Added Upon: Truth as a Substitute for Artistic Beauty

Photo by Ben Crowder

Added Upon as one of the first novels written in the LDS genre, is certainly a landmark novel for its structure, audience, purpose, and attempt at portraying doctrinal truth as fiction. Many of us are familiar with Saturday's Warrior, a Plan of Salvation narrative that colored our childhood Sundays. But until reading Added Upon many of us will not have realized that Saturday's Warrior had a precursor.

Following two main families, the Bogstads and the Ames, we watch as love in the pre-exsistence becomes love in mortality. We see life sorrow turn into life lessons, and saviors come from many different avenues, often unexpected. As relationships are begun, nourished, and enjoyed in each stage of the Plan of Salvation it is easy to see the appeal of the Plan of Salvation as a doctrinal tenet.

As a salvation narrative, Added Upon sets forth a five part structure beginning in the pre-exsistence, then moving through mortality, the spirit world, the millennium, and resurrection. Unfortunately the transitions between sections are abrupt and rushed, making for poor artistry, though such abruptness may function as a representation of the distinct places of being that comprise the Plan of Salvation. Similarly, the characterization of the novel is almost non-existent, emphasizing, rather, their actions, and the work they are involved in as they seek to become a part of God's plan. These aspects make for poor style, ineffective fiction, and detached readers, but perhaps, a point is being made that Truth should be able to stand on its own, functioning as the beauty and artistry, instead of being shackled to artistry as a means of appeal.

Because this novel is written for an LDS audience, it tends to fall back on antiquated language that we are familiar with through scripture. Its structures, characters, and style were all weak as well because they reflected a reliance upon the audience's LDS culture instead of the art of style. But perhaps that is the point; perhaps Truth should not be bound by the beauty of artistry.