The introduction to this edition of the Book of Mormon was incredibly compelling to me. I found myself pausing to annotate and think about how the Book of Mormon has been written and interpreted for the past couple hundred years. Reading the first couple of chapters of this edition was interesting, because I do what Hardy said I usually read the Book of Mormon to find "miracles in [my own life]" and to "sacrilize [my life]." Hardy mentions the historical anachronisms and some debates around the origin of the Book of Mormon and also says that the literary complexity and coherence of the Book is incredible. I found it very interesting to read some of the debates about the Book of Mormon that I am semi-familiar with illustrated in this book. The conciseness of this edit makes a lot of things stand out more clearly to me, mostly as far as plot goes. I think it will make seeing the themes that define Mormonism more clear, as well as some of the literary coherencies that Hardy mentioned (foreshadowing, managing timelines, etc.) more clear as well. It is definitely a mental shift to read this version of the Book of Mormon when I've become so familiar with reading and personalizing this story, but I am excited by the complexities already more clearly noted by this edition.
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