Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell

73 reviews

hexedmaiden's review

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informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

First off I fuckin love the cover of this book and would buy an art print of it to hang on my wall.

Now on to the content of this book, I think Amanda did an banger job on this and I like this should be a book that everyone and their grandma reads. If you're like me and have been listening/reading/watching anything to do with True Crime you might be familiar with not only the cults in here, but even the language used that Amanda refers to as, "Cultish." I found this book absolutely fascinating and getting to see how powerful language can truly be, for the worse and the better. How that cultish language is used by genuine cults, politicians, multi-level marketing (MLM) corporations, to even workout gyms. 

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michelles_book_nook's review against another edition

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informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

⚠️ CW: gaslighting, sexual assault, rape, abuse, violence, suicide, murder ⚠️ If you're looking for a mind blowing non-fic read then this one is for you! What makes 'cults' so intriguing and frightening? What makes them powerful? The reason why so many of us binge Manson documentaries by the dozen and fall down rabbit holes researching suburban moms gone QAnon is because we’re looking for a satisfying explanation for what causes people to join, and more importantly, stay in these extreme groups. We secretly want to know: could it happen to me? Amanda Montell’s argument is that, on some level, it already has. Our culture tends to provide pretty flimsy answers to questions of cult influence, mostly having to do with vague talk of brainwashing. However, Montell argues that the key to manufacturing intense ideology, community and us vs them attitudes all comes down to language. In both positive ways and shadowy ones, cultish language is something we hear and are influenced by every single day. Montell exposes the verbal elements that make a wide spectrum of communities 'cultish', revealing how they affect followers of groups as notorious as Heaven’s Gate, but also how they pervade our modern start-ups such Peloton leaderboards and Instagram feeds. This addicting take on the curious social science of power and belief will make you hear the fanatical language of 'cultish' everywhere. This book was so incredibly mind blowing and interesting that I could not put it down! It has easily become one of my favourite non-fiction reads. Overall, I absolutely loved this one and I highly recommend that everyone reads this book!

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growintogardens's review against another edition

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medium-paced

3.0


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mfrisk's review

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hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

3.5

This is a great read connecting the author’s experiences with cults and cult language to accounts from various other people and how language can be used. It does get a bit repetitive and drag towards the end but I’d still recommend it widely. 

This line in particular stood out to me as poignant - “It’s in our DNA to want to believe in something, to feel something, alongside other people seeking the same.” 

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rowena0528's review

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emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

This book was fantastic. Provided a great overview of cults in the past and present while showing concern for modern idolization. This book does an amazing job of showing "the grey" area of what makes something cult like, from wellness culture, "cult fitness", and far right beliefs. While exploring each topic the needed critical thinking questions needed to examine them are reiterated so that they are drilled into your brain without being intrusive. 

I found this book while reading reviews for another book on modern religious movements "Strange Rites". Both of these books should be read together, as they compliment each other very well. 

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marija_m95's review against another edition

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informative fast-paced

2.75

The title indicated that this books concentrates mainly on the linguistic properties of cult language which was not the case. 
The first three parts (the book is divided in 6 parts) were somewhat satisfactory, and the author had some interesting views on how cultish language works to lure a person into becoming a part of a cult and also into staying in it.

But parts four, five, six felt like reading a completely different book, concentrating on MLMs, fitness groups and online communities which we can agree are "cult like" but they are not cults in the negative sense of the word associated with groups like Heaven's Gate or Jonestown. And while it was interesting to read how these groups and organisations possess cultish qualifies and cultish language it felt far too removed from the main topic. 

Other downsides of reading these were the author's writing style, especially the signposting. Reading lines as "more on that later"; "we'll discuss this in part 6"; etc. creates aversion to the book and it's not something I'd like to encounter in any type of book. It would've been more suitable if this was a research paper. 

Another thing was how the author was excessively present in the book and her numerous mentions of her hate towards Donald Trump felt like she was imposing her own political views upon the reader. We can agree that politicians use language to gain following and therefore a good political orator can have many similarities with a cult leader, but when only one politician is mentioned repeatedly as a bad example the book itself becomes biased.

Overall, this book felt misleading and not what I expected. While there were some interesting points to take from it, it wasn't anything groundbreaking and nothing I haven't heard of before. There was no new knowledge or perspective to be gained from this.

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ellenmlittle's review

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informative medium-paced

4.5


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hey_al's review

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funny informative medium-paced

3.5

Loved it! If you've listened to her podcast, a lot of this might sound familiar. If not, check it out. I like that she doesn't use a judgemental tone or write off all culty behavior - it's very nuanced and we are all susceptible to it. 

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saucy_bookdragon's review

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challenging dark informative fast-paced

3.5

The first half of Cultish was really informative and interesting, dealing specifically with well known religious cults such as Jonestown and Scientology, with a specific focus on the kind of language they use. It made me realize I did not know enough about famous cults. For example, the fact Jim Jones was losing control and becoming desperate by the time he called for mass suicide or the fact Scientology has a paramilitary. The author was extremely compassionate towards victims, emphasizing the fact brainwashing does not exist and that people who join cults are not idiots.

Sections 4-5 were disappointing though, dealing with MLMs (the pyramid schemes kind not the gay kind) and fitness programs. They spent the whole time justifying why these groups are cultish and so mainly applied the information discussed in the first half, which made it redundant and the authors arguments felt like reaches at times, she even admits at the end of chapter five that fitness programs aren't really a concern. This would've been stronger if it focused specifically on religious cults and then made quick comparisons to how the methods apply to non-cult groups, or maybe if it had been one chapter about cultish groups.

The last section is a return to form as it discusses New Age and conspiracy theory internet personalities. These are much closer to traditional cults and its a fascinating discussion on how these groups form with the internet. It made me wish that the non-cult sections had been cut/condensed and the book could've expanded more on actual cults, especially since there were a lot of examples mentioned that could have used expanding on.

Also, it seems odd that since the doors were opened for cult-like groups that there wasn't any discussion of celebrity fandoms. They're mentioned maybe twice but never expanded on or explained. I mean they're groups of people extremely devoted to one person/a group of people who have their own distinct language, in jokes, and culture. Their beliefs are often near religious and the lore they create is often intricate and a mythology around the person. I think especially Swifties, kpop stans, and Beatlemania would be interesting to study.

Cultish is overall an interesting introduction to the role language plays in cults and thought provoking, though it could have used more focus and more examples. 

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beccasova's review against another edition

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informative reflective fast-paced

4.0


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