Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling

Title: Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling

Author: Richard Lyman Bushman

Pages: 768

Genre: Biography

Grade: A-

Synopsis: This book touts itself as "a cultural biography of Mormonism's founder" and highlights many of the external factors that influenced Joseph Smith as he tried to respond to his call from God to restore His church upon this earth. The book is setup chronologically and follows Joseph from his birth in Vermont, to the First Vision in New York, marriage in Pennsylvania, building a temple in Kirtland, Ohio, extermination in Missouri and city-building, arrest and murder in Nauvoo, Illinois.  Everything that we know about Joseph Smith is on the table in this book, from fortune hunting to Masonry, secret polygamy to his presidential candidacy and him leading the Nauvoo Legion and running from the law. He sealed his testimony with his death.

My Review: There is a lot of information in this book, based upon testimonies, journals and writings of Joseph and his contemporaries.  The information is presented as fact (i.e. that Joseph Smith really did see God the Father and Jesus Christ in the grove in 1820) and the author leaves it up to the reader to discern between truth and fiction. A couple of things stood out to me: 1) If I didn't already have a testimony of Joseph Smith, there were some things that I may have struggled with. 2) Joseph Smith is human, a flawed mortal being who was called upon to do a great work. He had his faults, as do all of us here on this earth and 3) I'm not without my faults either, but thanks to Joseph Smith, we now have the opportunity to be sealed with our families for eternity again on this earth through Priesthood power, along with many other restored gospel truths.

Les Miserables

Title: Les Miserables

Author: Victor Hugo

Pages: 48 discs

Genre: Classic

Grade: B

Synopsis: Jean Valjean is a convict working in the chain gang.  Upon his release he is shunned and treated poorly due to his low status as an ex-con.  A priest takes compassion on him and lets him stay the night in his house. Valjean seizes this opportunity to rob him, but is caught and returned to the priest for identification. The priest claims the items were s gift, which inspires Valjean to change his life and live honestly.

My Review: Most people know the story of Les Miserables (between the musical and the movie), which do a pretty good job of capturing the main points.  What I really enjoyed about the book was the extra depth that was included in the text (which is expected in a book of this length). The characters are so well developed and the story is so intricate, that I felt like I was really getting to know these characters.  I could have done without the lengthy diatribes and tangents. Typically I am staunchly in favor of only reading non-abridged books, but in this case, an abridgment might actually improve the book (i.e. removing Hugo's tangents). Generally the book was enjoyable.

The Great Gatsby

Title: The Great Gatsby

Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald

Pages: 180

Genre: Classic, Fiction

Grade: B

Synopsis: Jay Gatsby is fabulously wealthy, owns a home on Long Island and hosts huge parties nearly every weekend in the summer.  Gatsby is trying to catch the eye of Daisy Buchanan, his love and obsession, but who is married to the rich and snobbish Tom Buchanan. Imagine Gatsby's luck when her cousin moves into a small bungalow next to his mansion.  He befriends her cousin, Nick Carraway, in an effort to lure Daisy back into his life.

My Review: Alison and I watched the new Gatsby movie which inspired me to re-read this classic, which I had last read in High School.  The movie followed the book fairly well and did a good job for me of visualizing the excesses of the Jazz Age and Roaring 20's here in the US.  The book is great, some classics are hard to identify with, I don't think that this is one of them.

The Disneyland Story

Title: The Disneyland Story - The Unofficial Guide to the Evolution of Walt Disney's Dream

Author: Sam Gennawey

Pages: 336

Genre: Non-Fiction

Grade: A-

Synopsis: This book runs through the history of Disneyland, starting with its inception throughout Walt Disney's early life, then through design and construction of the park.  As anybody who has visited Disneyland more than once knows, the park is nearly always changing, and the book also outlines these changes and the concepts and decisions behind making them.

My Review: This book was just fascinating.  It's no secret that I'm a big fan of Disneyland and this book did not disappoint.  In Walt's early years he was obsessed with trains and Disneyland kind of grew out of that obsession.  He was very meticulous in the design and planning and to some probably came across as a micro-manager.  The speed and scope of construction was amazing.  Construction started in August of 1954 and the park opened in July of 1955.   All of that construction included a 12,000 stall parking lot, Main Street, Fantasyland, the castle and moat (even though Sleeping Beauty would not come out until 1959), Adventureland (including the Jungle Cruise and River and Frontierland (including the River of America).  I found that amazing!

From the Book: "(p. 40) Evans [the landscape architect] took a transparency of the master plan and placed it over an aerial photograph of the property at the same scale. He marked all the trees that were not in the middle of the street or in the Rivers of America and tried to work around them. Evans tagged trees that were to be saved with green ribbons, and he tagged trees to be removed with red ribbons. His efforts were futile. As it turned out, the bulldozer operator was color-blind and they lost dozens of trees that were 50-100 years old. More than 12,000 orange trees were removed."

"(p. 53) Disney archivist Dave Smith said, "Disneyland's true appeal, we admit now, is to adults. Children don't need it. Their imaginations are enough. For them, Disneyland is only another kind of reality, somewhat less marvelous than their own fantasies."

"(p. 61) Using the castle to transition between lands was a visual trick Walt called a weenie. According to Disney historian Jim Korkis, during the development of Disneyland, Walt would come home late at night and usually enter his house through the kitchen, which was closer to the garage. He would walk into the kitchen and grab two uncooked hot dogs, or wieners, one for himself and one for his dog. Korkis said, "By wiggling the treat, Walt could get his dog to go from side to side, around in a circle, jump up and more. Both Walt and the dog loved the game and she was finally rewarded with the tasty and satisfying treat."

"Each of the gateways into the lands offered weenies. The spinning carousel through the portal leading through Sleeping Beauty Castle called guests into Fantasyland. The stockade gates, the steam bellowing from the Mark Twain stern-wheeler, and the seeming infinite horizon beckoned guests to visit Frontierland. Over in Tomorrowland was the clock of the World and the TWA Moonliner ready for launch. Only Adventureland lacked a weenie. It was thought that if guests knew too much, it would not be much of an adventure."