Scan barcode
A review by lannan
After Progress: Reason and Religion at the End of the Industrial Age by John Michael Greer
4.0
Great book. The writing is a little pendulous, as another reviewer put it, but it's just how JMG writes, and if you've read his blog, you'll know what I mean.
Most of the book is spent on arguing for Oswald Spengler for a new generation, which I find admirable, but the real meat of the text is where he applies Spengler's observations to the state of Western Civilization, what it means for us here and now, and what he thinks we might do about it.
His conclusions about religion are refreshing and no-nonsense, though I may be biased, as a member of one of the minority religions he references. His later chapter dedicated to analyzing the success and failures of communes through history was probably my favorite.
Four stars for more than half the book being a lengthier rehash of posts from his blog, and the sometimes distracting number of idioms he employs... and the awkward times that he repeats the same ones a little too often. After the third or fourth time I had to read "history's compost heap" or "inkblot patterns of the cosmos" it was difficult to keep my eyes from rolling a little.
All in all, though, a highly recommended read for those beginning to question the state of the whole darned world.
Most of the book is spent on arguing for Oswald Spengler for a new generation, which I find admirable, but the real meat of the text is where he applies Spengler's observations to the state of Western Civilization, what it means for us here and now, and what he thinks we might do about it.
His conclusions about religion are refreshing and no-nonsense, though I may be biased, as a member of one of the minority religions he references. His later chapter dedicated to analyzing the success and failures of communes through history was probably my favorite.
Four stars for more than half the book being a lengthier rehash of posts from his blog, and the sometimes distracting number of idioms he employs... and the awkward times that he repeats the same ones a little too often. After the third or fourth time I had to read "history's compost heap" or "inkblot patterns of the cosmos" it was difficult to keep my eyes from rolling a little.
All in all, though, a highly recommended read for those beginning to question the state of the whole darned world.