From: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com (aml-list-digest) To: aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: aml-list-digest V1 #228 Reply-To: aml-list Sender: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk aml-list-digest Tuesday, January 9 2001 Volume 01 : Number 228 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 6 Jan 2001 21:48:20 -0600 From: Larry Jackson Subject: [AML] MN Signature Books Announces Management Change: Signature Books News Release From: Kent Larsen To: Mormon News Date: Fri, 5 Jan 2001 20:00:00 -0500 Subject: MN Signature Books Announces Management Change: Signature Books News Release 2Jan01 A4 [From Mormon-News] Signature Books Announces Management Change SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH -- The start of a new foundation by Signature Books publisher George D. Smith has led to a management change at the academic Mormon publisher. Longtime Signature associate publisher Gary Bergara will become the managing director of the new Smith-Pettit Foundation, and the associate publisher position will be filled by Bergara's associate and collaborator Ron Priddis, until now the company's marketing director. The new foundation was formed to foster research in Mormon history and in other related areas, and owns two-thirds of Signature Books. The other third is owned by Signature's publisher, George D. Smith, through a holding company that also owns and renovates historic houses in downtown Salt Lake City. In his new position, Priddis will act as primary editor for the manuscripts that Signature Books publishes and manage the workflow in the office. He will be replaced as marketing director by Tom Kimball, an industry veteran who has worked at both Deseret Book and at used and rare book dealer Benchmark Books. Kimball was most recently involved in the start-up of leatherbound collectible publisher Greg Kofford Books. Source: Changes at Signature: Good Bye to Gary, Hello to Tom Signature Books News Release 2Jan01 A4 http://www.signaturebooksinc.com/news.htm >From Mormon-News: Mormon News and Events Forwarding is permitted as long as this footer is included Mormon News items may not be posted to the World Wide Web sites without permission. Please link to our pages instead. For more information see http://www.MormonsToday.com/ Send join and remove commands to: majordomo@MormonsToday.com Put appropriate commands in body of the message: To join: subscribe mormon-news To leave: unsubscribe mormon-news To join digest: subscribe mormon-news-digest ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 6 Jan 2001 21:51:40 -0700 From: "Cathy Wilson" Subject: Re: [AML] Telepathy and Magic I think that the mystery is that we moderns put ourselves into such a literal factual world. We miss the reality that our universe runs on energy--I mean spiritual energy. Although I don't pretend to understand much of the mathematics involved, I have read a little about quantum physics, at least the popular rendering of the concepts, which give me to understand that energy and matter are both malleable, that one can turn into the other, that one can influence the other. In my training as a hands-on bodyworker (and --I'll dare to say-- healer) I see frequent "miracles" of energy acting on and changing the condition of a person's body. That's why I always say that just about every condition--chronic and acute--has an emotional/spiritual component, which needs to be addressed one way or another if a person's going to get better. I am convinced that we humans are very very good at "reading" and understanding energy, even though we moderns tend to dismiss our perceptions. As I work with people--clients, students, what-have-you--I try to help them pay attention to those things they really already "know." Somewhere I read that Orson Scott Card said that he's only telling stories with his books, not describing real phenomena. Yet when I read about young Alvin healing himself and others, when a woman puts on a spell of attractiveness (or unattractiveness), when people move through and around time (like Alvin running in the forest in "greentime"), --so many things--for me it's quite literal. Recently I read in Card's _Enchantment_ that the "witches" could tell someone had been in a place, for good or ill, by the feeling and the smell of it. Again, literally real stuff. That's how tracking is done, at least partly (I style myself as an amateur, hardly-to-be-counted tracker in this way; I can "follow" an energy trail sometimes. Once I found a missing teenager that way). Of course, I always think of these things in perspective of the larger picture: our Heavenly Parents are absolutely perfect in these intuitive skills, whether we call them magic or not. Our puny mortal skills are a good try, but nothing to brag about. Cathy (Gileadi) Wilson Editing Etc. 15 East 600 North Price UT 