Customer Reviews

Hugh Nibley: A Consecrated Life

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you are interested in the work of Hugh Nibley, this book is an excellent introduction and overview. Nibley is probably the most famous living Mormon intellectual. He is the most elequent and convincing defender of the LDS world-view. The author of this biography is Nibley's son-in-law, but he is an impressive historian in his own right. This book is respectful and sympathetic, but also independent in judgement. Petersen challenges Nibley when he thinks it is appropriate. Petersen says in his preface that he doesn't believe in "objectivity", but in candor and balance. This searching approach, combined with exhaustive information gleaned from interviews and Nibley's personal archive of letters and documents, make this book a very satisfying read. It really is a model biography, an example of honesty and fairness that other LDS writers should follow. Petersen alternates chapters that narrate Nibley's life story with chapters that are really essays on different facets of Nibley's career--his defense of the Book of Mormon and Pearl of Great Price, his environmental views, his criticism of militarism and capitalism. One bit of information that struck me during my reading was that Nibley, as a soldier, visited the German concentration camp Dachau shortly after it was liberated in 1945. Nibley has never written about the horrors he saw there. He refuses even to discuss the experience. Petersen speculates that perhaps Nibley was unable to fit these terrible events into his theology of pacifism. Maybe Nibley couldn't acknowledge that there are things worse than a self-defensive war. This is an absorbing, thought-provoking book that you shouldn't miss.

With Hugh Nibley: A Consecrated Life, author Boyd Peterson has produced of the most fascinating biographies I have ever read. I had been an avid reader of Hugh Nibley's writings ever since 1975, when a LDS member in a branch in Kendall, England, loaned me a copy of his 1957 work, An Approach to the Book of Mormon. Nibley's astonishingly wide ranging erudition, brilliant prose, fascinating insights, and blew me away, and I have continued to read and draw on his work and example for 30 years. I looked forward to reading the biography for many years, and enjoyed the publication of several chapters in a variety of LDS academic journals, and I talked with Peterson for a few moments after he had given a presentation on Nibley's WWI experiences at a symposium in Salt Lake City. The long wait for the book was worth it. The book is a clear-eyed labor of love, and a masterpiece in its own right.

Peterson's introduction to Hugh Nibley came via his marriage to Zina Nibley, Hugh's youngest daughter. He began working on the biography over a decade ago, gathering correspondence, diaries, conducting interviews with family, friends, acquaintances, over many years. He documents everything, footnoting his sources for everything, obviously influenced in this approach by the man himself. (In contrast, Martha Beck's recent book footnotes nothing, and the difference in commitment shows. At one point Beck refers to the biography of her father, but it is clear that she only read the page that mentions her accusations against her father-in Peterson, page 400. All of the key claims that she makes about Hugh's state of mind, financial situation, beliefs, and scholarship, are contradicted and amply documented in Peterson's biography. For example, when she claims that he couldn't job outside of BYU, Peterson records several occasions when Hugh was offered much more money to go elsewhere.)

Daughter Zina, Peterson's wife, includes a fascinating introduction, consisting of 12 vignettes designed show what it was like to grow up as Hugh Nibley's daughter. Considering the hoopla over the recent publication of Martha Nibley Beck's expose, Leaving the Saints, Zina's chapter here offers a fascinatingly different portrait of Hugh Nibley as a father, from one was only 18 months younger than Martha, who slept in the bottom bunk under where Martha slept until she was a teenager. For instance, in vignette 10, on page xx, "She comments that "Daddy bought the big colorful French comics at BYU's bookstore, and read them to Martha and me as bedtime stories. He would point to the words and illustration details and talk about them; not just the story plots and the history, but also the language, explaining French pronounciation, and how much more regular the spelling is in Latin languages that are conservative, compared to English, which since it borrows words from so many sources, has an irregular spelling system. When I got to first grade, I couldn't read very well, but I sure could misspell." And she concludes, building on a memory of her daddy pushing her in a swing hanging from a tree limb, "Growing up with Hugh Nibley as a father, I learned this: the world, with all its exhilaration, giddiness, and danger, is actually pretty safe, as long as you are on a course that strong ropes and sturdy knots and unmovable, unshakable faith pushing you higher. Then all you have to do is hang on tight."

The biography proper continues with accounts of Hugh Nibley's Scottish ancestry, and his early life in Oregon. From there, Peterson begins to alternate biographical chapters with thematic chapters. For example, there are chapters on "Hugh Nibley as a Social Critic" and "Hugh Nibley as a Naturalist", "The Clown of Professions: Hugh Nibley and Scholarship", "Hugh Nibley and War" and "The Home Dance: Hugh Nibley Among the Hopi," "Taking Himself Lightly: The Wit of Hugh Nibley." All of these are fascinating in themselves, even though this approach brings some repetition, the different focus adds to the flavor of the volume, and shows the range of Nibley's interests, influence, and thought.

