The Uniqueness of the Mormon Novel

The Mormon novel had a bit of a rocky start. Nephi Anderson's book, Added Upon, one of the first novels in this genre, is far from a literary masterpiece. The characters are underdeveloped and there's a lot in the novel that would confuse non-LDS readers; however, it was a start and from that beginning the Mormon novel has grown in interesting, unique ways that have broadened its audience and increased its impact as a genre.
The LDS genre contains a wide variety of novels from Jenny Proctor's overtly Mormon, contemporary novel, Mountains Between Us, to Luisa M. Perkins' paranormal, young adult novel, Dispirited. These two books are as different in content and approach as two books could possibly be. Proctor's novel tells the story of Eliza Reading and Henry Jacobson, two employees at a rehabilitative boarding school for youth, that are facing a lot of serious problems in their lives ranging from divorce to alcoholism to identity struggles. Perkins' novel, on the other hand, tells the story of Cathy, a young girl who gets sucked into a world of spirits where she has to help her step-brother's soul return to his body from which he's been displaced by a terrible creature. These books sound nothing alike and yet they share a common thread, they are both Mormon novels written by Mormon authors which means they both contain Mormon doctrines and beliefs exhibited in their themes.
For Mountains Between Us this is a lot more obvious. The main characters are both Mormon and base their actions on their beliefs. For Dispirited the connection isn't as obvious but it's still there. The book carries a strong theme of family history and the connection between ancestors and descendants, something that plays a huge part in LDS doctrine.
These two novels are just the tip of the ice burg when it comes to the variety found in the LDS genre. The genre also includes Orson Scott Card's fantastical worlds and Kenny Kemp's personifications of Christ's really life. This variety is one of the best traits of these novels, that they come in such a variety of forms. This enables them to reach a wide selection of people, LDS and non-LDS alike, who can learn and grow from the LDS perspectives included in these novels.
Given this trait of variety, the Mormon novel potentially has a bright future. Mormon novelists don't allow themselves to be limited by convention or a set definition, allowing them to write in order to appeal to all audiences. With this variety, the Mormon novel will continue to grow and impact a wide range of people, making it the literary genre that Orson Whitney once called for when he said "Make books yourselves that shall not only be a credit to you and to the land and people that produced you, but likewise a boon and benefaction to mankind." These books, that once started with a strictly LDS audience, have grown and will to continue to grow to encompass more and more people from all walks of life, enabling them to connect as Mormon beliefs are shared in writing.

Picture from Wikimedia Commons

Added Upon in a Different Light

The scriptures admonish us to "Seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith" (D&C 88:118). I’m not exactly sure what God meant when he instructed us to seek out of the “best books,” but I believe His criteria is different from that of modern literary scholars. Orson Whitney had his own ideas about that scripture as it pertains to Mormon literature. He stated, “Above all things, we must be original. The Holy Ghost is the genius of "Mormon" literature. Not Jupiter, nor Mars, Minerva, nor Mercury. No fabled gods and goddesses…Our literature must live and breathe for itself. Our mission is diverse from all others; our literature must also be.” I believe that to be an enlightened statement. 

By this divine standard, I believe Nephi Anderson’s novel “Added Upon” falls under the umbrella of these “best books.” The story of various people journeying through pre-mortal, mortal, and post-mortal life, this novel focuses more on effectively teaching the Plan of Salvation than building its characters. In a way, it feels like a well-constructed Sunday school lesson, using allegories and stories form real people to strengthen the lessons about mortality and immortality. Although the book is far from eloquent by most worldly standards and relies more heavily on scriptural references than characters to deliver its points, I believe it still accomplishes something significant. 

The point of the novel is not to connect us with the happenings of the characters’ lives. Rather, we are meant to connect with the Plan of Salvation. I believe this is the case with the Book of Mormon. While Mormon Scholars have long interpreted the character and personality of characters off the pages, the Book of Mormon remains largely vague as to the personal lives of its characters (maybe with the exception of Nephi). Even the life of Christ is very sparsely covered relative to his 30+ years of life. I believe the reason is that these books take for their subject matter something bigger than personality. Nephi Anderson, in his own way, is trying to “add upon” the knowledge of the scriptures. While his style is not something I would be likely to emulate when trying to reach a non-LDS audience, I believe his efforts are commendable. At the very least, “Added Upon” understands its mission as being diverse from all others. 

