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Culture Care: Reconnecting with Beauty for Our Common Life by Makoto Fujimura, Mark Labberton
cassiakarin's review against another edition
4.0
This was a dangerous book for someone like me. I'm someone who has the propensity to take up and follow the charge of a radical way of thinking when the movement is going in a certain direction: When the power of the argument for the movement is sourced in the power and good of beauty, and when the action called for in the movement is primarily positive relationally, I am all in, and quick to passionately agreement. That's why this book, and this movement, is dangerous for me. I wanted to throw my whole self into its cause. But, God has also given me a spirit of discernment, and decades of Bible reading, and with these two tools in mind, here is what I think of the book:
It's great, and it's powerful...and, therefore dangerous. I'm not talking about a danger that should not be pursued, but a danger that should not be considered lightly, flippantly, or rashly. Like having a baby. Babies are truly wonderful, beautiful, precious, and life changing, but having child without foresight, without wisdom, and without support can and does often lead to despair and devastation to the child and the family (note: I am 100% pro-life, mind you). So I would love to see the baby of this book born, developed, loved, and cherished... I just want to take a closer look at the parents, the child's environment, and how and where the child will be raised.
Fujimura is highly educated, experienced, and his writing is persuasive. He writes in such a way that makes it easy to believe and easy to follow him. That's not such a bad thing because he is on the right side of most of the best theology out there. He is sound. However, some of the ideas he spells out can easily be taken in disastrously wrong directions by the hasty, or by anyone who is any-what-amount discontented with today's American church (
It's great, and it's powerful...and, therefore dangerous. I'm not talking about a danger that should not be pursued, but a danger that should not be considered lightly, flippantly, or rashly. Like having a baby. Babies are truly wonderful, beautiful, precious, and life changing, but having child without foresight, without wisdom, and without support can and does often lead to despair and devastation to the child and the family (note: I am 100% pro-life, mind you). So I would love to see the baby of this book born, developed, loved, and cherished... I just want to take a closer look at the parents, the child's environment, and how and where the child will be raised.
Fujimura is highly educated, experienced, and his writing is persuasive. He writes in such a way that makes it easy to believe and easy to follow him. That's not such a bad thing because he is on the right side of most of the best theology out there. He is sound. However, some of the ideas he spells out can easily be taken in disastrously wrong directions by the hasty, or by anyone who is any-what-amount discontented with today's American church (
lbcaterson's review against another edition
5.0
I've read this book 4 times in a row, I've never done this with a book before. I've never read a book that put into words, things that I have been feeling deeply for years.
This is an amazing book... A must read for everyone and propagating philosophies and actions applicable in all aspects of your life
This is an amazing book... A must read for everyone and propagating philosophies and actions applicable in all aspects of your life
hannahthespectroscopist's review
slow-paced
0 stars, easily the worst book I’ve ever read
Absolutely asinine book. Read it for StoryGraph’s “out of my comfort zone” theme and boy was that a mistake. My (least) favorite was when he compared being an artist to being a banker. He then defends capitalism as if capitalism isn’t the root cause of all his complaints in this book.
Writing is overly wordy, preach-y and self-satisfied.
Absolutely asinine book. Read it for StoryGraph’s “out of my comfort zone” theme and boy was that a mistake. My (least) favorite was when he compared being an artist to being a banker. He then defends capitalism as if capitalism isn’t the root cause of all his complaints in this book.
Writing is overly wordy, preach-y and self-satisfied.
lanceschaubert's review against another edition
4.0
I met Mako at the IAM reception after Movement Day in October and was invited to the release of this book, which meant that I had the privilege of hearing he and his publisher talk about the issues raised in Culture Care. Apparently the phrase is one word in Japanese and in the forward to the Japanese version, Mako says he isn’t really trying to create something out of nothing but rather to highlight and magnify a piece of Japenese culture that needs dusting off, that has been hibernating and incubating, waiting to hatch once more, Godzilla from the trenches of the sea.
