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  • "I, Nephi"

    http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critic...?currentPage=1

    "I, Nephi" by Gopnik. Haven't read it yet. Just came in.
    When a true genius appears, you can know him by this sign: that all the dunces are in a confederacy against him.

    --Jonathan Swift

  • #2
    Originally posted by SeattleUte View Post
    http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critic...?currentPage=1

    "I, Nephi" by Gopnik. Haven't read it yet. Just came in.
    Please read it and post a review.
    "If there is one thing I am, it's always right." -Ted Nugent.
    "I honestly believe saying someone is a smart lawyer is damning with faint praise. The smartest people become engineers and scientists." -SU.
    "Yet I still see wisdom in that which Uncle Ted posts." -creek.
    GIVE 'EM HELL, BRIGHAM!

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by Uncle Ted View Post
      Please read it and post a review.
      Give 'em Hell, Cougars!!!

      For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still.

      Not long ago an obituary appeared in the Salt Lake Tribune that said the recently departed had "died doing what he enjoyed most—watching BYU lose."

      Comment


      • #4
        There is, throughout most of this article, a tone of snarky condescension that some here would find offensive but to me seems exactly right. Sometimes it is as if he is writing about a cabal of youthful Dungeons and Dragons devotees.

        Nevertheless there are some briefly poetic if not original parts. Page 3 is nice where he talks bout the social forces that begat Mormonism. He notes the Enlightenment and the Great Awakening being America's twin metaphysical DNA strands, always at war with one another, and sometimes undeniably symbiotic -- as when American religion spearheaded the abolitionist movement and provided poetic and emotional fodder for the Civil Rights movement. He notes that Mormonism is very much a product of this dichotomy with its alloy of materialism and commerce, secret societies, and evangelism.

        Overall he gets his facts right including Mormism's evolution even in my lifetime. Page 4 discsses Mormonism's progression to the point of abandoning or downplaying most if not all of the old weird doctrines that helped make it distinct until now it is being willingly assimilated. He discusses the harmoniousness of evangelism and commercial ambition in Mormonism, even as a constructive phenomenon.

        The snarkiness abates when he talks about the glue that binds a movement such as Mormonism--it's much less the dogma than feeling for community that nurtured you, and the heritage of persecution experience resulting guilt and indebtedness feelings.

        He concludes saying Romney is not so much a product of Mormomism as his social class

        This is definitely Joanna Brooks' 15 minutes of fame.
        Last edited by SeattleUte; 08-06-2012, 03:43 PM.
        When a true genius appears, you can know him by this sign: that all the dunces are in a confederacy against him.

        --Jonathan Swift

        Comment


        • #5
          2 factual quibbles. First, he says that Nephites and Lamanites were from the Lost Tribes of Israel. This is a common misconception but here surprising for a person as educated as Gopnick. Neither the Book of Mormon's narrative nor known history support this.

          Second, I don't think Mormon's believe Jesus visited Missouri in the Book of Mormon.
          When a true genius appears, you can know him by this sign: that all the dunces are in a confederacy against him.

          --Jonathan Swift

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by SeattleUte View Post
            There is, throughout most of this article, a tone of snarky condescension that some here would find offensive but to me seems exactly right....
            I dealt with the condescension by imagining the author as the monocled, tophatted gentlemen (the New Yorker trademark). He was reading aloud in a slightly bored tone with a faux British accent. I'd rather associate with well-meaning naifs.

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by SeattleUte View Post
              There is, throughout most of this article, a tone of snarky condescension that some here would find offensive but to me seems exactly right. Sometimes it is as if he is writing about a cabal of youthful Dungeons and Dragons devotees.

              Nevertheless there are some briefly poetic if not original parts. Page 3 is nice where he talks bout the social forces that begat Mormonism. He notes the Enlightenment and the Great Awakening being America's twin metaphysical DNA strands, always at war with one another, and sometimes undeniably symbiotic -- as when American religion spearheaded the abolitionist movement and provided poetic and emotional fodder for the Civil Rights movement. He notes that Mormonism is very much a product of this dichotomy with its alloy of materialism and commerce, secret societies, and evangelism.

              Overall he gets his facts right including Mormism's evolution even in my lifetime. Page 4 discsses Mormonism's progression to the point of abandoning or downplaying most if not all of the old weird doctrines that helped make it distinct until now it is being willingly assimilated. He discusses the harmoniousness of evangelism and commercial ambition in Mormonism, even as a constructive phenomenon.

              The snarkiness abates when he talks about the glue that binds a movement such as Mormonism--it's much less the dogma than feeling for community that nurtured you, and the heritage of persecution experience resulting guilt and indebtedness feelings.

              He concludes saying Romney is not so much a product of Mormomism as his social class

              This is definitely Joanna Brooks' 15 minutes of fame.
              Thank you, SU. I want to read it even more now, despite the snarky condescension. It feeds my persecution complex.
              Give 'em Hell, Cougars!!!

              For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still.

              Not long ago an obituary appeared in the Salt Lake Tribune that said the recently departed had "died doing what he enjoyed most—watching BYU lose."

              Comment


              • #8
                It was interesting to read, but the snarky condescension was the singular most prevailing element in it.
                "Guitar groups are on their way out, Mr Epstein."

                Upon rejecting the Beatles, Dick Rowe told Brian Epstein of the January 1, 1962 audition for Decca, which signed Brian Poole and the Tremeloes instead.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by PaloAltoCougar View Post
                  I dealt with the condescension by imagining the author as the monocled, tophatted gentlemen (the New Yorker trademark). He was reading aloud in a slightly bored tone with a faux British accent. I'd rather associate with well-meaning naifs.
                  I spoke to Lebowski on the phone tonight and I was disappointed that the voice I hear in my head when I read his posts will no longer be the Dude's. If we ever meet, I'll be sad to no longer hear Don Corleone when I read your posts.
                  "Yeah, but never trust a Ph.D who has an MBA as well. The PhD symbolizes intelligence and discipline. The MBA symbolizes lust for power." -- Katy Lied

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by wuapinmon View Post
                    I spoke to Lebowski on the phone tonight and I was disappointed that the voice I hear in my head when I read his posts will no longer be the Dude's. If we ever meet, I'll be sad to no longer hear Don Corleone when I read your posts.
                    He sounds exactly like Don Corleone in the flesh, so you will not be disappointed.
                    "Guitar groups are on their way out, Mr Epstein."

                    Upon rejecting the Beatles, Dick Rowe told Brian Epstein of the January 1, 1962 audition for Decca, which signed Brian Poole and the Tremeloes instead.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by SeattleUte View Post
                      2 factual quibbles. First, he says that Nephites and Lamanites were from the Lost Tribes of Israel. This is a common misconception but here surprising for a person as educated as Gopnick. Neither the Book of Mormon's narrative nor known history support this. .
                      Alma 10.3 says that Lehi was descended from Manasseh.

                      There's a long tradition in LDS teaching that Ishmael, Nephi's father-in-law, was an Ephraimite. This goes back at least to the 1880s when Apostle Erastus Snow talked about the contents of the lost 116 pages of the BoM manuscript (Journal of Discourses 23, pg. 184)

                      I liked the article immensely. Especially the line that "a book as boring as this could have been inspired only by the breath of God."
                      "More crazy people to Provo go than to any other town in the state."
                      -- Iron County Record. 23 August, 1912. (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lc...23/ed-1/seq-4/)

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