Krakauer Fever

Title: Into the Wild
Author: Jon Krakauer
Publisher: Doubleday
Publication Year: 1996
Rating: B+

Into the Wild is yet another compelling work by author Jon Krakauer. He follows the journey of a young man who – after graduating from college – gives up his family ties and life of privilege to travel the country. He eventually ends up in the Alaskan bush, pushing himself to the limit by venturing with only a ten-pound bag of rice and few other provisions.

The story is an incredible one, but it was hard for me personally to relate to Chris McCandless. Through much of the account I was constantly irritated by his disregard of his family and his self-absorbed attitude. He studied sociology in school and was particularly interested in apartheid and the atrocities occurring in South Africa. But instead of his studies of less fortunate societies making him thankful of what he had, they made him resentful. I couldn’t help but feel McCandless was naïve and immature in many respects, although I can relate to wanting to let go of society’s stronghold on our lives and expectations, and venturing off into nature to find out more about ones self.

It wasn’t until the end of Krakauer’s account that I truly became emotionally involved in McCandless’ story. Although he ventured into the Alaskan wilderness with little knowledge of how to survive, he did quite well for several months. It was a series of unfortunate decisions that led to his demise. And it was a lonely, heartbreaking death.

Despite my feelings about McCandless, Krakauer again uses his brilliant journalist instincts combined with his rare honesty and sincerity to reconstruct McCandless’ journey. His unique way of incorporating his own thoughts and experiences in his books gives his writing depth and makes them relatable. He touches the adventurous spirit in his readers, no matter if they’ve climbed mountains or have ventured no farther than their own backyards.

More than Just a Horror

Title: Different Seasons
Author: Stephen King
Publisher: Signet
Publication Year: 1983
Rating: A

My respect for Stephen King solidifies more and more with each of his works I read. Prior to reading any of his horror stories, I read his memoir On Writing, an awe-inspiring glimpse into the mind of one of America’s most successful authors. Next I read The Stand, which I have reviewed here. Different Seasons is my third encounter with King’s work.

Different Seasons is a compilation of four novellas, two of which you may have seen recounted before in the movies Shawshank Redemption and Stand By Me. Each story contains simple, charismatic characters. Each story exposes a brutality of sorts, but also includes tenderness and friendship, sometimes in the oddest of places. King brilliantly places “Apt Pupil,” whose main character is a thirteen-year-old boy obsessed with the atrocities of the concentration camps and whose only friend is an ex-Nazi general, next to “The Body,” a story of four lovable thirteen-year-old boys on a summer adventure. These stories are book-ended by first a story about starting a new life, the last a story about a grotesque and early death.

One of my favorite aspects of the book is the personal words from the author in the Afterword. He discusses what it was like falling into the role of horror writer. He brings to the reader’s attention how the novellas included in Different Seasons – “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption,” “Apt Pupil,” “The Body,” and “The Breathing Method” – were a break from his usual material. Yet each contains something horrific.

King explains how each of these stories came out of him after finishing one of his novels, and “it’s as if I’ve always finished the big job with just enough gas left in the tank to blow off one good-sized novella.” I’m always fond of glimpses into the minds of my favorite writers. And although these stories may have been created with “just enough gas left in the tank,” these stories are still incredible.

America’s Religion

Title: Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith
Author: Jon Krakauer
Publisher: Anchor Books
Publication Year: 2003
Rating: A+

Once again, I was moved and entranced by Jon Krakauer’s storytelling. In his 2003 bestseller Under the Banner of Heaven, Krakauer explores the brutal murder of a Mormon woman and her daughter as well as an historical account of Mormonism and the development of Mormon fundamentalism.

On July 24, 1984, Brenda and Erica Lafferty were stabbed to death by their family members, who say they were instructed by God to kill their brother’s wife and fifteen-month-old daughter. Through discussions with Dan Lafferty – one of the killers – police records, and other personal accounts, Krakauer displays the lives of the Lafferty family leading up to the horrific incident. Not only does he describe their family life, but also the religious environment that fueled the fundamentalism that eventually developed among the six Lafferty brothers.

Concurrently, Krakauer dissects the history of Mormonism. This is where some of the most fascinating explorations occur. Much of the book’s focus concentrates on polygamy. Although polygamy has been outlawed by the U.S. government and denounced by the LDS (Latter-Day Saints), thousands of fundamentalists in this country still practice polygamy. There are also “polyg” sects in Mexico and Canada practicing – and spreading – their fundamentalist beliefs.

Although common opinion towards polygamy is based on the basic idea that “marriage is defined by the union of a man and a woman,” Krakauer gives a cornucopia of other reasons why individuals might find this practice abhorrent. For instance, in many cases the women have no say in who they marry. The “prophet” often decides who marries whom. In other cases, girls as young as 13 are married off. Sometimes, fathers will choose to marry their own daughters. When those daughters miscarry or give birth to mentally and physically disabled babies, the community assumes it is because of the mothers’ sins – not incest.

According to Under the Banner of Heaven, founder Joseph Smith established the doctrine of polygamy after he became interested in another woman, who wasn’t his wife. The verbiage in The Doctrine & Covenants mentions Emma Smith specifically by name because she was so distraught over Smith’s new “revelation,” which would entitle him to take other wives. Smith’s inability to keep his penis in his pants led to many, many years of oppression and incest among young women.

Another covenant that has been one of the foundations of the Mormon Church – and the cause of much detriment to the church itself – has been that each person has a direct connection with God. Anyone can have a “revelation.” It is this belief that has created so many breaches from the Church of Latter-Day Saints and has fueled Mormon Fundamentalism. It is also one of the reasons Brenda and Erica Lafferty were murdered.

Mormon’s, like many other religions, believe that some day they will inherit the earth. They do not believe in bi-racial marriages. To them, like other Christians, homosexuality is a sin. For some reason, in an era that has worked for so long towards equality, the Mormon religion has frozen millions of people in time – almost moving backwards, in a sense. According to Krakauer, Mormonism is the fastest-growing religion in the world. There are more Mormons now than there are Jews. Soon, they will become a force in this country equal to their evangelical brethren within our government. A force to be reckoned with.

One final thought: I love that in this country we have the right to believe whatever our heart’s desire. I am fascinated by the ability of Mormons to cultivate and grow this religion that was formed less than 200 years ago. But I am astounded and disgusted by the treatment of women in the fundamentalist sects. I find their racial biases atrocious. And I am even more disgusted by Americans who can point and judge other cultures, specifically Muslims, when the oppression of women and racial hatred is still alive and well in our very own country. Who the hell are we to judge?