Posted on 04/23/2010 9:33:26 AM PDT by Colofornian
One of the quirkiest, and enjoyable edgy Mormon fiction out there remains Brother Brigham, (2007, Zarahemla Books) Its a pity that probably only a few hundred people have read the novel. Utah Author D. Michael Martindales bizarre, at times sexy tale prompts the attentive LDS reader to really wonder if theyre faith is as strong as they might like to think it is.
Brother Brigham, set in Salt Lake County, involves Cory Horace C.H. Young, descendent of Brigham Young, married in the temple to Danielle. A BYU marriage dropout with dreams of being a violinist, he works in a bookstore and lives in a tiny duplex with his wife and two sons, Petey and Glenn. At the bookstore theres a cute bohemian girl named Sheila who dabbles in satanism.
One day, out of the blue, Brigham Young appears to C.H. and tells him that the LDS Church has slipped into apostasy and that he, C.H., has been called of God to restore the Gospel. Brigham informs C.H. that polygamy must also be restored. Brigham leads C.H. to hidden away money in the desert west of Salt Lake City. The angel, using the same type of language as the Prophet Joseph Smith records in Mormon accounts, pushes C.H. to get things rolling. C.H. reluctantly agrees. He manages to convince his skeptical wife, and then follows the angels commandment to marry Satan-dabbler Sheila, who perhaps not surprisingly given her personality, accepts C.H.s offer. Things start to spiral out of control when Brigham commands C.H. to take an underage ward teen, Cyndy, as a second plural wife.
Brother Brigham is a lighter novel than may appear from the brief partial synopsis. C.H. is very reluctant to take on what hes been commanded to do despite promises from Brigham that he will be successful. Theres a lot of sex in Martindales prose. This will never be a novel found on the virgin shelves of Deseret Book. One funny, sexy sequence involves C.H. and Sheilas wedding night where, at least for the groom, plural love turns into solo lust.
I wont give away the ending of Brother Brigham, although a turn in the plot and the climax are quite clever. Mormon lore abounds in Brother Brigham. A promise in C.H.s patriarchal blessing seems to hint at what will occur to him. When Brigham appears to C.H., he follows Mormon lore by asking the angel to shake hands with him. The plot also includes references to the Book of Mormon and wrestling with demons and raging theological debates Parley P. Pratt-style.
Brother Brigham is not a book critical of the LDS faith, but its very plot forces the honest Mormon reader to confront two uncomfortable thoughts. How many of us, if we had lived in the time of Joseph Smith, would have believed a 14-year-old boy had been visted by Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ? And, a question perhaps even more difficult to answer, is: Had we been members of the early LDS Church, how many of us would have agreed to ditch our matrimonial covenants and pursue wives half our age? Would we have thought that was of God, or a product of lust?
These are not questions that todays Mormons ponder often. In fact, most of us have become quite comfortable scorning fundamentalist polygamist Mormons for their sinful lifestyles.
Brother Brigham, besides being a great read, reminds us that were pretty lucky to be Mormons in 2010, where C.Hs experiences remain something that were not likely to have to deal with.
"It is the first principle of the Gospel to know for a certainty the character of God...
He was once a man like us; ...
God himself, the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth, the same as Jesus Christ himself did"
(Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pp. 345-46)
Iffn yer pitcher didn’t show up (you crook!) then right click the snarky GOTCHA image, go to bottom of menu and select PROPERTIES, then copy the ADDRESS: (URL) of it and then paste THAT into yer browser’s ADDRESS window.
ummmm thats what i did.
Too late. That ship has already sailed.
Too late. That ship has already sailed.
We could always plant roses in you.
Snoogans
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