Death's Dream Kingdom: The American Psyche Since 9-11

by Walter A. Davis

Book Overview

"Davis writes with fervor, vision, and keen moral appreciation of our condition. He encourages us to see what we fear to see, to say what we fear to say. This book is illuminating, challenging,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0745324681
• ISBN13: 9780745324685
• Release Date: May 2006
• Publisher: Pluto Press (UK)
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.3" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

An Introspection of the Human Psyche

Death's Dream Kingdom is an intriguing journey into the human psyche. As such, the reader explores the various elements that contribute to the formation of the mind, and consequently how one perceives the world. Doing this may -and most likely will- present the reader with aspects of his/her own life which appeared to be non-existent or obliterated at one time, yet in reality one realizes they play an important role in the formation of an individual and collective identity. The book's focus on exploring the concepts of terror, good v. evil, and fundamentalism -among others- illustrates a reality that can be applied to all human beings in one way or another; one only needs to analyze the political, cultural, social, and economic realms of one's quotidian life to assert this statement. The psychoanalytical approach the author takes in this book to present his arguments can be daunting at times. Daunting not because of the abundance of the abstract, philosophical, and at times controversial ideas presented to the reader, but the "unnecessary" constant re-statement of ideas present the reader with superfluous information which can hinder his/her ability to completely grasp the arguments made by the author. Nevertheless, it is important to mention that, due to the intertwining relationship between all the concepts presented in the book, it may be necessary to restate a previously presented argument in order to develop an idea. Furthermore, this practice may prove to be beneficial to the reader since, due to the abstractness and complexity of the arguments presented in the book, a continual presentation of specific concepts can aid the reader in understanding these ideas, making connections, and drawing conclusions. At times, the reader may perceive Davis's arguments as anarchistic because of his "defiance" of the superego/authority. Yet, one must understand that this book is an exploration of the internal and external struggles that a person experiences as a member of a community. The author's call for freedom is not an instigation for anarchistic revolt, but that of a restructuring of a person's psyche, soul, and place in the world. In other words, Davis exhorts the reader to take responsibility of his/her actions, not in terms of a hedonistic and narcissistic attitude, but rather that of an altruistic desire for collective well-being and prosperity. Death's Dream Kingdom is a book from which all people can benefit. While the language utilized in the book is fairly sophisticated, Davis makes sure to explain his ideas thoroughly and thus compensate for any ambiguous concepts. When reading this book, one must be prepared to challenge him/herself intellectually, linguistically, spiritually, and personally since there will be arguments in the book which will need further analysis than that provided by the author.

"LIFE" IN DEATH'S DREAM KINGDOM

I emerged from reading Death's Dream Kingdom feeling as if I'd been wrestling with some extreme force, maybe an angel. A very powerful thing, whatever he or it or she was. A mind, I would say, and a brilliant, indispensable one. My copy of the book prickles with stickers and tabs, and it's got notes all over its pages as testament to my own various connectings with the book and also with the various connectings of one part of the book with another. Early on, only page 6, Davis writes that "America on August 6, 1945 consigned humanistic considerations to the dustbin of history," and that's certainly powerful enough (everyone should take a look at Sherwood Ross's essay, "How the United States Reversed Its Policy on Bombing Civilians"), but the follow-up is more powerful, and more damning: "America has once again found a way to think of history [that will] make it impossible for us to learn from history." Soon after, parallels to my own A Nation Gone Blind appear, as Davis mentions "the elimination of everything within the 'self' that does not conform to the logic of capitalism" (p. 16) goes on with the amazing statement (p. 17) that "we are now bound psychologically as a nation to the cruelest necessity: the internalization en masse of affirmative ways of feeling that wed subjects to the system because such feelings constitute the only way they can relate to experience." Experience itself, in other words--experience of life itself--is controlled, pre-determined, capable of response only to "pre-selected" impulses, feelings, and data. "We are the hollow men / We are the stuffed men / Leaning together / Headpiece filled with straw." Davis writes a disastrous truth, a truth seldom if ever heard anywhere in the land: "This is why 9-11 was a trauma that could not be responded to traumatically." "Psychology is the capstone of the ideological process. Its function under capitalism is social engineering: the transformation of quiet desperation into the noisy affirmation of docile subjects wedded to the collective hosannah that deprives them of inwardness." And because they're "deprived of inwardness," Americans don't, and can't, any longer feel life itself for what it is in and of itself: Life, instead, becomes a falsehood alnd lie for them. Listen to this: "To summarize with the bluntness the subject deserves, Abu Ghraib enacts what the lie of feeling now is for the average American." (p. 36) That "lie of feeling" is perverse, corrupt, dehumanizing--and so well conditioned into Americans that, for them, there's no escape from it. And that's why in America there's no real art, no real music, no real literature being successfully created today: Because there's no audience for it. How can there be? The true and only subject of real art of any kind is to address in a way that's both true and also aesthetically true the actuality of what the experience of living inside existence IS. But just TRY telling that truth in America today. It can't be do

