pgs Novel in a faithful mode with possible funny or revealing anecdotes. I haven't read it yet. Farmer, Gladys, Elders and Sisters, Seagull Books, 1977, 162 pgs I read this a long time ago. I think it's connected short stories laced with some realism and skepticism. Gagon, David, Honorable Release, Signature Books, 1992, 246 pgs Kind of a potboiler plot about a murderer loose among missionaries, if I remember right. It's been too long since I read it. Hall, Randall L., Cory Davidson, Thomson Productions, 1984, 188 pgs Novel about a missionary committing fornication and going AWOL, then finding redemption. Not too literarily accomplished. Hughes, Dean, and Hughes, Tom, We'll Bring the World His Truth, Deseret Book, 1995, 97 pgs Airbrushed, faith-promoting missionary anecdotes from around the world, many of them historical rather than contemporary. Melonakos, C.M., Tracting Made Easy, 1991 Haven't read it yet. Might yield interesting insights into the tracting burden. Mitchell, Alan Rex, Angel of the Danube, Bonneville Books, 2000, 197 pgs An lively, unusual novel about the last few months of a mission in Austria and first few weeks home. Some realism and humor woven in, bears down in testimony from time to time. Ostland, D. Glenn, Mormon Missionary Folklore Virtual Web Archive, http://php.indiana.edu/~dostlund/newpage.htm Lots of good stories collected here that I'm just beginning to read. Ostling, Richard N. and Ostling, Joan K., Mormon America, HarperSanFrancisco, 1999 Chapter on missionaries titled "Two by Two" I read it awhile ago and don't remember specifics. Palfreyman, Ross H., Two Years in God's Mormon Army, Shumway Publishing Company, 1998, 205 pgs A conversational account of a Thailand missionary experience. Not professionally accomplished, but readable and somewhat insightful about missionary life. A little questioning and facing of challenges, but mostly cheerful adventuring. Parkinson, Benson, The MTC: Set Apart, Aspen Books, 1995, 295 pgs Parkinson, Benson, Into the Field, Aspen Books, 2000, 226 pgs Two of the most accomplished missionary novels, with lots of deep characterization and realistic but ultimately faith-promoting facing up to missionary challenges. Petsco, Bela, Nothing Very Important and Other Stories, Meservydale Publishing Company, 1979, 209 pgs It's been too long since I read these interlinked missionary stories to comment much, but I think there's some juicy, earthy human stuff mixed in with glimpses of faith. Pinegar, Ed J., The Ultimate Missionary Companion, Covenant Communications, 2001, 171 pgs Another didactic work to mine for issues. Raleigh, Robert, In Our Lovely Deseret: Mormon Fictions, Signature Books, 1998. Includes at least two short stories about missionaries, both with gay themes, if I remember right: Townsend, Johnny, "Almond Milk" Gullino, Derek, "Sleuths" Shepherd, Gary, and Shepherd, Gordon, Mormon Passage: A Missionary Chronicle, University of Illinois Press, 1998, 454 pgs Presents parts of these two brothers' missionary journals and analyzes how missionaries are socialized. Somewhat academic in approach. I've only skimmed it. Skousen, Jeffrey G., All I Ever Needed to Know I Learned on My Mission, Bonneville Books, 2001, 94 pgs Didactic but perhaps some anecdotes can be stripped out. Thomas, Ralph, Everything You Need to Know About a Mission (cartoons), Repent! Publishing, 1997 Kind of like a graphic novel, but amateurish looking. I haven't read it thoroughly. Wilson, William A., On Being Human: The Folklore of Mormon Missionaries (pamphlet), Utah State University, 1981, 24 pgs Some good insights and stories. [I was also recently gifted with complete collections of both Dialogue and Sunstone, and I intend to go through all those eventually, trawling for missionary stories and articles. Any headstart on that would be appreciated.] Chris Bigelow - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2001 14:42:55 -0500 From: "REWIGHT" Subject: Re: [AML] Cedar Fort Publishing > > The writing is getting better--we are getting national manuscripts and > developing them. To survive in the publishing market, Cedar Fort has done > some "author participation" plans, which is close to vanity, but not quite. Hi Marilyn, Thank you for the info. What exactly do you mean by "author participation"? I thought the first rule of being a writer is that nothing comes out of the writers pocket. Money always flows from the publisher to the writer. Anna Wight - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2001 15:13:46 -0600 From: "Ethan Skarstedt" Subject: RE: [AML] Gen. Conf. Music Robert Lauer said: >Maybe they chose this hymn because it is NOT weird and loopy, but conveys=20 >Mormonism's unique and positive view of the cosmos... >... I think this hymn is exactly the type of music we should be performing when=20 >the world is watching us. We