I finished "Rough Stone Rolling" today, and the thing that struck me the most about it was how many people were interested in what I was reading! I usually read on my commute to and from work, and have never been asked what I was reading by fellow commuters until I started reading this book. Over the course of a week, several people on the train asked me what I was reading, and several others were reading the book over my shoulder. One gentleman appeared to be as into the last 30 pages as I was. I was trying to finish reading the book, so I read a few pages at work during lunch, and a couple of co-workers asked me about it. Needless to say, "Rough Stone Rolling," drew more attention than the rare occasion I read the Scriptures on the metro. As for the book, I enjoyed it. Here's what I said about it on goodreads.
Comprehensive thorough biography of Joseph Smith and touches upon the basic
tenets of Mormonism. I appreciated how the book put doctrine J.Smith taught into
a context I hadn't thought of before. I also liked the way the author laid out
the life story of J.Smith. Fascinating book-doesn't gloss over the controversial
parts of J.Smith's life, but is somewhat sympathetic. In my opinion, it's
impossible to be completely objective when talking about J.Smith.
9 comments:
I'm in the middle of that book right now. I have stopped reading it for a time, in order to read a different book, because it is dense and takes a while to read.
I have really enjoyed it thus far, and I'm only about 150 pages into it. Glad to hear your thoughts about it.
It's one of my favorite books. There's a personal journal that Bushman wrote about it too that is really interesting called "On the Road with Joseph Smith."
Weird you should be reading this book. I am reading it right now, too. I felt compelled to read it right around Christmas but didn't really start till this month. I like that it doesn't sanitize the life of Joseph Smith but still reads like a man who really believed what he said he'd experienced. It really helped me understand a lot more about the time period and why certain things happened the way they did. It also educated me on a lot of things I'd heard rumors about but didn't know much about (like the peering into a hat or why people thought Smith was a treasure hunter, etc). It helped me understand him and his family without the church pr spin or sanitized movie version way. I'm right in the middle of it right now, reading about polygamy. Interesting stuff and makes me want to know more (but without stepping into anti-mo b.s.)
Sounds like a good book to read....
BTW: IF you were to drink the water that comes out of our faucet, you might get sick..... I would love to drink our tap water, it would be a lot cheaper than the bottled water we currently drink. I do recycle, so I feel like I am doing my part to be "green". Items that we eat/drink on a daily basis, that come in plastic containers, include: milk, catsup, mustard, yogurt, cottage cheese and etc. Yes, that are too many plastic containers out there, but do you think they are going to come back with glass?
love this book. It sort of gave me an "outsiders" perspective. makes me think about things the way people who aren't members would think about them. agree with context - so important to understanding why things happened the way they did.
Yeah, isn't it great to get some perspective on the culture and society of Joseph's time? I think that's what helped me the most to appreciate this book.
My testimony of Joseph Smith as a prophet was totally strengthened because of this book. He was a man with faults who did his best to fulfill his calling as a prophet of God.
I'm glad you liked it!
how did you like where the prophet pushed his wife dow....no the prophet's wife pushed his second wife down...no maybe he wasn't married to her yet ....down the stairs
It is a great book. I think the preeminent biography on the Prophet Joseph. You could call it sympathetic. I would call it an honest biography by a believing Latter-day Saint
Guy-being sympathetic isn't necessarily a bad thing. But the truth is, I've never read anything completely objective about Joseph Smith. And that isn't a bad thing.
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