84501 - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 08 Jan 2001 07:57:29 -0700 From: "Eric R. Samuelsen" Subject: Re: [AML] (On Stage) Transcendence in Film, Pt. 1 Mike South wrote, about Angel films and Transcendence: >I think one possible exception to your >exception might be Wim Wender's "Wings of Desire". The >angels there were = far >from the "let-me-show-you-how-things-really-are-and-then-you'll->be-change= d-for-the-better" bunch you mentioned. Yes. Absolutely. I'd forgotten Wings of Desire, but it's a marvelous = film, and very close to the kind of transcendence I've noticed in others = of these films. And the remake, the recent City of Angels doesn't hold up = in comparison. I'd also forgotten another favorite film of mine, Field of Dreams. It = certainly suggests the existence of some kind of afterlife. It's very New = Agey. But it's also about baseball. Kevin Costner's okay in it, but Amy = Madigan is absolutely spectacular. What a marvelous actress. Eric Samuelsen - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 08 Jan 2001 08:11:29 -0700 From: "Eric R. Samuelsen" Subject: Re: [AML] Telepathy and Magic Mike Austin wrote: >Superstition and folk magic were part of American culture until >about = WWII, but have since mostly been replaced with a belief >in science. Would that it were so. I don't see it, personally. I think folk magick = (which I'm spelling that way because that's how the guy spells it in the = witch book which so intrigued me), is very much alive. =20 Check out the ads for psychics on late night TV. Check out the success of = astrologers. The Jubilee mine is still very much in operation, and its = stockholders still think they're going to get rich at the time of the = Second Coming. And then look at the continued success of the Creationist = lobby. I mean, I'm the Gospel Doctrine teacher in my ward, and I'm not = willing to stand up in class and say that I believe that the world isn't = six thousand years old, but four and a half billion, or that organic = evolution is a principle I consider compatible with the restored gospel. = I believe those things, but I don't dare say them, because I know what the = reaction of my ward members would be. =20 There's a new book which a friend of mine told me he bought and read, but = which I haven't yet seen. New and old--it was written back in the = thirties, and is only now being published. It's about Mormonism and = Science and it's by a guy named Sterling (or Spencer) Talmage--my friend = couldn't quite remember the first name. Anyway, the author was the son of = James E. Talmage, and the book is a series of discussions of various = issues relating to Mormonism and science. Here's the thing; it was = originally intended as a manual for Priesthood/RS back in the thirties. = Imagine that--a whole year's worth of lessons on a subject like science = and religion. Okay, it didn't happen, but that it was even contemplated = back then boggles the mind. Think that would get through correlation = nowadays? I don't think so. I don't think I'm overstating this; even = today, in the Church, there exists a tremendous hostility towards science. = Well, actually, maybe that is too strong. Call it a love/hate relationshi= p. Anyway, this whole magick question has tremendous relevance to us as LDS = writers. I'd love to see someone incorporate some of this stuff into = their writing. I certainly plan to. Eric Samuelsen - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 8 Jan 2001 10:01:51 -0700 From: "Thom Duncan" Subject: RE: [AML] (On Stage) Transcendence in Film, Pt. 2 Cast Away (which I saw in Moab over the weekend) came pretty close. Thom - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 09 Jan 2001 03:37:36 +0900 From: "Andrew Hall" Subject: [AML] (Andrew's Poll) Religious literature Thanks for everyone's answers, you reminded me of some good books I've=20 loved, and some books and films that I'd now like to investigate. LuAnn mentioned Lloyd Douglas's "The Robe". I also first encountered the=20 story through the Richard Burton movie, when I was about 10. I got the=20 book, and read it at least once a year from ages 10 to 17 (I didn=81ft like= =20 the film much anymore). It did a lot to shape my teenage consciousness of= =20 what a Christ-like life is. I also liked Douglas's "The Big Fisherman" and= =20 "Magnificent Obsession," although I kind of assume they would be a bit too= =20 sentimental for me these days. "A Prayer for Owen Meaney" (my favorite Irving book), and Tolstoy's "Anna=20 Karenina" and "Resurrection" are also very high on my favorite books list. = =20 I would also add Dostoevsky's "The Brother s Karamazov," which is a great=20 symphony of a novel. Ivan's "Grand Inquisitor" chapter is one of the great= =20 pieces of writing about religion ever (a discussion group we are in will be= =20 tackling it this week), but that is