Last quarter I read quite a few nonfiction books. However, the book that really hit home for me was a book about life in the Fundamentalist Church of the Latter-Day Saints (FLDS). Carolyn Jessop's 432-page memoir, Escape, is a book about her life and subsequent escape from the FLDS, which is a offshoot from the Mormon Church. She goes into detail about how she was brainwashed as a child into believing that her main purpose in life was to marry someone picked for her by the prophet and bear his many children. She also addresses the perceived reasons behind some of the practices the FLDS has. After some years of marriage she managed to escape from the polygamist society with her eight children, which is unheard of because it is incredibly hard to escape alone, and escaping with all your children is just not done.
This is a very inspiring book about standing against something you know is wrong, if when you stand alone and vulnerable. I recommend it because I've learned a lot for it. I'm not ignorant about the polygamist societies that exist amongst us but it was such an eye-opener to read what someone who had experienced it first-hand for so many years saw and how crazy the rules are in such places. I pride myself in being open-minded but this was incredibly hard to do while reading this book because a lot of what was said sounded so cruel and...downright horrific. The book is full of shocking practices and the fact that Carolyn Jessop was able to escape such a horrible lifestyle resulted in her becoming one of my heroes because of the amount of courage and spunk she showed in doing what she did, especially when she had only twenty dollars to her name, nine mouths to feed, and no experience in the "outside" world at the time of her escape.
However, I didn't really care for the ending of the book because it seemed so..stupid compared to the rest of the book. I can't explain why I really disliked it without spoiling the book but I can say this: after an author goes on for 407 pages about the pain and anguish women go through in a certain cult that will remain nameless, it is quite wrong to suddenly change the mood of the book by giving it such a happy ending. This might seem mean, but I wanted Jessop to have a bad ending. That doesn't mean that I'm not happy for her, because I am, and I think she deserves what she got in the end.
5 comments:
This book sounds like something i would like to read. polygamy is such a controversial issue although many see it as just plain wrong. i want to learn the other side of the practice though. so since you said you learned a lot from reading this i would like to check it out :)
Whoa it sounds like an in depth book. The subject is not really known by many. I would think it is a biases book but extremes must be explored I suppose.
♥peace
Finally! Nonfiction is more appealing to mean than any other fiction reviews I've been reading.
The fundamentalist seem very harsh, and polygamy seems very immoral. However, I believe only 5 species are truly monogamous, and humans just don't fit that category. Women are more prone to enforce monogamy because they produce one egg per month and are expected to care for their child. As a women, I would not want to do this along and would rather have the father help me.
Men are more likely to enforce polygamy because they produce thousands of sperm everyday. I forgot why that makes the body more sexually active, I guess it has something to do with the ability to reproduce more.
This does not mean I believe that this women should have stayed in that type of society, just that I believe science has an impact on these types of behavior.
Krakauer wrote a book about the radical fringe Mormon polygamists called Under the Banner of Heaven. Krakauer seems to write about people on the very edges of society. Mr. Suttle has my copy of this book. He's a big Krakauer fan.
Nicole, ask me about this post. I want to comment, but I just can't take the time right this minute.
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