I was a voracious reader when I was
growing up, beginning from a young age. If you asked me, I would tell you that
I could not get enough of them—I read almost every book on our shelves at home.
I am going to introduce two of my favorite books, and what impact they had on my
life.
In my early
adolescence, one top favorite of mine was the Work and the Glory series by Gerald
N. Lund, which I read all the way through three times. The books are historical
fiction, and follow the Steed family as they discover the restored Gospel of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in its infancy in New York.
Most of the family joins the Church, and they go where the Saints go, and
experience the joys, hardships, and oppression from Fayette, New York all the
way to Salt Lake City, Utah.
I now have a confession to make. Since entering university, I rarely
read novels for enjoyment, which is something that I regret. That being said, I
will say that the latest novel that I have been able to get my hands on was for
my adolescent development class. I read “Matched” by Ally Condie, which I
enjoyed very much, so I would have to say that it is my current favorite. The
book focuses on the main character, Cassia, who lives in a society where every
aspect of your life is controlled, including who you marry. The book follows
Cassia as she discovers that she is more than the role that her society places
her in. She falls in passionate love with someone other than her “match” (whom
she also loves), and she has to choose between complacency and rebellion. If
she chooses to rebel, she will most likely lose everything that she holds dear.
I believe that the Work and the Glory
series had a great impact on my life. The novels introduced me to a variety of
good-natured characters, who I considered humorous and witty. Through their
experiences, I learned much about the history of the Church, and I found myself
uplifted by the stories (many of them true stories about real people). As I was
an early adolescent, I also really enjoyed the love stories. The novels also
made the history of the Church very real to me, as I got to experience “first
hand” what the early church members went through. I learned about faith,
perseverance, love, trust, hatred, and forgiveness, and many other principles.
I also felt much more connected to the early prophets of the church, particularly
Joseph Smith and Brigham Young. Overall, these books uplifted and inspired me,
and strengthened my faith and testimony.
“Matched” also had
an impact on me, but to a lesser extent. However, I did connect with the story,
as it included major themes of autonomy and identity. Cassia had to choose who
she would be, despite the strong outside pressures of society’s expectations of
her. I feel like right now in my life, as an emerging adult, I face high
uncertainty in the direction my life is going, as well as high expectations.
Those high expectations come from many areas, whether it is from family, the
Latter-day Saint culture, or friends. Personally, I identified with Cassia
because she did not let societal pressures define her, and she made her
decisions according to what she thought was right instead of according to what
she thought was expected. I feel the same when it comes to decisions in my
life—that no matter what people may think is right for me, I still need to
follow my heart and my logic. Often my decisions fall in line with the “expected
course”, but sometimes they do not. This book influenced me by reminding me
that sometimes the best decisions that I can make for my life will not fall in
line with what other people think I should be doing. I was also reminded that
when making decisions, I need to realize that going off the beaten path of
expectation is okay, and I should not let myself become overly stressed or concerned
about visible and invisible pressures of expectation.