only one of a bundle of great sections,= =20 for example the 'Alyosha and the children' chapters. Anyway, more recommendations are welcome. My next poll will be on the best= =20 Mormon literature of the past year. So read those books you got over=20 Christmas! Andrew Hall _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 8 Jan 2001 11:21:50 -0700 From: Terry L Jeffress Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Characters (was: CARD, _Lost Boys_) On Thu, Jan 04, 2001 at 05:46:58PM -0600, Jonathan Langford wrote: > I'm not really arguing that _Lost Boys_ is a novel in the Bakhtinian sense. > But I think that the central *dramatic* event of the story (the death of > the family's son and his return as a ghost)--the resolution of which is > not, Terry complains, related to the Mormonness of the characters in a way > that justifies that Mormonness--is not really the heart of the story Card > is trying to tell. The center of the novel is the Mormon family and what > happens to them, of which the murder of a child and his reappearance as a > ghost is merely the culminating incident. Why, then, did Card name his book _Lost Boys_ if he did not plan on the ghost story as the central element. Perhaps, if he intended to tell a Mormon family's story, he should have named the book _A Year in the Life of a Mormon Family in Gentile North Carolina._ But then, HarperCollins might have had a harder time selling the longer title. Sarcasm aside, authors may not control much in their lives, but they do control the content of their manuscripts. An author may not put much thought into why he decided to use a snake instead of a spider, but I contend that the subconscious decision to select a particular species comes from the cultural heritage of that object -- even if the author does not consciously make that decision. Objects always bring with them their heritage of symbolism. To me, the most pleasing literature operates at multiple levels. I can read just the story and enjoy the characters' journey, or I can examine the symbols used in the story and find greater depth and expanded meaning. Toni Morrison comes to mind. She seems to have an incredible sense of the symbols in her stories. Now, some authors work very hard to have their symbols work directly with their characters and plots, others seem to have some innate sense of symbolism and the symbols just without any conscious effort. Other authors don't seem to have any sense of symbolism, and these authors might tell a great story, but not one that's worth rereading for greater enlightenment. For me, Tom Clancy and John Grisham occupy this last category. I enjoy reading their suspense stories, but once I have finished one of their novels, I have no compulsion to look for any meaning beyond the denouement. - -- Terry L Jeffress AML Webmaster and AML-List Review Archivist - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 6 Jan 2001 21:45:41 -0600 From: Larry Jackson Subject: [AML] MN Card's 'Ender's Game' Joins Newer Titles On Bestseller Lists: Kent Larsen From: Kent Larsen To: Mormon News Date: Thu, 4 Jan 2001 23:30:00 -0500 Subject: MN Card's 'Ender's Game' Joins Newer Titles On Bestseller Lists: Kent Larsen 4Jan01 A4 [From Mormon-News] Card's 'Ender's Game' Joins Newer Titles On Bestseller Lists NEW YORK, NEW YORK -- As the paperback of Orson Scott Card's "Ender's Shadow" rises on bestseller lists after its release, fans are going back to the original. "Ender's Game" has appeared on Amazon.com's bestseller list 16 years after it was first published. Other titles continue on a number of lists, with Stephen Ambrose's "Nothing Like it in the World" starting to fall on the lists and Richard Paul Evans' "The Carousel" remaining on just one list. The current titles on bestseller lists are: Nothing Like it in the World, by Stephen Ambrose A history of the building of the transcontinental railroad in the US. Ambrose, a highly regarded historian, details the involvement of Mormons in building crucial portions of the road, including the driving of the "golden spike" in the heart of Mormon territory. Currently on the following bestseller lists: This Last List 7 6 Amazon.com (Jan 3) Non-Fiction Hardcover 68 n/a Amazon.com (Jan 4) Top 100 19 19 Barnes & Noble (Jan 4) Top 100 6 5 BooksAMillion (Dec 29) Non-Fiction Hardcover 2 1 Booksense (Dec 25) Non-Fiction Hardcover 3 4 Knight Ridder (Jan 4) Non-Fiction 3 4 New York Times (Jan 7) Non-Fiction Hardcover [Independents - 2; Chains - 6 ] 8 5 Publishers Weekly (Jan 8) Non-Fiction Hardcover 33 25 USA Today (Dec 31) 9 7 Wall Street Journal (Dec 29) Non-Fiction Hardcover 3 4 WordsWorth Independent Bookseller (Dec 19) Non-Fiction Hardcover See: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0684846098/mormonnews More about Stephen E. Ambrose's "Nothing Like It in the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad" at Amazon.com