What readers think of Under the Banner of Heaven, plus links to write your own review.

Unfortunately, Krakauer has missed an opportunity to tell an intruiging story. Being a weekend climber, I read with great anticipation Into Thin Air and was amazed at the story that he told. So amazed, in fact, that I read every other written account I could get my hands on. It was then I noticed the incredible distortion of facts about that terrible incident, and assumed this distortion could, at least in part, be attributed to the guilt of surviving such an ordeal, especially considering the fact that he was originally "scheduled" to climb with Fisher, and bailed for Hall's team at the last minute. One example of his obliteration of fact is his portrayal that the dying field on Everest was a mix of the teams. In fact, Scott Fisher was the ONLY person from his team that died, and all other fatalities were from Hall's group. Interesting that Krakauer blamed Anatoli (assistant on Fisher's team) for not using oxygen on the climb, yet Anatoli was the only person who actually saved any lives at all.

Unless Krakauer is hiding the fact that he was/is an "angry Mormon in hiding", I am forced to realize that he is not about painting events with gripping honesty and integrity, but rather he is about capitalizing on terrible situations and using them to spin agendas. While it may be true that these people were mormons or some fractal group thereof, the real story isn't about any particular religion or religion in general, but about the mental workings of some truly sick people. Unfortunately, he uses the situation to further his personal beliefs, of which he's entitled and of which I'm totally uninterested. Hopefully, like the situation on Everest, there will be many other accounts written that will provide better insight into the cause of such a terrible event.

Poor scholarship and poor research make for an interesting story. Unfortunately Krakauer does a disservice to all religions (with Mormonism as the whipping boy in this tale) and discredits his own research by lacing his historically inaccurate portrayl with so much opinion.

This is the third book by Jon Krakauer that I have read. Upon its completion I found myself questioning many of the "facts" the author presented in the first two books. My conclusion is that either there is much more fiction in the author's earlier writings than I would have thought or the author has exceeded his professional capabilities.

I agree with many of the expletives used by others regarding this book, i.e.; captivating, appalling, provocative, engrossing, startling, horrific, intriguing, and disturbing, yet it lacks the compelling accuracy demanded by such a story.

The author is a self-professed agnostic however in this reader’s opinion it is unprofessional to so heavy lace one's beliefs through a book marketed as non-fiction.

Greatly Disappointed!

I was not impressed with this book. I felt like he was trying to poke fun at things that shouldn't be poked fun at. I strongly disliked this book.

The Banner of Heaven. I have no disrespect for Jon especially the books "Into the wild" and also "Into thin Air" they were great books. But with " Banner of Heaven" I feel he is cutting up Mormon religion. Especially about the part of polagamy which was done many years ago, when this act was acceptable. Also he tries to say the murders were done in the spirit of the lord. I am sorry but this is not possible. Since these people did a evil act they must have had the devil inside them, because god does not possess people to kill, neither does the mormon religion. Nobody is perfect and everyone has fallen from time to time except Jesus Christ. I feel to pick on any religion or publish anything derogatory is not performance, to me that is hate literature.