Revolt Against the Modern World

Rating:
Summary: Keeping the flame of Tradition burning!
Review: This book is considered by many the masterpiece of Baron Julius Evola. Evola, A man living in the wrong time, in the wrong place, and letting the world know exactly what he thinks of it.
Evola writes about what is called the "Tradition", a concept that will take people unfamiliar with traditionalism a while to comprehend. The "Tradition" in this sense should not be taken literally; it should not be equated to the meaning of the word "custom". It is actually an abstract ideal, and ideal that Evola finds back in ancient civilisations. This is what the first part of his book ("The Wolrd of Tradition") is all about. He shows the reader the characteristics of the "Tradition". This "ideal" is a world where all aspects of civilisation are aimed at the transcendent, aimed at the spiritual development of man..
While pointing this out, Evola thorougly rips the "modern" world to shreds. This "modern" world is characterized by a set of values that according to Evola, stand in the way of spiritual ascent of man. He describes the gradual degeneration of the ideal values, refering to the division in "Yugas", clearly influenced by writers along the likes of Blavatsky.
Many write Evola off as an extreme right-winger, and a flavour of fascism can be found in this work also. But do not let this stop you from reading this book! Evola's work is very sophisticated, and one sees the reasons for his sympathy for fascism quite quickly. His sympathy for fascism is a result of the direction of his spiritual compass, making his political thoughts strictly secondary.
A book that shall change your view of the "modern" world for sure!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent book
Review: This book is really interesting for all kind of readers. While extremist right claims that Evola is just a speaker for mystical neonazi generation, his is something much bigger. Mainly this book about reality of physiognomic perception and self-realization. Postmodernist sceptics and radical leftists trying to understand reality of ideological wars, religious scholars, and pessimistic luddites will enjoy this book. This book is also perfect for those who want to understand medievil ways of thinking. Evola's ideas concerning 2 realities (being and becoming), non-existence of afterlife and God, roles of War, Labor and Leader in teh life of medievil world are original and very interesting. This book influenced such people as Mircha Eliade, Herman Hesse and Ernst Junger. Dont afraid to buy this book: Evola philosophy is much closer to views of Tolkien than to Himmler's propaganda.