The Carousel, by Richard Paul Evans LDS author Evans writes about the love between a man and a woman, which is tested by the demands of family and work. Currently on the following bestseller lists: This Last List 19 15 New York Times (Jan 7) Fiction Hardcover See: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0684868911/mormonnews More about Richard Paul Evans' "The Carousel" at Amazon.com The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen R. Covey This ten-year-old personal management classic is still selling strongly. Currently on the following bestseller lists: This Last List 16 21 Amazon.com (Jan 3) Non-Fiction Paperback 86 - Amazon.com (Jan 4) Top 100 91 83 Barnes & Noble Top (Jan 4) Top 100 111 138 USA Today (Dec 31) 5 4 Wall Street Journal (Dec 29) Business See: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0671708635/mormonnews More about Stephen R. Covey's "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" at Amazon.com Ender's Shadow, by Orson Scott Card A "parallell" novel to Card's Hugo and Nebula award-winning Ender's Game. Told from the point of view of the 'also ran' to Ender, Bean. Currently on the following bestseller lists: This Last List 15 13 Amazon.com (Jan 3) Fiction Paperback 100 - Amazon.com (Jan 4) Top 100 21 29 New York Times (Jan 7) Fiction Paperback [Chains - 16 ] 14 - Publishers Weekly (Jan 8) Mass Market Paperback 73 111 USA Today (Dec 31) 14 - WordsWorth Independent Bookseller (Dec 19) Fiction Paperback See: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0812575717/mormonnews More about Orson Scott Card's "Ender's Shadow" at Amazon.com Shadow of the Hegemon, by Orson Scott Card The second novel in Card's new series about Bean, Ender's shadow. In this novel, Bean is the tactical genius who wins the Earth for Ender's brother, Peter, the Hegemon. Currently on the following bestseller lists: This Last List 13 - Amazon.com (Jan 4) Top 100 See: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0312876513/mormonnews More about Orson Scott Card's "Shadow of the Hegemon" at Amazon.com Shadow of the Hegemon, by Orson Scott Card Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card The original Hugo and Nebula award-winning novel. Currently on the following bestseller lists: This Last List 25 - Amazon.com (Jan 3) Fiction Paperback See: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0312932081/mormonnews More about Orson Scott Card's "Ender's Game" at Amazon.com >From Mormon-News: Mormon News and Events Forwarding is permitted as long as this footer is included Mormon News items may not be posted to the World Wide Web sites without permission. Please link to our pages instead. For more information see http://www.MormonsToday.com/ Send join and remove commands to: majordomo@MormonsToday.com Put appropriate commands in body of the message: To join: subscribe mormon-news To leave: unsubscribe mormon-news To join digest: subscribe mormon-news-digest - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 09 Jan 2001 04:05:12 +0900 From: "Andrew Hall" Subject: [AML] U. Theater Icon Robert Wilson Dies Deseret News Sunday, January 07, 2001 U. theater icon Robert Wilson dies Theater founder, director, playwright, actor and longtime professor Robert Hyde Wilson, 86, died Friday, Jan. 5, 2001, in Salt Lake City. Mr. Wilson was born Oct. 29, 1914, in Salt Lake City and colleagues estimate he touched and influenced the lives of nearly 3,500 students and actors during his long and prolific career. Robert Hyde Wilson Besides serving as an educator and mentor to thousands of University of Utah students and actors during his nearly 50-year career, he was known for directing about 200 theatrical productions along the Wasatch Front. In 1938, Mr. Wilson founded the Playbox Theatre, which many of his longtime colleagues say laid the foundation for the broad array of community, professional and semi-professional companies enjoyed by theatergoers across the state today. He also founded the Lagoon Opera House, was senior director of Pioneer Memorial Theatre, and endowed a scholarship fund for U. students. He also wrote plays, performed on stage, taught playwriting and took part in a poetry society. After he retired, he coached theater students. In October 1999, as part of his 85th birthday celebration many of Mr. Wilson's former students paid homage with a brief production touching on highlights from his life. The party was originally scheduled at the Playbox but overwhelming response moved the event to much larger Kingsbury Hall. Mr. Wilson dabbled in painting, piano and journalism (he was assistant editor of West High School's Red and Black newspaper) before settling on theater as a career. His early years in theater included toiling backstage, plus some minor roles in productions at the U., and directing plays for the 12th, 13th and 18th LDS wards and the University LDS