http://brandonsanderson.com/blog.php?date=1188025200I was one of the people told by the Israel-book-guy at Brandon's BYU Bookstore signing that "Mine is the only book worth reading at this table." I saw him using that line on another person -- as if tearing down others would convince people to buy his book.
I was surprised at his nerve. Then I felt a little angry at his hubris. I asked him how he knew. Had he read any of the books? "No, but I know about those kinds of books. They are just Fluff. A waste of time."
I wish I'd included Brandon's point in my response to him but I did come up with three points all by myself.
First we need recreation. "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." Even if the stories are only entertainment we need entertainment. We need to relax. Unstring the bow lest it lose its spring.
Second, we learn from stories. And some things are learned best from a story. "Did you ever tell your children stories? The three pigs? The three bears?" I don't think this was at all convincing to him. I realize it just reinforces the stereotype that stories are for little children. Adults are supposed to be interested in reality, right?
(Two days later I'm listening to G. K. Chesterton's Orthodoxy - ". . . ethic and philosophy come from being fed on fairy tales. . . . I could note many noble and healthy principles that arise from them. There is the chivalrous lesson of "Jack the Giant Killer"; that giants should be killed because they are gigantic. It is a manly mutiny against pride as such. For the rebel is older than all the kingdoms . . . There is the great lesson of "Beauty and the Beast"; that a thing must be loved before it is loveable." Chapter 4, The Ethics of Elfland,
http://www.leaderu.com/cyber/books/orthodoxy/ch4.html)
Third I believe that the fight between right and wrong goes on at many levels. We need imaginative literature that appeals to various audiences that inspires the reader to do good, to be heroic.
If I'd felt like he was listening to me at all I'd have given him more detail. And here I'm getting even more religious. A good story includes part of the hero myth. I think the hero myth is part of us and it's healthy for our minds and spirits to "indulge" in the universal story. Whether contemplating the sacrifices of Frodo, or Aslan, or Kelsier, or Vin, or Harry, or Christ we are really contemplating the example we need to follow.
I did try to affirm the value of what he had written and tried to understand his arguments. "Yes, the house of Israel is an important topic. It's mentioned a number of times in the scriptures." "Yes, our society does spend too much time on Fluff, junk food, american idol entertainment and we, myself included, could be more enthusiastic about learning." But I don't think he really heard anything else I said.
Later I looked at his book. I'm no longer sure it is of much interest to me. I haven't read it so don't rely on my impressions. But it does smell like an effort to prove the superiority of many early LDS church members and their descendants based on uncertain evidence that they are descendants of the Kimmerians, or Cimmerians. He repeats an old, very questionable claim that the Kimmerians are the the lost tribes of Israel. Check out
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Israelism and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cimmerians to get a feel for the issue. You're probably thinking the same thing I thought. "Who'd have thunk? Conan was an Israelite. I'll have to write a book - Conan the Levite." You skaa, and you mudbloods as well, had better read this book to learn of the superiority of the blood descendants of the Kimmerians.
I whole heartedly agree with Brandon. What he is doing is "MORE important than a deep and scholarly book about something boring." I believe that the greatest of all virtues is charity, which is based on kindness and understanding, so it is MORE important than even an
exciting scholarly book.
The Israel-book-guy could learn something from reading Mistborn or Harry Potter.