But for Americans whose entire culture of late capitalism, late industrialism, late everything consumptive — well, we don’t quite have our soil properly tilled for this kind of cultivation, now do we?
Mako starts out pointing to the gilded age maps of industrial cities, to the black rivers and the misconception that black river equals healthy city. Because of course black meant industry.
Now you understand Tolkien’s irritation.
Into this, Mako pours example after example of people who took it upon themselves to tend to the culture and, in so doing, save the lives of future generations living “in freshwater pools upstream.” For artists burnt out on the hustle for money, for survival, for patronage, for validation – this book injects a booster shoot: we are shaping seven generations out by painting and writing the trajectories of culture. Art saves or destroys lives, so it is critical for us to care for the culture rather than set it to war.
But for Americans whose entire culture of late capitalism, late industrialism, late everything consumptive — well, we don’t quite have our soil properly tilled for this kind of cultivation, now do we?
Mako starts out pointing to the gilded age maps of industrial cities, to the black rivers and the misconception that black river equals healthy city. Because of course black meant industry.
Now you understand Tolkien’s irritation.
Into this, Mako pours example after example of people who took it upon themselves to tend to the culture and, in so doing, save the lives of future generations living “in freshwater pools upstream.” For artists burnt out on the hustle for money, for survival, for patronage, for validation – this book injects a booster shoot: we are shaping seven generations out by painting and writing the trajectories of culture. Art saves or destroys lives, so it is critical for us to care for the culture rather than set it to war.
lbcaterson's review against another edition
5.0
I've read this book 4 times in a row, I've never done this with a book before. I've never read a book that put into words, things that I have been feeling deeply for years.
This is an amazing book... A must read for everyone and propagating philosophies and actions applicable in all aspects of your life
This is an amazing book... A must read for everyone and propagating philosophies and actions applicable in all aspects of your life
adamrshields's review against another edition
4.0
Short Review: Culture matters. Culture needs cultivation. Beauty is central to combating utilitarian theology.
I listened to this on audiobook and I want to re-read in print. I think Fujimura deserves at least two readings. I largely agree with the basic focus of the book. The framing of understanding culture similarly to the environment, as something that needs to be cultivated, is helpful. And I think that especially the Evangelical world needs to hear Fujimura's focus on beauty as a counter to the evangelical bias toward utilitarianism.
Evangelicals can sometimes hear the call toward beauty as a call to use beauty for evangelism (utilitarian reasons) instead understanding beauty as an essential way of understanding God.
My slightly longer review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/culture-care/
I listened to this on audiobook and I want to re-read in print. I think Fujimura deserves at least two readings. I largely agree with the basic focus of the book. The framing of understanding culture similarly to the environment, as something that needs to be cultivated, is helpful. And I think that especially the Evangelical world needs to hear Fujimura's focus on beauty as a counter to the evangelical bias toward utilitarianism.
Evangelicals can sometimes hear the call toward beauty as a call to use beauty for evangelism (utilitarian reasons) instead understanding beauty as an essential way of understanding God.
My slightly longer review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/culture-care/
marlanaperry77's review against another edition
3.0
Some really good pieces of wisdom hidden in a lot of words. And while I do love a good metaphor, when every single idea contains a metaphor, I get a little worn out.
neilrcoulter's review against another edition
4.0
Culture Care is a fantastic manifesto of the place of arts and artists within society. Fujimura outlines his hopes for how the arts can bring about a more reasoned, thoughtful public square, a society that mirrors the idea of an "estuary"--thriving on diversity and balance, respectful of one another even in the midst of differences. Artists have always been the people who swim upstream and bring pure, fresh water back to the rest of society that is choking on polluted water, but Fujimura worries that we've reached a point when all the water has become polluted--with cynicism, with sarcasm, with hopelessness, with despair. Is there fresh water left for the artists to find? There is, but in order to keep the fountain of good creativity going, we all have work to do. Culture Care is a call to everyone to come together and play their parts, so that the healthy estuary may form and thrive.