may attract an entirely different type of=20 >convert--a type that, sadly enough, we seldom get. I agree. Our unique (or as some would put it 'weird') view of the cosmos hangs together awfully well. I have long been of the opinion that serious minded logical folks would be more attracted by the 'deep doctrine' that we so rabidly avoid sharing than to the fluffy, 'if it makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside then it must be true' approach. And to that end I have a story to share. I am a member of the National Guard, 1/19th Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Camp Williams, Utah. I am privileged to be serving in that unit with some of the most intelligent and self-disciplined people I know. Most of them are non-members. One afternoon as we were hurriedly waiting, the discussion began to revolve around religious beliefs. Mormonism had usually been poo-poohed out of hand in these discussions due, I firmly believe, to the other LDS member of my section taking the fluffy approach (as described above) on far too many occasions. Several of the other members of my section are self-styled 'modern druids', another actually has 'pagan' imprinted on his dog-tags and yet another claims to be an Odinist. When these folks got around to talking about the after-life and what they expected to happen, the Odinist, who had just finished describing Valhalla, turned to me and said something along the lines of 'Doesn't that sound cooler than your ascetic Christian heaven?'=20 I couldn't help it, and replied 'That does indeed sound pretty cool. But as a Mormon I believe I will become a God after I die and frankly Valhalla just doesn't hold a candle to making and breaking Universes.' Stunned silence followed for a moment and then the questions began. I was able to give a short discourse on Mormon theology and was rewarded when the 'Pagan' suddenly burst out, 'So you're talking about infinite progression, we keep learning forever, right?' I allowed as how that was the crux of it and we all agreed that that was indeed pretty cool. As of yet there have been no converts from my section but Mormonism is no longer poo-poohed. So, the new and improved literary tie-in? I think watering down our theology in our writing, singing, art etc... is a dangerous path to start down. Diamond hard truth is the only way to go and if that includes singing a cool hymn like, 'If you could hie to Kolob' in public occasionally, then so be it. Those people whose minds are blown by their inability to grasp the concepts will be replaced by those who would be annoyed by the fluff. Ethan Skarstedt - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2001 16:13:12 -0600 From: "Todd Petersen" Subject: Re: [AML] Gen. Conf. Music Rob Lauer said that he shared "Kolob" years ago with an archeologist = friend of=20 mine and that she was blown away by it and that she ended up joining the = Church. He went on to say: "I think this hymn is exactly the type of music we should be performing = when=20 the world is watching us. We may attract an entirely different type of=20 convert--a type that, sadly enough, we seldom get." I was, in part, converted by this hymn. When I read this I decided that I = could hang up the bong and pick up the scriptures and not miss out on any = mind-bending experiences. I wish that there had been more hymns and such like that for me, I might = have moved a little faster. - -- Todd Robert Petersen - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2001 17:15:11 -0600 From: Scott and Marny Parkin Subject: Re: [AML] Stories about War Marilyn Brown wrote: >Amazing--you picked up on it...How did you discover the dates matched? Actually, I noticed the coincidence while reading your book, _The Wine Dark Sea of Grass_ late last week (I finished last night; review coming tomorrow). I was so intrigued that I looked it up in my Encyclopedia Britanica to confirm the date (yes, the Brits included an entry on the event--a reasonably neutral article, btw). I've now been knocking around the idea of a day being cursed and how that might be worked into a Mormon story. Scott Parkin - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2001 19:19:22 EDT From: OmahaMom@aol.com Subject: [AML] Coincidences and _Left Behind_ Re: Historical "coincidences" and other items Or maybe not... Elijah visited the Prophet Joseph at the time the Jewish people were holding their Seder--where a place is set for the return of the prophet Elijah. He did come back--just not for dinner. Joseph got the gold plates on the Feast of Trumpets--a time of forgiveness. There's a lot of interesting things in history & in the gospel that could be researched for possible eternal connections--might make some very interesting stories. And while we have had the "Left Behind" series reviewed & discussed, with possible