MAKEUP POST

Make Up Days

February 25, 2015

            The first half of the class we discussed the Book of Mormon. The class went around and shared their experiences during their reading of the Book of Mormon. One of my favorite comments made during this particular class discussion was Nicks. He first started talking about Ether’s prayer, and comparing her prayer to other in The Book of Mormon. First he compared Ether chapter 3, then to the brother of Jared’s prayer and then ultimately to the Lords prayer with Enos. He noticed several similarities and how the prayers are have positive responses. I thought it was funny when he said he was looking for the “how” so he could use them… Clever. Finding the different genres of prayer in the BOM is a really interesting idea to me. Rhetorical prayer is something Professor discussed and this is the most interesting. I never thought that there might be a deeper analysis to the more open heard prayers we read about in the BOM.  I think the more out loud/untended to be heard prayers are the most important to remember. They might seem like they weren’t meant to be heard but in fact it is like inception, where that’s what they are trying to make the people think. I never thought of it in this perspective.

            The second half of the last period we had a guest speaker come and discuss his book with the class. Doug Thayer had made a point to our class that stood out to me. He first told us about how he thought the beginning of his book was going to be overlooked by the reader. He said that he thought his readers might not believe his story because the kid lives through this giant avalanche ant that just wasn’t the believable. However, he said he had to do some of his own research to see if that is even possible. And it was! I think is great aspect to point out to the class. That doing a little bit of research on your story can make it seem believable even if the story itself didn’t happen. He stated how once he was passed convincing the reader that he wasn’t going to die and that it was plausible the rest of his story set off. This was interesting to me because he started his story off with such a BAM that it actually helped him ease into his story rather than a building climax.

Make Up Day ##### 2

            So the other class period I missed, is actually not up on the LINK to listen to so for a make up blog post I am going to do a little bit of everything.

            I first want to discuss the one-on-one interviews we had with the different authors we read in class. This was something I had never done in a class before and it was extremely helpful/interesting to get inside the authors’ heads. One thing I realized that surprised me is there wasn’t a whole lot of planning on the author’s part during the writing process. One in particular I remember was Luisa Perkins, Dispirited. She mentioned that she wasn’t originally going there with that book but that’s where her mind and writing took her. It was important for me to understand that when writing more creative writing because being an English Major I had always been taught to plan out your next move and have evidence to back it up in my papers. Her plot was complicated enough that it made sense to me that her writing took her in that direction more than her first initial plan. However, she did say even though it was different when she first starting writing the novel she used many of her original idea through the entirety of her novel. Interviewing the authors was a reliable way to know the intentions of the novels, which I personally really enjoyed.

One last thing I want to blog about is the blogged style writing. This has open another vision of writing I have never tried and I am OBSESSED. I think it has really broadened my writing style to a more modern type of writing. I actually was inspired to start my own blog. I have written blog post but I am yet to publish the blog due to the learning curve of developing the actually page. But I can now write important aspect in life that EVERYDAY people will read which is something I have never figured out. I used to have to beg my friends to read my “boring” analytical readings. Well now I have learned to analyze important information and rely it in a more modern way that people enjoy reading. YES!!! Well I don’t know if this counted for a make up blog but I wanted to write about it anyway. Thanks everyone for a great semester!

Jer3miah vs Sherlock

"The Book of Jer3miah" did what I thought was all but impossible: create a murder mystery intertwined with BYU culture.

The story of a college freshman who's life comes crashing down after receiving a bizarre, supernatural calling to protect a box, "The Book of Jer3miah" delivers a suspenseful plot with the short segments of the wen series. After reading the reviews of some of my classmates and more critical commentary, it became evident that the choppiness of the web series did not appeal to the broad audience. There were also complaints that the story lacked character development and that the dialogue was scattered and inconsequential. While all of these comments hold water, there is still something to be said of the series when the genre is taken into consideration.

Over the course of my life, I have gone through many TV show binges. Normally, I side with medical or comedic series, but I have tried on a few occasions to get into more mystery and crime based productions. My issue has always been the lack of depth, especially in shows where the plot is unrelated between episodes and the audience is left to enjoy the story just for the twists and turns of the day. As an avid reader, I personally tend to crave character development more than the average person, but this has not diminished my appreciation for the brilliance of the genre when executed well. Then, six months ago, I was turned on to BBC's rendition of Sherlock Holmes. Where other mysteries lacked in character development and meaning, Sherlock Holmes excelled. I believe the reason is the show's focus on portraying Holmes's personality as its primary hook. As opposed to other mysteries, it feels as though the plot is just the vehicle that the directors use to develop Holmes as a character, and not the end all be all of the show.

While "The Book of Jer3miah" is not Sherlock Holmes, I do appreciate it for what it is. Jeremiah remains a somewhat flat character, but I believe that the main focus of this show was the suspenseful plot and not the development or journey of Jeremiah as a person. However, there are attempts at this development. For instance, Jeremiah's intuition and sensitivity to the Spirit makes him and interesting character to follow.

While I do agree that some elements of BYU culture being portrayed in the series make me cringe (such as the scene from a ward prayer in which Jeremiah's love interest asks him to stay just after returning home from his parent's funeral because "Everyone needs to pray"), I think overall, this is a successful and engaging series.

