Brant Gardner'S New Book: Believe The Hype

[wenglund]

Brant, in his book, appears to agree that Joseph had a transcript of the characters brought to Anton (and others), not his own translation, and that as the understanding of the significance of the event changed in light of seeing a possible connection with the Isaiah text, the language describing the event evolved over time, resulting in the somewhat contradictory 1838 version which has become standard. Brant, please correct me if I mischaracterized this.

Brant takes a significant amount of time in the book discussing the culture and development of the telling of the stories surrounding the translation. It's quite fascinating.

Does Brant suggest that the characters were sent to Anthon with the hope that they would be translated and the intent to then use the Anthon translation to translate the Book of Mormon? In other words, does Brant agree with Chris and his take on Lucy's statement?

Does Brant ever refer to the Anthon characters as an "alphabet" or make any mention of an alphabet?

Thanks, -Wade Englund-

[Brant Gardner]

Does Brant suggest that the characters were sent to Anthon with the hope that they would be translated and the intent to then use the Anthon translation to translate the Book of Mormon? In other words, does Brant agree with Chris and his take on Lucy's statement?

Does Brant ever refer to the Anthon characters as an "alphabet" or make any mention of an alphabet?

Thanks, -Wade Englund-

I don't remember some of those details, because I had a different purpose in telling the story. There doesn't appear to have been a translation that was taken to Anthon, but some copy of the characters was. I think that fits with the statement that Joseph hadn't translated before that. There isn't a lot of information to go on.

As for "alphabet," I am frankly cautious in accepting that word as an accurate description of what Joseph copied. I don't see anyone in that family as being particularly adept at linguistics. I suspect that characters/alphabet were synonyms in their usage, though clearly not in ours.

[David T]

Brant just finished with his presentation at FAIR Conference (I'm listening via internet). Fantastic job in condensing so much information into a very understandable and vivid presentation.

Also, it sounds like all the copies of the book that were there at the conference sold out. I believe they'll be going on sale online in the next few days.

Anyone who was there/listened have any thoughts or comments?

[David T]

Here's my rambling review of the book here.

Edited August 5, 2011 by nackhadlow

[wenglund]

Here's my rambling review of the book here.

I enjoyed reading your review. In particular, I liked your item #3 since one of the key points of the Book of Mormon is likening the scriptures, and by extension, other good things, unto ourselves, making the written word come alive in our lives. I will be interested to see how closely Brant's perception of the revelatory process matches my own personal experience, and what more I can learn to my own advantage.

Thanks, -Wade Englund-

[ChristKnight]

Here's my rambling review of the book here.

I can always trust your blog to inform us of awesome new books. Thanks!