impact--non-impact, or preaching to the choir of converted, may I say that sometimes the literature isn't as important as the message &/or the timing. I investigated the Church because of a book which I checked out of the library called "Why I am a Mormon." It touched my heart and I recognized what I was looking for. I read it years later--and wondered what I saw in it. I sort of enjoy "Left Behind", but my conception of what the scriptures describe is very different from from LeHaye's. One example: I can't believe that suddenly there were piles of clothes, dentures, jewelry, eyeglasses, etc. where before there had been normal people (albeit the converted, dedicated born-again Christian) sitting, talking, working, etc. That's his way of demonstrating the "now they're here, now they're not" of the Rapture. Whether he actually perceives the converted being caught up au natural might be an interesting discussion. There are many stories that could be told, some should be told. Others may well be a waste of paper--or a deliberate distraction from where we should be. I see no reason why the Latter-day Saint artist can not be successful in their chosen genre, or shouldn't be. Financial success may not necessarily mean purity of motive, of ethic, belief nor does it necessarily mean that purity of ideals has been sold to the devil if we're to attain some success. BY is quoted sometimes as saying that "it's a sin not to become rich if you have the means because poor people can not help poor people." It takes money to purchase food, clothing & shelter, to print books, to educate minds, etc. So it's up to us to determine what we want to do with our talents, whether we're going to write the great Mormon novel, paint the great Mormon masterpiece, or if we're going to put forth some stuff that puts bread on the table with maybe some occasional jam. If we have as our goal along with our creativity to also perhaps convert some soul along the way, that may happen as well, in some of the strangest, least likely ways. Sci fi can be a medium of teaching, just as well as a gospel discourse--though perhaps more subtlely to be effective. I expect to see some great things coming from the members of this list judging from the ideas being tossed around. A new day may well be a-dawning Karen [Tippets] - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2001 18:10:46 -0600 From: "Alan Rex Mitchell" Subject: Re: [AML] Stories about War Now just hold on a minute. The MMM wasn't terrorism by any current definition. I think you meant just 'massacre in US History.' I guess all the Indian massacres didn't count? Nor the war massacres? Nor Mai Lai? I think Hiroshima was probably a bigger massacre than MMM. And the coincidence of 9-11? Is Mormon Lit supposed to be superstitious? I'll answer that--NO! Let's not have any talimans in our thinking. More Kolob please. Alan Mitchell - ----- Original Message ----- From: "robert lauer" > Interesting point. Another fact: Until the Oklahoma Bombing on June 19, > 1995, the Mountain Meadows Massacre had the destinction of being the single > worst act of terrorism in U.S. history. > ROB LAUER - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Oct 2001 15:00:11 -0600 From: Lynette Jones Subject: [AML] Joseph Smith as Character A thought on the matter of writing the story of Joseph Smith from a 21st Century viewpoint. Joseph Smith was often accused of being a scoundrel. For that matter, he was accused of many other things, true or false. Emma obviously did not have an easy time living with such a man. Often, if we look at the false accusations as lies and deceptions of the half-truth nature, we can learn something, from the part that is true, of the side of Joseph that he struggled to tame. How would that shape an author's honest assessment of a mortal man that is loved and hated? I have often thought, if I was trying to write a part in a drama that truly depicted Joseph Smith's personality, I would write for an actor like Harrison Ford. It is a wonder to me that possibly the only thing to stop Joseph's powerful story from becoming another "Raiders of the Lost Ark" type of adventure is the fact that Heavenly Father stepped in with very strict and loving discipline for Joseph. He also educated Joseph with a deeper education than any professor of archeology could get in a lifetime. Top that off with a similar education in theology, government and law. Phew! No wonder the powers of that "scoundrel" were channeled in such a powerful way, as to change the world. Would we, as Latter-day Saints be able to show how this process made Joseph's weaknesses into strengths? It would be a strong man with a strong sense of self not to be crushed by the pressure of the responsibilities Joseph bore through his life. It was a wise mother who had learned, by the time Joseph was trying to decide which