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162 of 174 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The fragility of our civilization, 23 Sep 2005
The first part of this brilliant collection of essays deals with art and literary criticism, whilst the second explores politics and the state of society. The thread that binds them is the cultural and moral decline of Western civilization.
The wide ranging topics encompass inter alia Princess Diana, Shakespeare, George Orwell, Virginia Woolf, DH Lawrence, the crassness of popular culture, the underclass in the UK, the legalisation of drugs and Muslim communities in the West.
With breathtaking eloquence and impressive insight, Dalrymple analyses these miscellaneous but interwoven subjects. His observations are interspersed by anecdotes from his experiences as a medical practitioner.
He blames the intellectual elites for much of the decay in the quality of life, arts and culture. In no small part this flows from their moral relativism and their denial of the existence of good and evil.
These liberal elites are quick to hail all forms of transgression while worshipping a twisted concept of tolerance and denying vice. Their hysterical insistence on "understanding" is becoming increasingly loud, but their relativism is remarkably selective. In extreme cases, it results in the total inversion of good and evil.
Thus we get the absurdity of political correctness. But PC is not only absurd, it is sinister too: assenting to untruth is to condone evil. It is easy to control a society of powerless liars.
The author's comparison of Aldous Huxley and George Orwell on the one side (constructive), with Virginia Woolf and DH Lawrence (destructive and foolish) is particularly thought provoking.
Dalrymple points out how an eerie silence results when for example, the feminist piety meets the piety of multiculturalism, like the reaction of Western Leftists when confronted with gender apartheid in the Third World. They simply ignore it.
He identifies the cause of much of the present mindset as an unholy alliance between libertarians who claim consumer choice as the ultimate answer, and leftists who believe that people have rights but no responsibilities.
Although the book deals with many unpleasant subjects, Dalrymple's insights are original and phrased in awesome prose. The book left me with a feeling of sadness, and a line from Leonard Cohen's song The Land Of Plenty came to mind: "For what's left of our religion, I bow my head and pray ..."
Having digested this gem, the interested reader might also wish to investigate The Dragons of Expectation by Robert Conquest, The West And The Rest by Roger Scruton, Intellectual Morons by Daniel Flynn and The New Thought Police by Tammy Bruce.
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60 of 66 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great analysis, 11 April 2007
Theodore Dalrymple is a top-notch commentator and a gifted essayist. The articles featured here represent some of his best and most recent writings. The volume is divided into two major sections: arts and letters, and society and politics.
He introduces this collection of essays with this line: "The fragility of civilization is one of the great lessons of the twentieth century." The line between civilization and barbarism is very thin, and needs to be zealously protected. Yet many of our intellectuals, argues Dalrymple, are either ignorant of the dividing line, or are doing their best to abolish that line altogether.
Generally these intellectual and political elites are of the left. But the right is not immune from such characters: "There has been an unholy alliance between those on the left, who believe that man is endowed with rights but no duties, and libertarians on the right, who believe that consumer choice is the answer to all social questions."
While civilisation must have its critics, it must also have its defenders and preservers as well. Dalrymple takes on the many critics of civilization, especially those of the utopian variety, who believe that an untried ideal is always better than a flawed but tried reality.
The cultural despisers and civilization corrupters are many within the field of literature and the arts. From Virginia Woolf to Versace, Dalrymple examines a number of leading figures who have left a legacy of destruction and despair. Much of what passes for art, fashion or literature today is simply an exercise in bashing the West and the championing of hedonism, nihilism and barbarism.
His chapters on society and politics are especially of interest. He covers topics as diverse as the problems of Islam, the sexualisation of society, the death of childhood and mass murderers. Most of these chapters are minor classics in their own right. His chapter on the folly of legalising drugs is a small masterpiece of social commentary, logical thought and fluid prose.
Part of the reason for Dalrymple's accurate and acute observations of the decrepit condition of much of modern life is the fact that he also a doctor. He has worked for many years in hospitals, prisons, and other social hot spots. He has witnessed first hand the tragic results of our social engineers and their distorted vision of reality. Both in the UK and overseas, he has encountered first hand the bitter fruit of dying civilizations.
His incisive and clearly penned assessments of the decline of Western culture are a much-needed antidote to the utopianism and elitism of so many of our social spin doctors. His writings are as important and prophetic as they are skilfully crafted.
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59 of 65 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
fascinating and utterly horrifying, 29 Jun 2006
It's always horrible (but alas, painfully necessary)to read other peoples' observations on what is going on in Britain today. I can't really add any further information to the reviews already submitted here but I would say this is a very eye opening account. Anyone who is interested in the problems that are besieging Britain will find this very interesting indeed. I would also recommend his other book: "The Worldview that Makes the Underclass". Both are extremely informative, totally depressing and brutally honest. How I wish the observations made in here weren't true but they are. Credit to the author for making these observations known. It may make some people in Britain wake up to what is going on.
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