ward, plus pageants for the church's Mutual Improvement Association. The statistics of his directorial career are impressive: 75 plays at the Playbox, 35 at Kingsbury Hall, 25 on the Pioneer Memorial Theater stage, 13 in the Babcock Theatre, 32 in the Lagoon Opera House and several others, including two productions for the Classical Greek Theatre Festival. During leaves of absence from the U., Mr. Wilson served as guest director of Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carre in New Orleans, guest director at the University of Minnesota and was associate director of theater at Tulane University. Arrangements are being made for a private memorial gathering for family and friends Friday, Jan. 12. _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 8 Jan 2001 18:18:08 -0700 From: "Annette Lyon" Subject: Re: [AML] Editorial: Micro-Politics and Power Structures "Women, do you hate arguing or are you just busy doing other things? In our >ward Sunday School class almost no women say anything." The few times I have bothered to comment I have had horrid responses. One teacher had the habit of twisting my comments on top of themselves and responding to something I had not intended, then didn't give me a chance to fix it. I always ended up looking ridiculous, so I stopped speaking up. Other times the teacher hasn't understood what I was talking about (I am amazed at some teachers who know so little about their own subject!). Once I made what I felt was a legitimate (and innocent enough) comment that sparked a nasty debate in the class--and the teacher refused to call on me ever again, as if I had planned the response. Now I leave the comments to the two or three egos in the room, all of which (in my ward, at least) are men, who enjoy bantering and showing off rather than sharing any meaningful discussion or bringing any spirit to the room. That's not something I care to participate in. And now that I'm in Primary I don't need to! Annette Lyon - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 8 Jan 2001 18:31:19 -0700 From: "Annette Lyon" Subject: Re: [AML] (Andrew's Poll) Religious Stories Give me anything C.S. Lewis any day. I particularly love_The Great Divorce_. There is so much in there I feel like I could read it a hundred times and still learn something new. I love seeing how his mind works and seeing his perspective on the gospel. Often I find something where, as an LDS person, I think, "How did he know THAT?" Amazing man. Annette Lyon - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 8 Jan 2001 19:16:55 -0600 From: Larry Jackson Subject: [AML] Former Student, BYU Headed for Trial >From the Deseret News http://www.deseretnews.com E-mail: mtitze@desnews.com _____ Sunday, January 07, 2001 Former student, BYU headed for trial School infringed on her copyright, '90 graduate says By Maria Titze Deseret News staff writer Despite unusual efforts by U.S. District Judge Bruce S. Jenkins to encourage a settlement, Brigham Young University and a former student who claims the school infringed on her copyright of a theatrical production are headed for trial. Sallie Larsen, a 1990 communications graduate and former employee of the school's Student Leadership Development's Department of Student Life, alleges that she did not give BYU permission to use her play for a student orientation in 1998. In 1995, the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators honored the piece with its Most Innovative Program Award. The one-hour multimedia presentation focuses on the traditions and heritage of BYU and was used as the final event of a three-day new student orientation conducted before the opening of fall semester. Larsen says she is the sole author of the play, which she began to write in 1991, before she was hired by BYU. Between 1992 and 1997, Larsen gave BYU permission to use the piece on a one-time basis, her attorneys said. Larsen registered the play with the U.S. Copyright Office in 1996 and says she advised BYU officials in a letter two years later that she held copyright to the work. But the school performed the piece during student orientation in August 1998 before an audience of roughly 6,000. Larsen's attorneys say that after that performance, Student Life Vice President Alton L. Wade acknowledged in a letter that Larsen held copyrighted interests in the work, that BYU must "negotiate a license" with Larsen to use it and that BYU would "secure permission" from (Larsen) before using the piece again. But at a hearing Friday, attorneys for BYU said a good portion of the work was completed after she graduated and became an employee. The presentation was "made for hire," said attorney Todd E. Zenger. "We believe we are the author of this stage production." BYU hasn't used the piece since 1998, and the school's attorneys claim Larsen gave permission for that performance. After hearing from both sides