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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An armchair theoretical discussion of magic,
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This review is from: Modern Occult Rhetoric: Mass Media and the Drama of Secrecy in the Twentieth Century (Albma Rhetoric Cult & Soc Crit) (Hardcover)
As someone who used to be an academic and is a magician, I thought I would pick this work up and see what Gunn had to offer, on the subject of the occult, from an academic perspective.First let me tell you what he does right: He draws on some occult texts in his arguments and engages the material fairly well. He defines his terms and for the most part defends his arguments in a manner that is actually coherent and not overly reliant on academic jargon. He offers some useful insights on the textual end of occultism and the rhetorical devices used by occultists to establish authority. I particularly liked his treatment of Crowley's use of irony. What he doesn't do: I find it odd that he focuses on intention and agency and yet doesn't explore how these concepts are used in occultism. I realize he is an academic, but intention is a fairly important word and rhetorical device in occultist writing. Also the texts he draws on, while occult, are dated. There is, as he points out a lot of work out there on the subject of magic, but while I think his decision to draw on some dated works was useful, I would have liked to have seen him draw on more recent works as wells. Also, occasionally he is guilty of being a little arrogant in how he engages his material. Finally, his epilogue provides a far too brief examination of the similarity of academic writing and occult writing. He makes a lot of assumptions about occult writing that can easily be applied to academic writing and communication as well. Overall, I would recommend reading this book. Gunn has some interesting perspectives to offer, for both the academic and the magician.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good,
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This review is from: Modern Occult Rhetoric: Mass Media and the Drama of Secrecy in the Twentieth Century (Albma Rhetoric Cult & Soc Crit) (Hardcover)
This is a good book. A solid look into how media itself falls out of the hands of the producer and becomes subject to manipulation - and a strong place for further research along these lines.
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