I thought it might be interesting (mostly to me) to write some mini-"reviews" of stuff I read/watch/hear/whatever. These are mostly going to be to help my own memory, but maybe someone will find it useful (that is, if anyone ever reads this blog).

So here's the first one, Under The Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer. Krakauer also wrote one of my favorite books, Into Thin Air, about his ascent of Mount Everest. The amazing thing about that book was that I just couldn't stop reading it, even though it is one of the most horrible and chilling things I've seen in print. So when I saw his name on this one in Borders, I had to pick it up.

Under The Banner of Heaven is a story about fanatical religious belief, specifically, Mormon Fundamentalism. The core of the book is an examination of the 1984 murder of a woman and her baby daughter by two of her brothers in law. The brothers claim to have killed them under direct orders from god. In addition to telling this story, the book contains a fascinating account of the history of Mormonism. The religion is only about 175 years old, so its history is known far more exactly than most other mainstream religions.

I thought the book was extremely interesting, and a very eye opening look into fanatical religious belief. I highly recommend it to anyone who is at all interested in religious extremism, or religion in general.