church to join, that this son needed a lot of room and would not tolerate harsh pressure to join any one particular church. She seemed to understand that he would keep his own counsel on the matter. He had established well, by then, his own sense of identity. No man or woman would dictate to him their counsel, for he had his own gifts in that and was learning to rely on himself only for such. And yet, he was sensitive, with much wisdom and understanding. He might have leaned on his wife and his mother, as well as Hyrum, to discern truth. Emma and Hyrum and his father would have been able to teach him about the spirit of the fear God. These relationships, is there some way to communicate how they shaped him so that he would be a good instrument in God's hand? LCJ - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2001 21:26:27 -0400 From: "Tom Johnson" Subject: [AML] Re: Mormon Missionary Bibliography Chris, this is a great list. Let me add a few. I think Cracroft put = together a bibliographic list like this several years ago, but I've = never seen it. I have heard that Card's novel Saints (or was it = Charlie?) has a good depiction of Mormon missionaries. A short story in = Walter Kirn's _My Hard Bargain_ has a great story about a missionary = just returned from somewhere in somewhere in the Far East. The story is = told from the perspective of his younger brother. The RM begins smoking, = turns buddhist, and adopts a non-solids diet to purge himself only = months after his return. Very high quality. There's also another story = in there about missionaries--but neither of these are told from the = perspective of the missionary, so they may not qualify for this = bibliography. Udall's Miracle Life of E. Mint has a few chapters on = missionaries, but again, not from the pov of the missionary, which I = think is essential. I've thrown in a few interspersed comments on your = quotes. Cornwall, Marie, et al (eds), Contemporary Mormonism, University of = Illinois Press=20 "Part 3: The Mormon Missionary Experience" includes the following = chapters:=20 Shepherd, Gordon and Gary, "Sustaining a Lay Religion in Modern = Society: The Mormon Missionary Experience"=20 this is a chptr. from Shepherd's book, I think. I skimmed through = his book--very dry. the sociological analysis is mostly explanations of = missionary life for non-members. and the narrative parts are = word-for-word type ups of his journals, which are very typical of the = missionary's journal--self-righteous, prejudiced, generalizing, naive, = small-minded, and annoying. I think my journals are about the same = caliber, unfortunately. it is why i don't read them. Wilson, William A, "Powers of Heaven and Hell: Mormon Missionary = Narratives as Instruments of Socialization and Social Control=20 This was a great chapter--very entertaining as well as revealing to = learn that many stories I had heard on my mission were more like myths = told by missionaries of all missions. It's basically a collection of all = the stories missionaries tell that seem somewhat fictive but through = that fiction provide a moral instrument to control missionary = disobedience. Ostland, D. Glenn, Mormon Missionary Folklore Virtual Web Archive, = http://php.indiana.edu/~dostlund/newpage.htm=20 Lots of good stories collected here that I'm just beginning to read. = =20 I read a few of these and was disappointed with the quality of the = storytelling. Seemed very low caliber. =20 Ostling, Richard N. and Ostling, Joan K., Mormon America, = HarperSanFrancisco, 1999=20 Chapter on missionaries titled "Two by Two"=20 I read it awhile ago and don't remember specifics.=20 This chapter was much tamer than the others in Ostlings' book. = Writing from a journalistic perspective, the Ostlings, some kind of = Protestants, try to dig up "the story" on every aspect of Mormonism. The = story is of course the controversy that exists in each aspect, but the = Ostlings don't always present the pro-Mormon side with the thoroughness = that would seem to eliminate bias, and so the book feels anti-mormon by = the end. Palfreyman, Ross H., Two Years in God's Mormon Army, Shumway = Publishing Company, 1998, 205 pgs=20 A conversational account of a Thailand missionary experience. Not = professionally accomplished, but readable and somewhat insightful about = missionary life. A little questioning and facing of challenges, but = mostly cheerful adventuring. I saw this on the web. I asked him to post a chapter, b/c I didn't = want to send him a check for $30 for a vanity press book. He never = posted the chapter, as far as I know. But he said, "I think you'll like = it." =20 Parkinson, Benson, The MTC: Set Apart, Aspen Books, 1995, 295 pgs=20 Parkinson, Benson, Into the Field, Aspen Books, 2000, 226 pgs=20 Two of the most accomplished missionary novels, with lots of deep = characterization and realistic but ultimately faith-promoting facing up = to missionary challenges.