What is John's Revelation about?

1. A literal description of the end of the world.

2. A metaphorical description of God's judgement on Roman tyrants in ancient times.

3. A dystopian novel warning against totalitarians and the seductive power of ideologies.

I was hesitant to read the book in Greek because I thought it would be hard, and because wholesale death and slaughter seems like a depressing way to end the Bible. But it's not actually that difficult: Revelation has some distinct vocabulary, but much less than say Acts, and some of it is pretty easy. ("Drakon" for "dragon.")

And it occurs to me that I don't mind the world getting destroyed in a modern apocalypse -- Terminator, Matrix, World War Z, The Omega Man. Actually it's kind of fun. Revelation is a powerful book, with vivid imagery and the deep, prophetic relevance one hopes for in a modern dystopia. Maybe that's the way to read it.