Mark Twain once derided the Book of Mormon as "chloroform in
print." Long and complicated, written in the language of the King
James version of the Bible, it boggles the minds of many. Yet it is
unquestionably one of the most influential books ever written. With
over 140 million copies in print, it is a central text of one of
the largest and fastest-growing faiths in the world. And, Grant
Hardy shows, it's far from the coma-inducing doorstop caricatured
by Twain.
In Understanding the Book of Mormon, Hardy offers the first
comprehensive analysis of the work's narrative structure in its 180
year history. Unlike virtually all other recent world scriptures,
the Book of Mormon presents itself as an integrated narrative
rather than a series of doctrinal expositions, moral injunctions,
or devotional hymns. Hardy takes readers through its characters,
events, and ideas, as he explores the story and its messages. He
identifies the book's literary techniques, such as
characterization, embedded documents, allusions, and parallel
narratives. Whether Joseph Smith is regarded as author or
translator, it's noteworthy that he never speaks in his own voice;
rather, he mediates nearly everything through the narrators Nephi,
Mormon, and Moroni. Hardy shows how each has a distinctive voice,
and all are woven into an integral whole.
As with any scripture, the contending views of the Book of Mormon
can seem irreconcilable. For believers, it is an actual historical
document, transmitted from ancient America. For nonbelievers, it is
the work of a nineteenth-century farmer from upstate New York.
Hardy transcends this intractable conflict by offering a literary
approach, one appropriate to both history and fiction. Regardless
of whether readers are interested in American history, literature,
comparative religion, or even salvation, he writes, the book can
best be read if we examine the text on its own terms.
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