Out of Jerusalem: Of Goodly Parents by H B Moore

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Challenges
To Be Read
1st in Series
About three years ago, my mother gave me this book for Christmas and then the following two for my birthday. They have languished on the shelves ever since. Maybe I was afraid that it would be too much like the Book of Mormon Movie which I seriously did not like. But in February, I started to read a version of the Book of Mormon that includes commentary and explanations, and thought a fictional version of that part of the Book that gets read the most would be an interesting addition to my studies. And it really was. First of all, Moore writes very well. Second of all, her research is obvious in all the details of how people lived in Jerusalem and the surrounding areas in 598 BC. I enjoyed learning more about wedding and sacrificial rituals as well as the dangers of traveling in the areas south of Jerusalem. Having grown up on Boof of Mormon stories, there was little surprise in the basics bones of the tale, but plenty of drama and adventure; and Moore manages to flesh out the characters and make them become more real. I enjoyed her take on the marriage of Lehi's sons to Ismael's daughters. Nephi became more human to me without trivializing his divine calling. I could really feel his grief at the vision of the future destruction of his posterity. I'm not sure the book helped me to understand Laman and Lemuel any better than ever, other than the part that tells about brothers killing each other in the Bedouin tribes for supremacy. But I doubt the Bedouins had angelic visits. I know there is a whole doctrinal discussion here but we can pass on that. While I liked the fictional character of Isaabel, and definitely rooted for her and Nephi to end up together (no, this is not in the Book of Mormon, Moore was being very creative), I think I would like to have seen Nephi fall for a less beautiful girl who had a golden spirit. Isaabel had both. It hardly seems fair, does it? But that would not have served some of the plot line that Moore incorporates into the book. I am looking forward to reading the other two novels I have in this series, starting tonight, as a matter of fact.
Rating: 4.5