The biographical chapters all contain rich details, observations, and interesting stories. We get the account of Hugh's NDE, his LDS mission to Germany in the 1930s, his six weeks alone in the Oregon forests, his UCLA education, his joining the army in WWII, experiences in intelligence, and in combat with the 101st Airborne Division at Utah Beach, Operation Market Garden, the Battle of the Bulge, and his experience of the war's aftermath.

In contrast to Martha's scanty gossipy speculations about Hugh's mother, here we get a fully drawn portrait, drawn from interviews and letters. Hugh's wife, Phyllis, also comes across as a fully rounded personality, with her own interests and distinctive strong character compared to the reduction to beehive hairdo, and sock-puppet witness that appears in Leaving the Saints. We get the legendary story of Hugh's courtship (his decision to marry the first girl he met at BYU, who turned out to be Phyllis) and the development of a growing family.

Peterson includes both biographical and survey chapters discussing Hugh Nibley's scholarship on the Book of Mormon, the Pearl of Great Price, and the Temple in antiquity. All of these chapters show an excellent grasp of Hugh thought and work, as well as the critical responses to it, and the impact it continues to have on the larger LDS community, and beyond.

Every reader will have favorite passages. I was fascinated by the friendship between the Yugoslavian basketball star, Kresmir Cosic and Hugh Nibley, as well as that between Nibley and Egyptologist Klaus Bayer. I have been touched and inspired by his discipleship and commitment as well as his scholarship. Peterson concludes by discussing that "Not only is the private man consistent with the public man, but Hugh's actions have been consistent with his words." A brilliant book. A fine tribute and an important account of a fascinating man.

I had more fun reading this book than any book I've read in a while. A reader who doesn't have knowledge of The Church of Jesus Christ (Mormon) to which Nibley belongs would probably not find this book interesting.

However, for someone who is familiar with Nibley's many and varied writings this book is very entertaining and informative, much like Nibley himself.

Criticisms of the book are the following: 1. The author alternates chronological chapters with topical chapters and it is sometimes difficult to remember what part of Nibley's life you are reading about. Similarly, this means that many parts are redundant.

2. I would like to have heard more about Nibley's political adventures. As a student at BYU from 1977 to 1988 (nobody ever accused me of being overly bright)you could always count on Nibley to support the Democratic candidate. Usually Nibley would give them permission to hand out a pamphlet he had written that was something about a parable of giving up our birthright. My roommates and I read this thing several times and never could quite figure out what Nibley was getting at. But we always felt vaguely guilty when we were done.
3. The author several times stated as if it were fact things like "conservative extremism continued to characterize BYU and Mormon culture". Having been part of Mormon Culture and BYU for many of those years, this is not true. There were professors like Reed Benson, son of Prophet Ezra Taft Benson, who worked as a Birch society coordinator but most of these people were the ones most likely to agree with Nibley. J. Reuben Clark could not have been more anti-war. Skousen, Reed Benson, H. Verlan Andersen (future general authority, author of "Many are called, but few are chosen", and Utah legislator) and others were among those most likely to agree with Nibley. The Conservatives on campus always complained that the University tilted too far leftward. And as a Biology major, that department's leftish slant was no less prominent than the Department of Religion's rightward slant. Having attended and visited numerous colleges since then I consider BYU the school with the most academic freedom, something Nibley no doubt recognized and benefited from.

Also, I would like to have heard a little more about the travails of Nibley being treated like a Rock Star. Every dubious wacko on campus at one time or another would show up at Nibley's office or home and it was always amazing to me that Nibley not only didn't call the police but would treat everyone well and answer their questions. Nibley was truly a man of the people. At the "One Eternal Round" lecture a few years ago Nibley was almost mobbed afterward with autograph seekers and confidantes who wished to tell Nibley what their latest "research" showed.

The greatest strength of this book is the author's obvious great love and respect for this great man. He shares letters and viewpoints that simply would be unavailable to anyone other than a family member.

The author also does a wonderful job summing up Nibley's articles, ideas and research - something very difficult to do and it shows the author has quite an intellect of his own.

Lastly the author did a wonderful job of getting at primary sources that interacted directly with Nibley - much like Nibley's scholarship.

Overall, this book was simply wonderful, entertaining and thoughtful.

