I have a ridiculous amount to say about this book, most of which can be summed up as “damn, I wish I was teaching it!”
Levy’s clearly just coming into her own as an author and the sharpness of her vision is not quite yet matched by her skill with the pen. But what she’s accomplished here is fascinating.
There are two things worth drawing attention to:
She talks the way we do. The in-group conversation and awareness of self as other has not changed in 140 years. The way we see ourselves as modern, as outside, as complicated, as deeply committed to advancement...yeah. “I’m in this picture and I don’t like it” as they say.
The second thing I think is really interesting is talking about this book as a defamiliarizarion of 21st century modern orthodoxy’s materialism. What do we think of them and how do they reflect us...
Hmm, when can I get a book club?