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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Truly Remarkable!, August 2, 2007
This review is from: A Consumer's Guide to the Apocalypse: Why There is No Cultural War in America and Why We Will Perish Nonetheless (Religion and Contemporary Culture) (Hardcover)
The academic literary critic has been described as a eunuch ... yearning to produce powerful art, yet incapable of more than commenting upon the production of others. Velasquez breaks this academic mold and has accomplished the impossible.
"A Consumers Guide to the Apocalypse" begins at the level of every pop-culture consumer. Velasquez simply reads what's on the page, the stage and theater screen and patiently listens. What emerges is our fascination with apocalyptic themes. There is no conspiracy afoot, just the plain simple fact that unrelated and widely consumed `art' is itself consumed by the same issue.
Velasquez takes each artist in question in earnest. This is not an academic parsing, but rather the attempt to understand the artists as they express themselves. Don't worry about your favorite song becoming fodder for a sophomore research paper, but do be prepared to question exactly why you like these artists in the first place.
Velasquez is different than the academic eunuchs, because he does not assume pop-culture is different than his culture ... and our culture too. This book is first rate and should become the model for all honest reflection on our times.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Self-Understanding through Controversy, November 10, 2007
This review is from: A Consumer's Guide to the Apocalypse: Why There is No Cultural War in America and Why We Will Perish Nonetheless (Religion and Contemporary Culture) (Hardcover)
This book is controversial. If you don't have a thick skin, don't read it. If you're at all mildly interested in modern culture and you can take the heat of controversy, give it a try. You may get something out of it if you are open-minded enough.
A Consumer's Guide to the Apocalypse deals with the two topics of academic and daily life that shroud 21st century America: science and theology. It seems as though the struggle between these two apparently juxtaposed fields pits individuals against each other as they choose one over the other, but this book has no place for dogma. The close-minded evolutionary biologist and the Catholic bishop find themselves absent from this book. And for good reason.
CGA's first half devotes itself to the failure of science as a means of explaining human existence. The author refuses to accept that the study of cell structure and the activity of molecules define humanity, and in doing so, he may step on a few feet of those working in laboratories who devote their lives to atomic structure. But reverence is not the theme of the book. Self-understanding is. And self-understanding may at times be necessarily ruthless.
CGA's second half devotes itself to the failure of theology as a means of explaining human existence. Drawing from the anti-Christian lyrics of Dave Matthews, the nihilism of Fight Club, and the rebellion of Tori Amos, the author manages to repulse every right-wing Bible-believing Christian since Saint Augustine. And even though the Christian reader may be far from amused, he may appreciate the wildly opposing viewpoint. The interesting part is that on many occasions, the author does not state his own opinions, but analyzes the artists' views and lets his own conclusions speak for themselves through the artists. Some may call this cowardice; others, brilliance.
And then we arrive at the grand conclusion. Laying science to one side and theology to the other, we pick up a new mentality that finds itself to be a happy medium between these two, and although not specifically stated, appears to be "spirituality."
The connection with various modern philosophers is apparent and Velasquez pays homage to them in the bibliographic essay at the end of the book. The reader will discover many flirtations with existential and nihilistic philosophers throughout--the words "beyond good and evil" seem to make an appearance every now and then. And the book of Genesis also finds its place throughout, especially in the conclusion, which is entitled "A New Genesis."
Do not read this book for answers. Read it for questions. CGA manages to pose thought-provoking queries of relevance for today's society that seems overly immersed in aesthetics over existence. Socrates would be proud.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Questions of the Modern World Brought to Light by Velasquez, October 12, 2007
This review is from: A Consumer's Guide to the Apocalypse: Why There is No Cultural War in America and Why We Will Perish Nonetheless (Religion and Contemporary Culture) (Hardcover)
A newfound view upon the world of pop culture has been unearthed in Eduardo Velasquez's A Consumer's Guide to the Apocalypse. Instead of simply viewing modern works as plagues upon society as is commonplace with the educated writers of our day, Velasquez chooses instead to explain the effects these works have upon society. His focus is primarily upon the works of Coldplay, Tori Amos, Dave Matthews, Michael Frayn (in Copenhagen), Chuck Palahniuk (in Fight Club) and Tom Wolfe (in I am Charlotte Simmons) as example of popular culture. The effects of these works are being measured in both philosophical and religious contexts. Velasquez questions the act of humans becoming gods, or as he says "We are Prometheans without punishment and without gods--self anointed lords and masters of nature" (xviii). Velasquez does not claim to be all-knowing of the ways of the world, he simply makes his own analysis of human society, the society he claims is full of "creators and destroyers," both existing within each of us (xix). The book is split in two sections, one focusing upon science, the other focusing upon theology. However, as is his point, it is impossible for one to be present without the other in popular culture and therefore theology makes many guest appearances in the science half and vice versa.
The most compelling argument for science came, in my opinion, from the chapter entitled "Beyond the Edge of Reason," where Coldplay is studied. As Velasquez studies, in depth, each of Coldplay's albums, he also shows his research into the artists by commenting on events within their personal lives that support his own argument. An example of this is when he discusses Chris Martin (Coldplay's lead singer) and Gwyneth Paltrow's (his wife) decision to name their first children Apple and Moses in an obvious connection to the famous Bible stories (60). He also continues his research by discussing Coldplay DVDs, music videos, concerts, in addition to the music on the albums. This proves that compelling research into the topic has taken place; these conclusions are not simply floating around in Eduardo's mind. The topics from other artists include similar levels of research and analysis. His analysis of Fight Club includes numerous editorial comments, quotes, and responses. These allow the reader to see the impact of this work upon the public, to put it simply; it caused a great deal of controversy.
As to religion, one of the most compelling chapters was focused upon Tori Amos. This chapter showed that her views upon religion were not only of great impact, but predated the recent pop culture "god," Dan Brown. Her main point was to make Mary Magdalene out to more than just a "demeaned prostitute" (121). Velasquez is not afraid to tackle controversial topics, adding to the allure and fun of reading his book. He chooses to challenge himself with the question of "What is a powerful male, a powerful female? (123). As in all of his chapters, the chapter on Amos, involves numerous circular manners of thinking such as "The profane is sacred...and the sacred profane" (124). He also advances to speaking of sexuality and its place in the world today. The world today is full of images of sex and many would argue that culture is being corrupted but Velasquez argues that authors such as Amos are trying to find a middle ground between sexuality and spirituality.
In the realm of conclusions to his arguments, Velasquez leaves much to the reader. This allows the educated mind to take his points and run with them, whether they choose to agree or to disagree. A major point that is brought up in each of his chapters, as well as his conclusion, is that none of the authors of popular culture are able to find a true "distinction between good and evil" and this explains why he has so many examples of circular thought, for conclusions of this level are not possible in today's culture, and may never be possible (150). Velasquez knows that culture does not need to decide whether we are, we know through science that we exist, the question is what can we do with our existence? Can we become gods through creation of something from nothing? Can we change the world to make it what we would prefer for it to be? Can we surpass God in creating a world we can truly be satisfied with instead of being forced to accept flaws as God was forced to do in Genesis? These questions are not answered by Velasquez, he does not prove to be so bold or so ignorant to attempt answers to questions that have no true answer. Only time can tell what the limit to the human is, to the limit of the technology the human can harness. Is there a battle coming, will humans challenge gods to become the supreme beings in the universe? That is the question that comes to mind after a reading of Eduardo Velasquez's intriguing and gripping book, A Consumer's Guide to the Apocalypse.
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