on BYU's motion to dismiss the case, Judge Jenkins paused and then asked, "Do you fellows want to settle this?" He offered the attorneys a room in his chambers to work out an agreement while he heard two other cases. But when the attorneys emerged they had not reached a settlement. Jenkins then grilled Larsen's attorneys on the issue of how she "had been hurt" by the one-time production of her piece. She is seeking monetary relief for unspecified damages, but the audience members who saw the production in 1998 did not pay a ticket fee -- although there was a cost for student orientation. "Someone can feel deprived or even put upon when one has contributed over the years to something that has genuine artistic value," he said. "Anyone would feel hurt. But that's not within the scope of the copyright act." Despite that caveat, Jenkins denied BYU's motion to dismiss the case and set a pretrial hearing for Feb. 28. _____ Larry Jackson ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 09 Jan 2001 13:06:42 +0900 From: "Andrew Hall" Subject: [AML] MITCHELL, _Angel of the Danube_ (Review) Title: Angel of the Danube Bonneville Books, 2000 Softcover, 197 pp. Cost: $12.95 I read Angel of the Danube over Christmas break, and was getting ready to hunker down and write a review when Ruth Starkman posted hers a couple of days ago. Good, I didn't want to write a long thing, explaining the main premises of the book. You can get that from her. But I'd still like to add my two cents. First of all, it is a fun read. (You may notice that is a theme in my reviews. Dullness, no matter how lofty the purpose, is death for me.) Mitchell brings back the taste and feel of missionary life marvelously well. I think my mission, in Japan, had some key similarities to Mitchell's= =20 Vienna. Both were urban, with four-Elder apartments, and lots of getting together with other missionaries living not far away. You have a kind of group camaraderie in those situations, which can release companionship tensions. Those called to more isolated areas, with just their companion around and not much chance to get away, would have a more claustrophobic=20 experience, I think. Whoops, sorry, that was a tangent. Anyway, these=20 missionaries are a hoot. Jerry Johnson wrote in his Deseret News column that he feared the novel would rub people the wrong way because it is=20 anti-authority. I don't think it is, or if it is, that isn't a big part of= =20 it. (There is one annoying AP, but he is just annoying, not because he has=20 authority.) They aren't so much anti-authority, as just goofy. Like the God's Army missionaries, but a little more extreme, using nicknames, goofing off, taking unapproved trips, blowing up small bombs, etc. (Okay, the bomb went beyond goofy, but it really doesn't come off as being that bad, trust me). I'm afraid that goofiness is what will make some people mad, and not like the book. People who were put of by the God's Army pranks/jokes would blow up over this book. (But then again, how many people were really put=20 off by God's Army?) Hmmm, all that didn't come out right. Goofiness isn't a central part of the book, I shouldn't have started with that. I just meant to say that this is= =20 a fun book to read. There is a lot of good-natured humor. The main character is, which I think almost any 19-year old guy would have to admit, a very=20 cool guy. We would all have loved to have him as a companion, and so it is= =20 fun to read about him. (Some may disagree, but I don't think most guys would if=20 they thought back to your 19-year-old selves. Women, I dunno, I can't predict=20 your reaction, especially if cocky Californians are not your thing.) Mitchell does a great job with the "voice". The entire first-person story= =20 is told in a California surfer-dude patois. I thought it might get annoying at= =20 first, but it never did. In his review, Cracroft compared it to the=20 narrative voice of Huckleberry Finn, and I think that is about right. One of the best parts of the novel is the use of folktales. The=20 missionaries are constantly hearing the tales from their Austrian friends, and they tell them to each other (and to investigators) to illustrate their points. Okay, it is a little far-fetched that these missionaries would appreciate these=20 folktales so much, but it works in the context of the story, and it gives it a lot of heart. It would be great if missionaries understood the culture around them so well that they could use these kind of folktales. It's funny, in some ways it is very realistic (especially the missionary's tough times), and in some ways it isn=81ft at all. Like magical realism,=20 perhaps (sorry, I may not understand the term that well, but I have read some of=20 it). It never gets that unhinged from reality, but the way the missionaries use= =20 folktales, and the epiphanies that Monroe has, it kind of has