Definitely worth a read!

With a title like "Death's Dream Kingdom," this book isn't likely to sell millions of copies - but it should! A huge number of insights about American society (sometimes the author spells it "Amerikan" on purpose). Particularly enlightening was Chapter 7, "The Psychology of Christian Fundamentalism." Seeing fundamentalist Christianity as a mental disorder that progressively develops until the patient yearns for the end of the world explains a lot about our society. If you read this book, don't feel like you have to read every word or chapter - some of it is rough going. For example, you won't miss a whole lot if you skip Chapter 6, "A Postmodernist Response to 9-11." A very important book if you want to understand what's going on in Amerika today.

Couch Time for America...

Disturbing. Provocative. Perceptive. This is one of those books that - out of all proportion to its size - is packed with unsettling insights into and theories about our uniquely American character. Though, perhaps, it could be equally applied to many different Western nations through modern history, it is particularly attuned to the angst-ridden United States of the early twenty-first century. Professor Walter A. Davis, Professor Emeritus, Ohio State University, skillfully and artfully uses his command of language, theater, and philosophy to vivisect the type of persons that we have become in this post-9/11 nation and display for all to see the banality of evil that so marks our domestic and foreign policy. Manipulated by fear and by the mindless pursuit of a lifestyle, which can only be sustained at the expense of others, we have collectively empowered an increasingly totalitarian form of neo-fascism. All that matters is expansion and power. Envy and Greed rule the day. Dr. Davis examines this unhappy state of affairs at length and diagnoses a form of psychosis peculiar to us - individually and collectively - a psychosis which begins with each of us as individuals, but ultimately manifests itself in the corporate body. Through the use of predominantly psychoanalytical tools - the application of language; the use of classic literature, theater, and philosophy; and, clinical case studies of mental pathology - Dr. Davis proposes a new and radical way of analyzing what ails our spirit in this failing nation state. The author does not hesitate to tear down the totems of our society. From the halls of academia to the seats of government - from the altars of fundamentalist churches to the boardrooms of Amerika, Inc. - no one is spared his scathing, all-too-accurate criticism. Doubtless, those who would most benefit from Dr. Davis' call to personal introspection and responsibility will immediately reject any suggestion of their own complicity in our society's ills. Sadly, it is also highly unlikely that most of our fellow Americans will interrupt their "happy" thoughts by attempting to read a book named "Death's Dream Kingdom." Such reading might cause too much psychic discomfort and result in too much guilt. Such reading would be too radical. Such reading would require too much thought. Unfortunately for Dr. Davis and his work, the subject matter of his volume will neither be conducive to financial success nor to receiving the recognition that it deserves. The vast majority of Christians will dismiss him as a raving atheist and, thus, while waiting on the Rapture will miss valid criticisms of today's "feel good", "easy believe-ism". His academic colleagues will attack him as just another retired liberal arts professor and, thus, be content in their insular smugness and political-correctness. Politicians and corporatists alike will excoriate him as one of "those" Marxists and, thus, reject the totalitarian reality of latter-day capitalism. Inst