Rating: 
Summary: A must read
Review: Jon Krakauer gives us a fascinating look at the history of Mormonism and the influence it holds over its adherents. It shows the history of the religion which parallel many of the growing pains of the country it was founded in. LDS members will undoubtedly give a negative review to this book because of the discomfort it causes. It examines how church teachings, both historical and modern, set up the environment for killing in the name of G-d. Polygamy in Utah is still given the wink and the nod. While members will be discommunicated, law enforcement, which is heavily LDS, does not pursue the offenders, giving such behavior a tacit church approval. This book is a fair, unbiased look at just how much sway the church holds over it's membes. Fundamentalism and murder in the name of G-d have gone on for ages. This book reminds us that questioning of any religion is imperative; and blind obediance is dangerous. If religion can't take a few questions, then a member should seriously ask about its validity.
Rating:
Summary: Under The Banner of Heaven
Review: This is an excellent, suspenseful, enlightening, and ultimately shocking book. Like the author's other books, UTBOH illuminates the personalities of people living 'extreme'.Mormons, in general, are 'outraged' over UTBOH. They are quick to point out any disputable errors. However, in criticizing UTBOH, they do not and cannot deny the key episodes of the book. Like it or not, episodes of murder and slaughter and polygamy and pedophilia and kidnapping and fraud are throughout the history of the LDS church ... not just in the history of Fundamentalist Mormonism. Sadly, these episodes give all Christianity a bad reputation. This is a wonderful book, and serves as a warning to all people of faith, showing what happens when people refuse to 'let God be God'. I give it my highest recommendation.
Rating: 
Summary: A Life-Long-Learner's Dream Book
Review: Quite to the contrary of most of the reviews I've read on this site about this book, I've found that Krakauer not only portrayed the Mormon religion as accurate, but also as a compelling, struggle-riddled quest for identity. At times, I felt that he sided with the LDS, and other times, against them. This is the true mark of a writing genious- to be able to sway a reader back and forth and introduce them into all aspects of the subject- not just the one he himself believes in. His accounts of the many rapes and murders associated with the FLDS are, in fact, graphic and heart-rendering, but they are also told with an essential honesty. Well researched and ingeniously written, Krakauer exceeds in this book, making the reader frequently stop, put down the book, think about the messages, and then pick the book back up, anticipating the next true twist. A must-read for life-long-learners.
Rating:
Summary: Something everyone - Mormon or not - should read
Review: If you have ever had your curiosity piqued by those Mormon missionaries who ring your bell on Saturdays asking "Have you ever heard of the book of Mormon?" do yourself a favor -- read this book, THEN invite the missionaries in for a discussion. That way you'll be able to evaluate the missionaries' claims with an objective eye. This book originally interested me because as a kid, I had grown up next door to a Mormon family and spent a lot of time hanging out with Mormon kids, some of whom were quite devout. I also dated a Mormon young man for a time. They had explained bits and pieces of their faith to me but I didn't have the whole picture. After reading "Under the Banner of Heaven," a lot of what I observed in my friends' homes as a young person makes much more sense to me. It's not surprising to me that there are Mormons posting negative reviews of the book. In my experience, there is little in the religion that encourages investigation and questioning and much that encourages conformation and obedience. Krakauer discusses these themes in-depth in the book. He also reveals some not-very-nice parts of Mormon history, such as Joseph Smith's insatiable sexual appetite, the apostasy of several of the church's key members, and a brutal massacre perpetrated on innocent people by Mormons. For people who are taught that Joseph Smith is a personage akin to God on Earth, and that their religion, as the only true one, is pure and above blame, I am sure these discussions are disturbing. The book is excellent, as is usual for Krakauer. You can tell Krakauer did exhaustive research, yet the text never meanders too far or gets too bogged down in detail. Krakauer relays a straightforward, unbiased view of Dan Lafferty, who was convicted of perpetrating the murders the book is based upon. Krakauer spends a lot of time discussing quality of life for women tied to splinter fundamentalist groups; I wish he had spent a little more time investigating the lives of women in the mainstream LDS church. Most of the Mormon girls I grew up with were not encouraged to prepare for any future other than that of wife and mother; most were married by 19 and had children by 21 and felt desperately trapped. Obviously fundamentalist women with polygamist husbands are living in some kind of subhuman hell, but things aren't great for mainstream Mormon women either. I also felt Krakauer glossed over key elements of Mormonism like the secret temple rituals, missions, and the pervasive racism that still exists within the church. There is plenty of information on the Internet about these subjects for the curious. All in all, a fantastic book, something everyone interested in questions of faith should read.
Rating:
Summary: Krakauer the Great
Review: Another unputdownable. Krakauer handles religious fundamintalism in a gentle and thoughtful way. In addition, he propely identifies all religious belief for what it is: irrational. Hopefully this book will cause readers to re-examine their own beliefs.
