To the Rescue: The Biography of Thomas S. Monson – Heidi S. Swinton - 3 Stars

To the Rescue: The Biography of Thomas S. Monson – Heidi S. Swinton

Title: To the Rescue: The Biography of Thomas S. Monson

Author: Heidi S. Swinton

Publisher: Deseret Book

Year: Hardcover 2010

Rating:   3 STARS

 

Price and Purchasing Options: The most common way to purchase this book is through a Deseret Book Retail Location or one of its similarly Church owned retail site (Seagull Book).  For the most part, you will spend full retail price of $34.99 for the book even if you purchase it through Amazon.  This is not old enough or in cycle enough to really make its way through discounted or second hand locations like Deseret Industries or eBay (here) which is where you might find some signed copies (there was a large release of signed copies).

Review:  To be honest, I struggle with this review.  The reason is because I want to say one thing about the man, Thomas S. Monson, and another thing about the book.  But I am afraid to some extent that what I say about the book will be perceived that I am saying something similar about the man the book was about.  So I will intend to be very clear as to my opinion regarding the two separate topics: the book, and the man the book is about.

Let’s ease the blow, by letting me say a few quick things about the man.  Thomas S. Monson is a remarkable man, and his is indeed a Prophet of God.  I have a testimony of that, and I believe his life and example is one, which should be documented, studied, and emulated.  I love this man.  I admire this man… and my opinion on his biography itself does not reflect my opinion of his remarkable life.

As for the book – the stories in it are great, and it does help me better admire Thomas S. Monson.  The book does a good job of helping to outline his life long contribution to the church, and a personal philosophy of service he has exemplified.

It is clear though that the book had an undercurrent objective of reinforcing his calling as a prophet.  Rather than tell the story of the man, it seem to have an agenda being published early in his calling as the Prophet, to reinforce that he was the prophet. 

In conjunction with that, the book was somewhat poorly or hastily written, which is unfortunate.  The desire to project the man as a Prophet, overshadowed the ability for the author to also share that he was a man.  There are few flaws, mistakes, or experiences in his life that the common man, common Mormon, and even aggressively obedient member of the Church can really relate to. 

In this light the book just missed the mark for me.  It seemed every chapter started with some form of “And we know he was fore-ordained to be a prophet because when he was eight…” or “… when he was twelve…” and “…when he was Bishop.”

It is possible, that Thomas S. Monson might be a hard guy to relate to – I expect many of the prophets might have been to some extent.  But this might be a little more true of Monson.  He was called to be an apostle in his early 30’s!  And the rest of his life was in the service of the church; not heard of by today’s standards at all.

I love Thomas S. Monson – but his Biography was a hard read.  I left admiring the man, but not relating to him.  I knew he was a prophet after, but I knew that before as well – and I didn’t need to feel like his fore-ordination was evident to the world when he was six.  I wish Swinton rather than idolizing him would have just written about him – and showed his personality a little bit more.  This is a stark contrast to Howard W. Hunter’s biography – which shares a man with whom you would relate with from the time he was twelve all the way through his apostleship.  It might have been the case because that was written while he was an apostle in ill health, with little expectation to ever outlive Benson and be prophet himself – and so there was little temptation to over glamorize him.  Either way, a stark contrast from what I think I was expecting.

With that being said, I was tempted to give the book two stars but it was better than that; and I would have felt a little guilty.  The book is worth reading if you want to – but it is not a book I would recommend for the most part.  If you have time, and feel obligated like most active members of the church – go for it!  If not, don’t feel like you are missing out on anything.

Suggestions:  If you see it for cheap – grab it!  Add it to your shelf so you look like you read it, and you can be part of the cool kids.  Then if you want to pick it up and go to town… but if you never really get to it – at least it looks good on your shelf.

I hope you have enjoyed this review, and I encourage your to follow this blog as I update more reviews in the coming days, weeks, months, etc.  Please feel free to also follow my YouTube page – however, I enjoy writing more than being on camera!

Review #5

Tags: Biography, To the Rescue: The Biography of Thomas S. Monson, Heidi S. Swinton, 3 Stars.