=20 I've started both of these but just can't seem to get into them. I = think the problem is that Parkinson splits the narrative into four = separate missionary stories, so that by the time I just begin to get = into one, we go to the other. And while I like the style, I think the = sense of story is somewhat lacking. =20 Petsco, Bela, Nothing Very Important and Other Stories, Meservydale = Publishing Company, 1979, 209 pgs=20 It's been too long since I read these interlinked missionary stories = to comment much, but I think there's some juicy, earthy human stuff = mixed in with glimpses of faith. I read 3/4 of the book. The stories seemed very light to me, almost = like vignettes, with no real connection between the two other than the = same name of an elder, who I assume is Petsco fictionalized. They are = semi-enjoyable, but no overarching story seemed to be developing. Very = entertaining sketches throughout the book. =20 Pinegar, Ed J., The Ultimate Missionary Companion, Covenant = Communications, 2001, 171 pgs=20 Another didactic work to mine for issues.=20 Just a question, Do general authorities receive personal royalties = for their books? If so, isn't that kind of shoddy, using their status as = a GA to make a profit?=20 Without romance--I think this was the title. I saw this play about = five years ago at BYU. I thought it was produced by Eric Samuelson. The = play is basically about a missionary who has sex with a porn star and = then gets sent home, as I remember. very high quality. Mysterious Ways--this is a play by Ben Toronto that was recently = read in New York. The focus is on one missionary with one = investigator--the investigator turns out to be the long lost brother now = turned gay of the missionary. the two don't quite put their kinship = together until the last scene, and the missionary uses their kinship as = a toehold for the gospel--"you do need Jesus Christ to overcome the pain = that was inflicted on me by father after you ran away," says the = missionary. very vehement arguments about homosexuality, but ultimately = the detour into the surprise kinship supplants any resolution to the = problem of homosexuality. i've just given away the plot--sorry. East of the River of Birds, by Patrick Madden. Pat's at Ohio working = on some missionary stories, nonfiction. i've read the few that he has = posted on his website--they are quite good, but i think they are all = short ones that only interact vaguely and do not connect to an overall = book. in other words, it is a book of short stories. i think his website = is losmadden.com. he served in uraguay, which i think gives way to the = title of the book, it being the nickname of the country.=20 The Fire of Faith, by John Groberg. Granted, didactic, and not, in = my opinion, entirely honest, but there are some good stories in there, = and if you skip over the sermonizing, the stories are well told. I've = only read select chapters (recommended to me), though, so on the whole I = can't say how the rest stack up. A Missionary Experience, by Kenneth Packer. I just read a book = review in an old issue of Dialogue (like 1970s). Apparently Packer = disliked the missionary style of teaching and complained and complained = until finally he got permission to talk to the apostles or to someone = high up--the high up guys scolded him for his disobedience and told him = he should have been focusing on his mission. So the reviewer gave the = impression that the missionary was quite juvenile. [Tom Johnson] - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2001 21:21:38 -0600 From: Barbara Hume Subject: Re: [AML] Reviews, CARD and HAMILTON At 09:17 PM 10/11/01 -0700, you wrote: > I was lying uncovered on a metal table across the room. > Dad lifted me gently. I was very clean...and I was gray and beginning >to cool. A little clay boy is what I was. > "Breathe," Dad said. This one sounds wonderful, Sue. I'm on the side of the many who have commented that they avoid the Oprah's Club books. I like books that acknowledge God's existence and his relationship with us without being preachy. And the style is marvelous. barbara hume - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 17 Oct 2001 01:41:27 +0000 From: "Andrew Hall" Subject: [AML] William F. Christensen Obituary MEMBER WILLIAM F. CHRISTENSEN DIES AT AGE 99 http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2001/10/16/MN30372.DTL Willam F. Christensen, lifetime member of the Church and the "grandfather of American ballet," recently passed away at age 99. Christensen was the founder of San Francisco Ballet and Salt Lake City's Ballet West. He also choreographed the first American "Nutcracker" in San Francisco. Christensen's grandfather, a pioneer, traveled