Added Upon-A Rough Foundation

Signe and Rupert were not characters ‘after the manner of the world', and at first that bothered me. They are underdeveloped and didactic, and their lives are interconnected to such an extent that it’s almost amusing. It would be easy to dismiss Added Upon as a literary failure. However, when viewed in light of Orson F. Whitney’s exhortations in his speech "Home Literature", it does provide the rough foundation, and the roots, for greater works to come.

How does one preach to all in pure and powerful literature without rebranding or drawing from established literary forms, as Whitney encouraged? Well, Nephi Anderson started with compelling doctrines that speak to the soul. Then he intertwined a simple and insufficiently developed plot. In the end, the orthodoxy of his work is its defining factor rather than its originality; his work is more pure than it is powerful.

Despite all this, Added Upon is a work that gives pause for thought, and the opportunity for growth. Some of the most distracting and irritating characteristics of the book are also some of its strengths. Take, for example, the division between the first and second sections of the book. This disjointed format (which never feels entirely resolved) serves to help us realize the temporary nature of life, and the relative brevity of our existence on earth from the perspective of the Almighty. It is in analyzing these weaknesses that we find that Nephi Anderson’s work is foundational, and indeed helped set a precedent for lofty goals in LDS Literature.