Rating:
Summary: "Behold, and it came to pass ..." Extraordinaire
Review: Jon Krakauer has a special talent. He is able to write non-fiction, that reads like fiction. While he did have a little help with that, as every time I do read something that relates to Mormon history, it does seem like it is fiction, even the "Book of Mormon" itself, reads like fiction. While I will not make any commentary on the "Book of Mormon," as I do not like to comment on other people's beliefs, Jon Krakauer's book, is just extraordinary and explains a goodly piece of Mormon history. Jon does this, because it is necessary in order for the reader to understand the mindset that would allow someone to actually murder another, with no remorse or regret, because they truly believed that God had personally told them to do that. The Mormon faith is unique in its concept, that all "Saints" which are good and right minded members of the Mormon Church, can communicate directly with God. Also, Jon explicitly describes, defines and illustrates the difference between members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints which is distinctly different from members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Before reading Jon's book, I did not really understand HOW different are the two sects. But they are extremely different, even though they use the same theological material. In his book, Jon does succeed in helping the reader actually internalize this feeling of "Murder By God's Command." His truly wonderful and clear, but not at all gory, description of the murders is excellent. And the many personalities that Jon uses to describe the mindset is wondrous. But one of the other things that Jon does, is to introduce each chapter with a quotation from some related piece of work. This one is particularly of note: "Both revelation and delusion are attempts at the solution of porblems. Artists and scientists realize that no solution is ever final, but that each new creative step points the way to the next artistic or scientific problem. In contrast, those who embrace religious revelations and delusional systems tend to see them as unshakeable and permanent... Religious faith is the answer to the problem of life ... The majority of mankind want or need some all-embracing belief system which purports to provide an answer to life's mysteries, and are not necessarily dismayed by the discovery that their belief system, which they proclaim as "the truth," is incompatible with the beliefs of other people. One man's faith is another man's delusion ... Whether a belief is considered to be a delusion or not depends partly upon the intensity with which it is defended, and partly upon the numbers of people subscribing to it." Anthony Storr, "Feet of Clay" That in fact is what Jon Krakauer shows us in his magnificent book. That a belief is a delusion, until many people accept it, and then it becomes an accepted belief, and no longer delusional in that present time. There are between 10 to 11 million Mormons globally today. That number seems significant enough to consider the mindset of the original doctrines and theology a belief. Yet their seem always within almost all religions, groups of people who start to believe that the accepted beliefs, are not a precisely proper interpretation, for whatever reason. This inevitably causes schisms within that religion, and so, new religions are either born, or die if abandoned by their followers. The murders of Brenda Lafferty and her 18 month old daughter in 1984 are inexorably linked to religious belief. And in addition, perhaps, to the subconscious desires of one of the murderers. This book is almost a must read for anyone who wishes to understand the total sociology of American Religions.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating
Review: It occurred to me while reading this that if they taught some of this stuff in my highschool history classes I would have been riveted!!! Here Krakauer's investigation of the murders perpetrated by Ron and Dan Lafferty is typical of his style. He creates a fascinating story without attempting to manipulate his reader, even when the sensational nature of the subject might lend itself to that sort of treatment. Instead, he provides a personal, but at the same time even-handed analysis of the murders and of contemporary Mormon fundamentalism. I think that those who criticize Krakauer for unfairly victimizing the Mormon church have not read the book carefully, or at all.
Rating:
Summary: A fascinating read
Review: When I heard Jon Krakauer had written a book about fundamentalist "Mormons", I was intrigued, to say the least. As a member of the LDS Church, this book had a special significance to me. I found the book to be quite well-balanced. For example, after mentioning the Book of Mormon's scientific shortcomings, he writes that other religion's scriptures also have dubious origins and the BoM is criticized more because it's so recent comparatively. He usually makes a clear distinction between the mainstream LDS church and the rogue polygamist groups. In reading other reviews here, I've found one main objection that I also had problems with. Krakauer seems to imply with the history of the Taylor revelation that plural marriage is essential to Mormonism and that we're all patiently waiting for the courts to allow polygamy. This is clearly untrue. This is still an excellent book that I recommend to anyone... especially fellow LDS.
Rating:
Summary: Mormon Trueism
Review: Under The Banner of Heaven is one of the finer books written about the hidden truths of Momonism and the way so many people have distorted what Joseph Smith first realized. The sheep will follow and there is not much that can be changed about that. It's the Colorado City folks that need addressing by our government. If they want to thumb their nose at the law then they need to be denied the fruits of it. Krakauer does an outstanding job of sheding the light on one of the most powerful cults in this world. Utah covers up anything and everything they can when it comes to Mormonism. Krakauer investigated how young Elizabeth Smart was sucked into one of the biggest sins man can be charged with, the rape of an innocent young lady. This is still tollerated among the Mormon fundimentalist and it should be stopped. This isn't a freedom of religion it's pure rape and incarceration.
The book has really fired me up. Living amongst this religious bunch is bad enough. Read it and think about all the lost young ladies. Thanks Jon for a graet book.
Rating: 
Summary: Latter-Day Sensationalism
Review: A book such as 'Under the Banner of Heaven' only works if the author is truly objective-- if the author, like a true journalist, begins with a question, and takes the reader along on his/her search for the answers to that question. Unfortunately, Krakauer fails to do just this. From the beginning, it is apparant that Krakauer already has his mind made up with regards to the conclusions he will eventually come to about the LDS Church and its fundamentalist offshoots-- and many religions in general. Thus, rather than accompanying the author on a journey into the heart of a mystery, and into the discovery of unknown facts about events 'ripped from the headlines' (as happens with the best true crime books), the reader is instead subjected to a 350+ page defense of Krakauer's presuppositions. His research is one-sided and his conclusions are debatable. Since this is a book purporting to look at a Christian religion, perhaps a Bible analogy would best describe the results: Krakauer seems to have built his house on the sand this time around. And perhaps saddest of all, after two winners like 'Into the Wild' and 'Into Thin Air' that had readers holding their breath, afraid to reach the end, 'Under the Banner' simply has readers counting pages to the end of each chapter and the next logical excuse to break away from Krakauer's pedantry. Bottome line: skip the latter and reread one of the former. Hopefully Jon Krakauer will revert to true, objective journalism next time around.
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