by boat from Denmark to New York and by ox-drawn cart from New York to Utah, where Christensen was later born in 1902. _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 17 Oct 2001 00:03:38 -0600 From: Scott and Marny Parkin Subject: [AML] BROWN, _The Wine Dark Sea of Grass_ (Review) Brown, Marilyn McMeen. _The Wine Dark Sea of Grass._ Springville, Utah: Salt Press, 2001. $24.95 hardcover, 393 pages. ISBN 1-55517-529-5. Reviewed by Scott Parkin There are a few stories that form the basis of the larger Mormon community: the first vision, the attack at Haun's mill, the martyrdom, the trek west, both the establishment and the dissolution of polygamy. In all of these stories it's the Mormons who are either directly blessed by the hand of God, or are persecuted for His sake by evil people. We're the good guys. But our other foundational story is not as complimentary--the story of the massacre of the Fancher party at Mountain Meadows in southern Utah. In that story the Mormons are the aggressors, the ones who crossed the line from anger into violence. It is where we fail our own ideals and become no better than the mob we decry. It is where our community fractured and our fragile unity failed. As such, it is at least as important to the establishment of our community as the many positive stories; it's the story that whispers in our ears that we, too, are human and reminds us of our own need for forgiveness and understanding. For some reason, the story of the Mountain Meadows massacre has become very popular recently. Many books either have been released or will soon be released dealing with this foundational story of the Mormon experience. Marilyn McMeen Brown led this latest charge with her historical novel set against the backdrop of the Mountain Meadows massacre, _The Wine Dark Sea of Grass._ The story is set in south-central Utah beginning in 1857, and follows the lives of the fictional Lorry family, a polygamist clan that lives and works in the same area as John D. Lee. The story covers a twenty-year span from a few days before the Mountain Meadows massacre until a few days after John D. Lee's execution for leading the massacre. In the interim, the Lorrys interact with Lee, his family, and the surrounding communities as we see the aftermath of the massacre unfold. Brown captures a sense of the grand sweep of events, creating an almost mythic quality for her story and its characters. She creates interesting, varied characters that deal not only with the horror of the events before, during, and after the massacre, but that also offer a fresh look into the broader community of the Saints and the issues they struggled with during that critical time in our history. I strongly recommend the book to any Mormon reader who wants to learn more about both the Mountain Meadows massacre and about the lives of early Saints trying to establish both a physical and a cultural Zion. It is told with heart, strength, and compassion. It is well-written and solidly paced. It is a good novel. But I do have to add one strong caveat--this story is told from firmly within the mainstream Mormon community and strongly supports the view that the tragedy at Mountain Meadows was an accident, a case of good people participating in events that they had no power to control. It does not whitewash the events of that night, but it does attempt to mitigate them and to show the struggles of good people dealing with a terrible mistake. I don't consider this a problem. I believe stories need to be told from every perspective and every slant--especially important foundational stories like this one. I mention it so that readers go in with eyes open. I strongly recommend it as part of the canon of that event. While it successfully treads a difficult line that condemns the events without necessarily condemning the participants, it does fall clearly in the "we were provoked" camp. Get this book and read it; it's worth your time and will provide you with both a clean artistic presentation and a well-told story that touches both the heights and depths of emotion. And when you're done, read other books with other perspectives of the Mountain Meadows massacre, especially Juanita Brooks' excellent history of those events. This a story worth telling, and a book worth reading. Highly recommended. Some additional thoughts, mostly reader reaction and personal interpretation stuff... It May Be History, But It's Also Romance ======================================== A few years ago I reviewed Jaroldeen Edwards' book, _Hannah, Mormon Midwife._ In that review I described the book as historical romance and enumerated some of my frustrations with what appeared to be conventions of that genre. I later heard from a family member of hers that her only complaint about my review was, "But it wasn't a romance." I admit that I don't really