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dreamofbookspines's review against another edition
fast-paced
4.5
Really interesting juxtaposition of stories. Half a star off because there was something about her writing that bugged me, though I couldn't quite put my finger on what. Maybe the combo of extremely short sentences followed by long ones. The vibe was very TED talk. That said, the subject matter was engaging.
spatterson12's review against another edition
4.0
I haven’t wanted to highlight so many sections of a book since grad school (don’t worry, I didn’t, yet).
Montell was on the BTI5 podcast in the fall and listening to her discuss this book and her personal connection to cults was so intriguing and sent me on the hunt to order this.
“ …because speech is the first thing we’re willing to change about ourselves…and also the last thing we let go. With words we breathe reality into being.”
The book is divided into parts, ranging from how language is used in religious organizations to fitness boutiques. This book could easily have expanded across 600+ pages, but she finds a way to narrow it to less than 300 (the GR count for the hardback is off).
Not all cults or cult language is bad. She makes a point to identify ritual time. If a person isn’t able to leave the language behind after the set ritual time, the time dedicated to the activity or group, then that’s when the language can become negative. When it infiltrates every moment of your life and not just an established 50 minutes or however long.
I’ll include one last quote from an interviewee that stuck out: “Being in a top management position, if you’re not careful, you go into an echo chamber. People are going to tell you what you want to hear, so you start to get away with madness. And madness becomes institutionalized very quickly.”
Montell was on the BTI5 podcast in the fall and listening to her discuss this book and her personal connection to cults was so intriguing and sent me on the hunt to order this.
“ …because speech is the first thing we’re willing to change about ourselves…and also the last thing we let go. With words we breathe reality into being.”
The book is divided into parts, ranging from how language is used in religious organizations to fitness boutiques. This book could easily have expanded across 600+ pages, but she finds a way to narrow it to less than 300 (the GR count for the hardback is off).
Not all cults or cult language is bad. She makes a point to identify ritual time. If a person isn’t able to leave the language behind after the set ritual time, the time dedicated to the activity or group, then that’s when the language can become negative. When it infiltrates every moment of your life and not just an established 50 minutes or however long.
I’ll include one last quote from an interviewee that stuck out: “Being in a top management position, if you’re not careful, you go into an echo chamber. People are going to tell you what you want to hear, so you start to get away with madness. And madness becomes institutionalized very quickly.”
jampsonn16's review against another edition
4.0
informative, engaging, and definitely had me Googling a lot of people
suzie_q's review against another edition
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
3.75
Very informative, but didn't go as in depth into the specific types of language, vocabulary and its effects within certain cults as I would have liked to see. I also thought that the political views of the author were a bit out of place in a book that explores how persuasive language can be.
carly_pdf's review against another edition
4.0
Lost me in a few parts but overall great informative read