Jer3miah: A Good Watch

I remember seeing Star Wars Episode 3 in theaters as a 17 year old on the night it appeared in theaters. When it was over, I felt like it would be so cool to be a character in a storyline so epic and grandiose. Then, while on my mission, I finally realized that I was involved in an epic story, and I think Jer3miah captures that feeling. It parallels the eternal struggle that we are all in and makes it relatable and entertaining.

The story is full of mystery and I think it’s executed well. Mystery surrounds the box, Jeremiah’s mission, and even Jeremiah’s very identity. It definitely kept me interested and wondering what each episode would reveal. I think the plot develops well and moves forward at a good pace. I like the emphasis on lineage and Mesoamerica. It has a lot of potential for rich eternal identity and purpose, while having a constant appeal to the Book of Mormon.

I was very impressed with the way that the series was able to create an emotional impact on the viewer. I seemed like I could understand what Jeremiah was feeling during the intense moments in the story. This adds to the story's epic feeling and helps create a more authentic response in the viewer. The drama was interesting and well executed: It ranged from car accidents to cave adventures to interrogations. I was impressed with how far they were able to push the narrative while maintaining a sensible plot.

My only negative response is that the story is set in Provo and surrounds BYU campus and activities. Not that I don’t find that interesting! I just feel like the story has the potential to reach a larger Mormon audience than the specific audience it seems to initially appeals to. But I could be totally wrong there. It does makes sense that the students who made the movie were attending BYU at the time.

Overall I liked it and would recommend it.

Jer3miah: It Has Potential

The video series The Book of Jer3miah tells the story of Jeremiah Whitney, a freshman in college whose world is turned upside down when he becomes involved in a conspiracy theory and learns of his religious/supernatural purpose in life. The series consists of multiple video clips, each about five minutes long, that tell Jeremiah's story in short segments. The video series is filmed from a hand-held video camera, giving the impression that the video is being "told" from the perspective of which ever character is holding the camera. It's a unique idea with a lot of potential; however, it still has a lot of bugs to work out.
I've never watched a web series before so I was not prepared for or used to the short clips and segments Jeremiah's story was told in. It made the story feel choppy and disconnected as each segment ended. This caused jumps in the plot line and there were times when I felt I'd missed something when in reality it was just the end of one episode and the beginning of another.
A big problem with the series for me was its lack of character development. From the beginning of the series bad things start happening to the main character and yet, I don't know why I should care. Within the first ten minutes of the show Jeremiah has found out his birthday is actually in April as opposed to December and his parents are both killed. While these are shocking events, I don't know enough about Jeremiah to care about the fact that his world is no longer what it seemed. I want to know the characters better so I can understand what is going on and its impact on the characters.
One thing that did, to some degree, help with character development was the the shifting of the camera from one character to another. Seeing what different characters focused on as they recorded showed me their personality which helped me get to know them and start to connect with them. However, this base is not strong enough to carry an entire web series.
Overall, I think the web series had a few issues, but it was unique and attention grabbing at its attempt to do something new. It's laid the foundation for similar efforts in the future that will potentially have less bugs and carry the concept of an LDS sci-fi web series even farther.

Image from Pixabay.com

Jer3miah: The Mormon Web Series

The Book of Jer3miah is a web series filmed right in the heart of Provo, Utah. The short three to five minute clips follow the unique, mystical story of Jeremiah, a college freshman. Jeremiah's story is not that of your usual college student though as he becomes involved in a strange and puzzling conspiracy theory.

I have never been an avid watcher of web series, so the way in which this story was told was very different for me. As each episode was very short, it took incredible talent to cram a lot of information in for viewers in just minutes. For example, in the episode where Jeremiah flies to New York and attends his parent's funeral, I was pleasantly surprised to see how well the producers handled it. I thought that a funeral scene could easily take the whole three minutes but then that would have been the entire episode and no one wants to watch a whole episode of just a funeral. There would be no drive to watch the next episode. They, however, handled it well, in a way that is was both artistically pleasing and story-driving.

For me, even though The Book of Jer3miah was interesting and compelling to watch, it wasn't exactly my cup of tea. I had a hard time connecting to this strange mix of mystery and conspiracy theory all bundled up in Mormon doctrine and traditions. I don't know if I was reading too much into it, but as I watched I had flashbacks to reading Orson Scott Card's novel, The Seventh Son, which deals heavily with magic and the mystic and alludes to the story of Joseph Smith. The story of young teenage Jeremiah receiving an object from ancient America and then traveling to NY was just a little confusing and misleading for me.

In general, web series can be an effective method for sharing stories. People these days are looking for instant gratification when it comes to entertainment. If you only have a few minutes for some down time, a web series is a great choice because you get enough of a story to entertain you, but it doesn't require you to sit through an entire movie or a whole book all at once.