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maplelead 's review for:
Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism
by Amanda Montell
I got into this book because I knew someone who fell deep into the Qanon hole and it destroyed his life, so I was excited to read about it.
But . Eh. I think this is best as an entry point into cults and there’s a lot of generalizations that I felt didn’t really have good backing. Felt much more of a light hearted opinion piece. This further cements that my ideal nonfiction book is just a textbook.
My favorite parts were the part that talked about cults at the beginning and the language they used (it was interesting how when you get into Scientology it’s like a whole new vocabulary!) and how people fall into cults. I liked the section on MLMs as well. The personal anecdotes about the authors own personal journey when interacting with cults were quite fun to read about as well, and I loved all the interviews she did with people who have gotten out of cults. I appreciated how the conversations were were empathetic and honest (Like the one cult survivor who said her ideal living would be in a commune, I appreciated how the author didn’t hold judgement for her). When language took focus it was the best I think, such as when she was describing how a lot of cults talk about things that are not real but only made real by language, super interesting!
I did not like the fitness chapter, felt pretty weak. And the qanon part was quite short, even though that’s the part I was looking forward to! Also the whole thing felt very millennial pop psychology? I don’t have a better way to describe it.
But . Eh. I think this is best as an entry point into cults and there’s a lot of generalizations that I felt didn’t really have good backing. Felt much more of a light hearted opinion piece. This further cements that my ideal nonfiction book is just a textbook.
My favorite parts were the part that talked about cults at the beginning and the language they used (it was interesting how when you get into Scientology it’s like a whole new vocabulary!) and how people fall into cults. I liked the section on MLMs as well. The personal anecdotes about the authors own personal journey when interacting with cults were quite fun to read about as well, and I loved all the interviews she did with people who have gotten out of cults. I appreciated how the conversations were were empathetic and honest (Like the one cult survivor who said her ideal living would be in a commune, I appreciated how the author didn’t hold judgement for her). When language took focus it was the best I think, such as when she was describing how a lot of cults talk about things that are not real but only made real by language, super interesting!
I did not like the fitness chapter, felt pretty weak. And the qanon part was quite short, even though that’s the part I was looking forward to! Also the whole thing felt very millennial pop psychology? I don’t have a better way to describe it.