Boyd Petersen has done the world a favor with this book. It is not perfect, but, except for minor errors, I cannot think of any suggestions for improvement. I felt inspired and grateful for the life of this brilliant, yet humble man who is so completely honest and also deeply good. Thank you, Boyd Petersen and thank you to Hugh Nibley for his countless good choices which make up his good life that is an example to all of us.

I have read many of Hugh Nibley's works, and have always been impressed with his brilliant mind combined with his great faith. Due to his erudition; he was able to energize Mormon apologetics and set the direction that Mormon scholars have been pursuing for the last 60 years. He knew at least 10 languages fluently including most of the important ancient languages where he gleaned most of his material for defending the church. I recently read Sergeant Nibley, Ph.D.: Memories of an Unlikely Screaming Eagle, recounting his experiences during WWII, which whetted my appetite for learning more about him. As a result I picked up this book.

The format for this biography was a little bit different than others I have encountered. The book would have a chronological chapter, followed by a thematic chapter, repeating this cycle throughout the book. It turns out that this format worked well for Nibley's life. I was able to see the sequence of his life, but was also able to see major themes of his life that did not fit within a short chapter. An example was a chapter on his humor. It gave example throughout his life, but showed how consistent it was. Another example was a chapter on his fascination with temples.

I was already familiar with his apologetic work, but this book highlighted his social activism of which I learned much. He was a staunch environmentalist and lover of the outdoors. He was an anti-war critic. He was not afraid to criticize Mormon's and their leaders for their materialism and other faults. He was one man that could get away with it.

I came away from reading this book with a desire to study more of his writings; not only his work on defending the church, but also his social commentary. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in the life of this great man.

John Matlock's review echoes my own feelings. Alex Nibley gives a touching
insight to aspects of Dr. Nibley's character that are, to say the least,
interesting. The text is excellent; the illustrations plenteous; all
adding to the readability and supplementation of a glimpse into the life
of Hugh Nibley.

I have read many Latter-day Saint Bios, and many non-LDS one's, and this is the best of them all. Boyd Petersen is remarkable in his writing style, presentation, scholarship, and detail. I imagine that if there were a college class on "How to Write a Good Bio," this book would be the manual! It truly does not get any better than this! There really is no better source about this man than this book; and you would be hard pressed to find it in any better presentation!
Hugh Nibley may only be an LDS known scholar, but when it comes to a man's legacy and impact upon the world around him, you would be hard pressed to find another as successful and powerful as Nibley. In this honest and 'bare all' approach, Petersen allows us the glimpse into the life of a man whose intellect and impact rivals any other man or woman who has ever lived. The reader quickly becomes aware of the fact that they are reading about a life that will have forever changed the world. "Hugh Nibleys" only come around once in a while. He is a man that could, and did, raise the level of scholarship, study and human knowledge. He could have been anything he wanted. If you are looking for a book that is well written and about an amazing subject... this book is for you.

In my next life... I want to come back as Hugh Nibley, or at least have his brain! Perhaps, the most brilliant man of our day!

This is one of the best biographies I have read in years. Bios can be hard to write (or read) because covering a whole life is not easy to do. I think Boyd Petersen does a great job here. Every other chapter is devoted to teachings of Hugh Nibley. This provides a great balance to the story since teachings make up such a big part of Hugh Nibley's life. Hugh Nibley has lived a most fascinating life. I would rank this right up there with great biographies of the prophets (such as Ezra T. Benson, Gordon B. Hinckley and Spencer W. Kimball). I can't quite get through all of Nibley's most scholarly work, but I appreciate much of what he has given to the LDS community, the best book being "Approaching Zion". Read the biography - and if you read any book of Hugh Nibley's, read "Approaching Zion".

Hugh Nibley is one of a kind - and this book shows that. He is a living example for the rest of us; he has inspired us by calling us to repent. I have always seen Nibley as a prophet more than a historian - no matter what he writes about you end up feeling the need to repent (in Norwegian repent is "omvend" which means to turn around). Nibley is constantly telling us to turn around, change directions and look to God. He has been amazingly consistent in his long life - its fascinating reading. I can recommend this book along with all the many books Hugh Nibley has written.
Boyd Petersen did a good job in presenting Nibley's life by alternating chapters on history and on different topics. I only wish Boyd Petersen had had more of a dialogue with his father-in-law, on many of the topics and events in Nibley's life. Even though Boyd Petersen said early on in the book that he will not focus on Hugh Nibley's life from the prospective of his children - I wish he had included this perspective. For many of us that respect Nibley's life we realise that at times it might be hopelessly impractical two live with somebody that so clearly see and react to this world and all its trappings. All in all this is an excellent book.

This book is simply amazing. I couldn't put it down. This book tells a story of possibly the greatest LDS scholar who ever lived. I recommend this book.