Neuro-Apocalypse by Danny NemuMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Neuro-Apocalpyse is a truly extraordinary book. It is exceptionally well-written, and its flow brings together diverse fields - neurology, linguistics, hermeneutics, narcotics and politics - in a heady brew of neological innovation: it’s theo-biology, or onto-fluidity, or (a)narc(h)o-narrative, or something. It’s difficult to describe a category of book you’ve never read before.
Danny Nemu is an irreverent Reverend who has written an account of the Bible from outside all the normal conventions of biblical studies. It’s not even a book about the Bible, as such; it’s about the brain, and meaning, and how humans have come to make more of it in unusual ways. However, it’s structured around the biblical narrative, and as a sort-of biblical scholar I found it intensely engaging. Laugh-out-loud funny in parts, and profoundly original in others, it kept me hooked throughout.
Rev Nemu takes the reader on a journey into the philosophy of language and how the brain constructs meaning, via all kinds of fascinating examples of non-neurotypical processing. Reading the opening chapters of Genesis as an account of human neurological evolution, he then explores a startlingly nuanced reading of the ‘gods’ that shape human psychology and social consciousness. Leaping from psychoactive drugs to ancient law-codes, he weaves a story of both possibility and oppression, anarchy and control.
This is a book that plunges into ancient depths to discover contemporary treasures. It has forced me to think more deeply about a number of things. Most importantly for me, it’s offered a new way to read an old story, which is full of creativity and life.
It’s well-researched with extensive footnotes, but it is not an academic text. It’s a very accessible text for lay-readers from various fields who are willing to do the most human thing of all, and question everything.
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This review was imported from Goodreads.