know the distinctions between a historical and a historical romance and a straight romance, so I may well have been wrong is classifying Jaroldeen Edwards' book as historical romance. Sadly, in the interim I have not become more educated on those distinctions, so I may be doing Marilyn Brown a disservice by making the same assertion here. If so, I apologize, but I think the point deserves to be made. This is a book that will appeal to women more than men, I think, because at its heart it's a romance. The key focus is on an odd love quadrangle between Elizabeth and the three men in her life--J.B. Lorry, the man she's married to but doesn't love; Jacob Lorry, J.B.'s son and the man deeply in love with her; and John D. Lee, her icon of perfect manhood and the object of her inner longing. All other events revolve around this core issue--would she find happiness in love with any of these men? There are other characters and relationships and situations, but they serve mainly to provide contrast to Elizabeth's struggle to find love. I found this focus to be quite distracting for a couple of different reasons. First, I approached this novel believing it was a historical about the Mountain Meadows massacre. While the massacre certainly played a part in the story, it was a true backdrop, a context against which to hang the foreground love story. As such, the narrative often short-changed historical detail in favor of exploring relationships among the various characters. This is not really a problem, but it did leave me frustrated for the first half of the book as I looked for more documentary history-type stuff. Until I figured out that it was a romance first, and a historical second. Second, I was often unclear about why the characters did what they did. Oddly, I think this is a feature of historical novels and originates from the author's attempts to stay true to the available historical sources--which are usually quite clear on times, places, and events, but notoriously weak on specific motivations. As a result, we have entire characters whose actions are a complete mystery to me, especially Maggie who does outrageous things throughout for no other reason than that she just does stuff like that. I think it's the maleness in me that wants events to have reasons. I don't have to agree with the reasons, but I do like to know what they are. In the case of Maggie, I would have liked any justification to explain her pathological need to lie even when the truth would serve her better. I never understood her vicious attacks on John D. Lee or her instinct to destroy everyone around her. I accept that some people can't be understood, but in a novel that revolved through a double-handful of POVs, I would have liked to see her justify herself from within her own head. Again, I think this is a feature of historicals. We focus on a single character and bring in other characters only to flesh out her foreground story. I understand that people often don't think about their reasons, they just act on them. You can't fault a novel for following the conventions of its genre, but the lack of even internal justification for most of the characters made all of them seem flatter than the surrounding detail should have suggested. At least for me it did. Third, until I recognized this novel as a romance I wanted to smack Elizabeth for exercising what appeared to be a schoolgirl crush over John D. Lee while functionally abandoning both her husband and Jacob, the man who loved her. This is a feature of romances that drives me buggy--POV simply declares her love as a thing out of her control, a mystical yearning of her soul that knows no bounds and tolerates no barriers. Elizabeth spends the entire novel waxing eloquent about the manly virtues of John D. Lee while completely ignoring her responsibility to at least try to make her existing marriage work, then ignores the man who she knows loves her so she can pursue her mythic ideal. I know...this is a feature of romance novels. There has to be the ideal man out beyond reach, with the story revolving around whether the heroine will find that love or not. But I read the first half of this novel while still laboring under the assumption that it was a historical. Then I read the following scene on page 206. John D. Lee and Elizabeth Lorry are both hiding in the mountains near their homes, each for a different reason. They've discovered each other and are talking. Lee begins. +++++ +++++ +++++ "And do you want to know a secret which, if you will allow me, I believe I have guessed about you?" She nodded. "I saw you with Rebecca--long ago, two years ago. Then I saw you with Emma on the road that day, and again at the wedding--mine and Tabby's. I saw something in your eyes. A hunger to feel something more...to feel love." Yes, that was it. She wanted to feel love. The