that flavor. As well as the camaraderie and folktales, Mitchell shows us missionaries who are trying very hard at something about which they care deeply. They are=20 helped by the Spirit at key times. They care fiercely about the members,=20 investigators and each other. We see Elder Monroe come to respect and love a companion he= =20 wanted to throttle for a long time. It is full of positive moments, without ever becoming sentimental or cloying. Everything moves along at a very nice clip until the final quarter, when=20 Monroe has returned home. There things stall a bit, which I suppose fits his life, which also has stalled. For the first time the situations become a little= =20 trite. But things wrap up nicely in the satisfying last chapter. Angel of the Danube is my favorite piece of missionary literature I've read= =20 so far. Well, at least since Bela Petsco's Nothing Very Important. Compared= =20 to God=81fs Army (which I thought was great) it is much more realistic and intellectually satisfying, although perhaps it has a little less heart. (I haven't read Benson's Into the Field yet, that probably would be the most suitable novel to compare it too.) Unless you are very easily offended, I really recommend it. Andrew Hall Pittsburgh, PA _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 09 Jan 2001 03:10:49 -0600 From: Ronn Blankenship Subject: [AML] CHANDLER, "Benediction" (was: Editorial...) At 19:46 06-01-01 -0800, "Darlene Young" wrote: >--- Christopher Bigelow wrote: > > Isn't this off topic? I could go on about my > > teaching approach and experience in the Church, but > > I don't know what it has to do with AML-List. > > > > >Speaking of teaching approaches and Mormon lit., I >just can't find a short story to equal Chandler's >"Benediction" for affectionate satire of Mormon Gospel >Doctrine teaching methods. I envy those of you who >have yet to read it for the first time--absolute delight! So how does one experience this pleasure? (IOW, if that was too subtle: Where does someone located many thousands of miles from Happy Valley come across a copy?) - -- Ronn! :) - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 09 Jan 2001 08:08:37 -0700 From: "Eric R. Samuelsen" Subject: Re: [AML] (On Stage) Transcendence in Film, Pt. 2 Jacob Proffitt wrote: >That being the case, I could add _The Matrix_ and _Dark City_ >if you'll allow Sci. Fi. trappings for the supernatural. If you are, = >you might as well throw in _Contact_, but I can't think why >except that = it wants to be transcendent. _Mystery Men_ is fun, >but you'll have to = accept The >Sphinx as a supernatural agent to fit it into your category. >_Chicken = Run_ >if your vision of the afterlife is free-range chickens. I liked your = >pick of Babe II. I thought it was better than the first one, though = >darker. I absolutely agree about The Matrix. I think it's definitely transcendent,= and of course there's no reason at all to exclude sci-fi films from this = genre. I wondered about ET, for example, before finally deciding that = there's no particular vision of any kind of afterlife; it's not clear if = ET dies, or merely goes into a kind of suspended animation or self-induced = coma. I think Jacob has nailed Contact perfectly; it's a very earth-bound = transcendence, which is probably all Carl Sagan could bring himself to = explore. Do any chickens die and go to heaven in Chicken Run? I'm not = sure they do; though I like the movie tremendously, I'm not sure it has = the supernatural element I've identified as transcendent. Of course all these definitions are capricious and arbitrary. But what = interests me in this genre is the notion of some kind of afterlife or = extra-worldly experience that awaits us. And it surprises me how many = such films there are. Eric Samuelsen - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 9 Jan 2001 10:23:29 -0500 (EST) From: Yeechang Lee Subject: Re: [AML] (Andrew's Poll) Religious Stories From: Valerie Holladay > The sympathetic view of a conservative, fundamentalist believer caught > some critics by surprise, according to reviews I read. This sentence reminded me of, all things, the Rodney Dangerfield vehicle _Meet Wally Sparks_ (1997). No, it's not great art. But one thing I was pleasantly surprised by was that it prominently features a character (the conservative governor of Georgia) who publicly emphasizes morality yet is very much *not* a hypocrite. The movie establishes the sincerity of his beliefs very early, and a key plot point is based on whether he would compromise them in his private life. As a longtime, off-and-on lurker, I guess I'll have to introduce myself one of these days. Yeechang, who swears this and parts of _Caddyshack_ are the only Dangerfield films he's ever seen - -- - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ End of aml-list-digest V1 #228 ******************************