I like so many of the ideas Fujimura raises in this relatively brief, easy-to-read volume. One of my favorites is his concept of the artist as a mearcstapa, an Old English term meaning "border-stalker." A mearcstapa is someone who lives on the borders, and crosses those borders to bring good things from one group to another. Such a person is often misunderstood and sometimes alienated from all groups, but they also have a perspective that no one in any one group has. (One of Fujumura's examples of border-stalkers is Aragorn, from The Lord of the Rings--particularly evident in that moment at the Prancing Pony where he wishes that people would accept him just for who he is, without needing verification from someone like Gandalf. I love that example, and it made me see one of my beloved characters in a new light.) Artists tend to naturally fit into the role of border-stalker, but the rest of society doesn't know what to do with that. Part of Fujimura's challenge is for other leaders in society--in churches, especially, but also in other public offices--to recognize and value the border-stalkers, even commissioning them in their work of seeking and gifting.
Another theme in Fujimura's book is the same as appears in his book, Silence and Beauty: that good soil is created by things dying, and in the same way, a good, creative society is built on years of death and hardship. I admire Fujimura's fierce, compassionate optimism, where so many border-stalkers (me too, often) give in to despair. In interviews about the album Songs of Experience, Bono has talked about a sense of "defiant joy," and I see that in Fujimura, too. We all need that, and I hope that I can cultivate more of it in my life, and even share it with others. I don't do very well at defiant joy, but Culture Care is an excellent reminder to keep trying, day by day.
Culture Care is not nearly so complex and wide ranging as Silence and Beauty, but it is a good introduction to Fujimura's ideals. My only criticism its brevity; I could easily have read twice as many pages on these topics from Fujimura. But it is intended merely as a conversation-starter, the first of many books that engage with this topic. I hope it will be read and discussed in many churches and other groups. I know it's been very useful with my students, and I look forward to teaching more of the book this year.
I like so many of the ideas Fujimura raises in this relatively brief, easy-to-read volume. One of my favorites is his concept of the artist as a mearcstapa, an Old English term meaning "border-stalker." A mearcstapa is someone who lives on the borders, and crosses those borders to bring good things from one group to another. Such a person is often misunderstood and sometimes alienated from all groups, but they also have a perspective that no one in any one group has. (One of Fujumura's examples of border-stalkers is Aragorn, from The Lord of the Rings--particularly evident in that moment at the Prancing Pony where he wishes that people would accept him just for who he is, without needing verification from someone like Gandalf. I love that example, and it made me see one of my beloved characters in a new light.) Artists tend to naturally fit into the role of border-stalker, but the rest of society doesn't know what to do with that. Part of Fujimura's challenge is for other leaders in society--in churches, especially, but also in other public offices--to recognize and value the border-stalkers, even commissioning them in their work of seeking and gifting.
Another theme in Fujimura's book is the same as appears in his book, Silence and Beauty: that good soil is created by things dying, and in the same way, a good, creative society is built on years of death and hardship. I admire Fujimura's fierce, compassionate optimism, where so many border-stalkers (me too, often) give in to despair. In interviews about the album Songs of Experience, Bono has talked about a sense of "defiant joy," and I see that in Fujimura, too. We all need that, and I hope that I can cultivate more of it in my life, and even share it with others. I don't do very well at defiant joy, but Culture Care is an excellent reminder to keep trying, day by day.
Culture Care is not nearly so complex and wide ranging as Silence and Beauty, but it is a good introduction to Fujimura's ideals. My only criticism its brevity; I could easily have read twice as many pages on these topics from Fujimura. But it is intended merely as a conversation-starter, the first of many books that engage with this topic. I hope it will be read and discussed in many churches and other groups. I know it's been very useful with my students, and I look forward to teaching more of the book this year.
benrogerswpg's review against another edition
4.0
This was a good book on art and its connection with religion.
I quite enjoyed it, and appreciate Makoto's great writing.
Looking forward to reading more of his books.
4.0/5
I quite enjoyed it, and appreciate Makoto's great writing.
Looking forward to reading more of his books.
4.0/5