kind of love that Rebecca spoke of. The singing in her heart. The worship she felt for a towering man. "And you believe in me," he said quietly. "And I'm honored, Elizabeth. The sweetness in you is very precious to me. Very dear to me." What did he mean? He smiled and folded her small hand in his own. "It is in your eyes, Elizabeth. You...I believe you want to leave J.B." J.B. intruded, coming between them like a dark force. And an empty force. J.B. seemed to be emptiness personified, and she felt the emptiness press against her. "Yes, I would," she whispered, unable to believe her words. But they were true. "Like Tabby," he repeated, "You are disappointed in love, aren't you? You would like to look up to someone, wouldn't you, Elizabeth?" The words hung over her head as though they were tangible, and she might have been able to gather them as one gathers apples from a tree--nourishing words from the knight-errant who had rescued Tabby from Solomon's hold. "Solomon--what an evil man..." He was shaking his head as he paused. "But I do not see J.B. in the same..." What was he saying? A blackness gripped her. "J.B. is a better man. He is not like Solomon Hanncock." Then what? What was he like? She felt a gnawing pain weigh heavily inside of her. "You are committed to J.B." *But love,* she wanted to say. *What about love?* But she could not speak. +++++ +++++ +++++ It was the "knight-errant" reference that finally penetrated my thick skull. He was her knight in shining armor. This was a romance novel. Now there were plenty of signs early on, but I've always been slow on the uptake. I assumed that the lengthy romance passages were just efforts to fill in the characters before launching back into the minds of those who participated in the massacre and dealing with their concerns. My expectation up until then was that this would become a strong historical any moment now. But it didn't; it remained a romance. What's the point? Nothing really, except to say that this book is a romance first and a historical second. Keep that in mind from the beginning so your expectation is set correctly. The Wine Dark Giant Joshua ========================== This is also a novel about polygamy. It's a further exploration of the world Maurine Whipple revealed in _The Giant Joshua._ In some ways, I think Brown comments directly on Whipple's work and extends the world Whipple revealed. Elizabeth is searching for love, not spiritual foundations. She accepts the institution of polygamy without much comment, then sets about trying to create her own happiness within that realm. She has occasion to rage against the institution, but never really questions whether it's right. Where Whipple showed no (or at least very little) happiness for any woman who lived the principle, Brown shows a wider variety of responses. There are the women who use it to get personal advantage, those who suffer in loveless marriages, those who find peace in loveless marriages, and those who honestly love their sister wives and find joy in their relationship with a shared husband. Where Whipple focused on old men who married ever younger wives, Brown also portrayed honest men who married older or less attractive women both for love and for compassion, in addition to the lecherous types. I don't think Brown set out to refute Whipple's vision, but I think she tried to show more of the variety that must have existed in the kinds of marriages and the happiness that different people found in them. In that I think she succeeds; by showing a wider variety of responses to polygamy, I think Brown actually strengthens the sour taste of the less noble practitioners, and further supports Whipple's own criticism of the institution. Which is why I think the choice of making this a romance first and a historical second actually works despite my knee-jerk against the conventions of the romance genres. By focusing on the relationships within polygamy, I think Brown created a stronger social comment than she could have if she had focused only on historical accuracy. It's not an effort to determine the truth of the principle, but rather to reveal the many ways the system was used--by men and women alike--to meet the widely differing goals that different people had. Conclusion ========== It's not the kind of novel I normally read, but _The Wine Dark Sea of Grass_ is a novel that I'm glad I read. It's quite subversive in that I think it does more than it lets on to. It's not a strong historical about the Mountain Meadows massacre, but I don't think it ever intended to be. This is a novel about polygamy and seeking ideals set against a historical backdrop, and I believe the novel succeeds quite well on those terms. Good stuff. Scott Parkin - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ End of aml-list-digest V1 #485 ******************************