Rating: 
Summary: Put it on your must-read list!
Review: "The Sacred Canopy" is an excellent introduction to Peter Berger, as well as a good way to gain a new perspective on how we construct a sacred reality for ourselves. Berger's goal in this book is not to get us to abandon our religious faith, but to examine it as at least partially social projection which we then accept as objective and subsequently internalize. He then goes on in the second half to examine the phenomenon of secularization and its impact on the power which religious traditions hold over their adherents. This is a scholarly book, but it is not by any means esoteric-- due mainly to Berger's exceptional writing style. This would be a good one to keep on the shelf for multiple readings.
Rating:
Summary: Put it on your must-read list!
Review: "The Sacred Canopy" is an excellent introduction to Peter Berger, as well as a good way to gain a new perspective on how we construct a sacred reality for ourselves. Berger's goal in this book is not to get us to abandon our religious faith, but to examine it as at least partially social projection which we then accept as objective and subsequently internalize. He then goes on in the second half to examine the phenomenon of secularization and its impact on the power which religious traditions hold over their adherents. This is a scholarly book, but it is not by any means esoteric-- due mainly to Berger's exceptional writing style. This would be a good one to keep on the shelf for multiple readings.
Rating: 
Summary: Readable?
Review: Berger is anything but readable. To start with, any given sentence in the book contains anywhere from one to five neologisms the author himself has spawned (most likely in a laughable attempt at clarity). Sentences like "the nominizing act intends a comprehensive order of all items that may be linguistically objectivated, that is, intends a totalizing nomos", is among one of thousands of obscure artifacts of Berger's logic-gears that serve to make this book, in three simple words, *anything* but readable. I award it five stars for containing excellent ideas, and subtract four for managing to render them virtually indecipherable.
Rating:
Summary: Readable?
Review: Berger is anything but readable. To start with, any given sentence in the book contains anywhere from one to five neologisms the author himself has spawned (most likely in a laughable attempt at clarity). Sentences like "the nominizing act intends a comprehensive order of all items that may be linguistically objectivated, that is, intends a totalizing nomos", is among one of thousands of obscure artifacts of Berger's logic-gears that serve to make this book, in three simple words, *anything* but readable. I award it five stars for containing excellent ideas, and subtract four for managing to render them virtually indecipherable.
Rating: 
Summary: Religious Studies
Review: People will have problems with some of Berger's ideas; namely that religion is a social construction. So, of course removing "truth" with a capitol T will offend. However wordy or latinate his words get, he is still, by far, much more lucid and friendly to native english speakers than the majority of those who write in this feild.
Those interested in the modern, g-d-free, clean shiny secular religious studies will find a useful text here.
Those complaining about his lingistic machinations simply have not been plunged into the rather absurdity that populates the majority of religious studies. It is not an "easy read" as one would read say non-fiction for enjoyment, but, by far, much more lucid and approachable than other writers.
Rating:
Summary: In other words.....
Review: Peter Berger's "The Sacred Canopy", while containing some insightful ideas, are too muddled down with Berger's personal terminology to be considered an interesting read. Does Berger point out some interesting and intriguing thoughts? Yes. But that's not the argument here. I consider myself an intelligent, university-educated individual, but Berger makes up his own words, comes up with entirely new meanings for existing terms, and throws in as many Latin terms as he can in one sentence, that simply trying to comprehend one sentence becomes a chore. Moreover, each chapter feels redundant with ideas expressed in previous areas throughout the book. Berger's inflated language gives the reader a feeling of his pompousness and self-importance. If you'd like the condensed version of the book, here it is: Religion was/is created by man as a "sacred canopy" to give us meaning as human beings, but we forget that religion is man-made and thus give power to religion to control us. The End.
Rating:
Summary: Curious and not as bad as his "Construction of Reality"
Review: Still the book is recondite and frequently bewildering: highlighters, sticky notes, and drawing shapes on the pages await the reader determined to get to the bottom of it; be prepared to belabour this book. The topic is interesting, and so the book does possess a certain value, in my opinion. It would be much better were it not for Berger's highly convoluted and artificially obscured writing style. To attempt to be more specific about this: "Canopy" not as bad as his "Construction of Reality" (which is impenetrable), but still more abstruse than the best chapters of his "Invitation to Sociology". Check it out yourself before buying; I thought it's worthy, though flawed.
Rating:
Summary: One of the basic texts
Review: There are few books that lift the veil surrounding religion--Berger's book is one of them. Religion is not simply a spiritual phenomenon, it is a social one as well. Berger zeros in on this social aspect and allows us to see one of the reasons that every society has, and undoubtedly will continue to have, religion. Berger argues that human beings live in a peculiar world; it is a cultural world, a world of meaning, and religion plays a specific role in creating and maintaining this world. Is the book difficult to read as some commentators have said? Yes. Is it worth the effort? Undoubtedly. After reading this book, the reader will never view their world or religion in quite the same way.
Rating:
Summary: One of the basic texts
Review: There are few books that lift the veil surrounding religion--Berger's book is one of them. Religion is not simply a spiritual phenomenon, it is a social one as well. Berger zeros in on this social aspect and allows us to see one of the reasons that every society has, and undoubtedly will continue to have, religion. Berger argues that human beings live in a peculiar world; it is a cultural world, a world of meaning, and religion plays a specific role in creating and maintaining this world. Is the book difficult to read as some commentators have said? Yes. Is it worth the effort? Undoubtedly. After reading this book, the reader will never view their world or religion in quite the same way.
Rating:
Summary: Insightful and Readable
Review: This book is a must for anyone interested in the study or experience of religion in the modern world. Part one highlights the human need for meaning and order that is rooted in something less transient than human existence, and the way religion functions as a "shield" against various existential terrors. Although somewhat dated, the analysis of modern religion presented in part two is valuable for its discussions of how secularization has roots within religion itself, and how the relationships between religious denominations and the rest of society can be profitably described in terms borrowed from market economics. The book is highly readable, frequently funny, and provides a lucid introduction to a particular sociology of knowledge as well as a useful perspective on religion.
|
