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Our Culture, What's Left Of It
 
 
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Our Culture, What's Left Of It [Kindle Edition]

Theodore Dalrymple (Author)
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
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Review

Whether you find Dalrymple refreshing or infuriating will depend on your political point of view. Dalrymple calls them as he sees them, and there is not an ounce of political correctness in him.--Bruce Ramsey "The Seattle Times "

Review

Whether you find Dalrymple refreshing or infuriating will depend on your political point of view. Dalrymple calls them as he sees them, and there is not an ounce of political correctness in him.--Bruce Ramsey "The Seattle Times "
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Product details

  • Format: Kindle Edition
  • File Size: 648 KB
  • Print Length: 360 pages
  • Publisher: Monday Books (3 Nov 2010)
  • Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B004AM5PJA
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • X-Ray: Not Enabled
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #58,287 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

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Customer Reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
24 reviews
4.5 out of 5 stars
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
167 of 183 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars The fragility of our civilization 23 Sep 2005
By Pieter Uys HALL OF FAME TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:Hardcover
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.... Read more ›
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75 of 83 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Great analysis 11 April 2007
By William Muehlenberg
Format:Hardcover
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.... Read more ›
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121 of 135 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Unfortunately this is essential reading in Britain today 17 April 2006
By Post enlightenment
Format:Hardcover
Dalrymple (a nom de plume) analyses the anomie that has overtaken British culture(what little that is left of it) and attributes the decline of public and private morals to a combination of the ever growing power of the intellectual liberal left and the perverse generosity of the welfare state to those who are least deserving. The brilliance of his social observations, made while working as a prison psychiatrist (possibly in Birmingham- although that is never made explicit) and his currently unmatched skill as an essayist combine to give his writing a unique power and perspective. He has a huge following in the USA and chooses to publish his work there, which may explain why there are so few reviews on this site, compared to the scores on amazon.com.
Reading the British newspapers one comes across examples of the behaviors and life styles he describes every day of the week. Life at the bottom (the title of Dalrymple's other superb collection of essays) really is like that. Britain is now a crime ridden country where drugs and single parenthood/desertion are the lifestyle choice of most of our inner city dwellers whatever their racial origins. How has this come to pass in 50 years since the end of WWII, when Britain had the lowest crime rate and the highest employment rate in its history? No doubt the dystopian effects of welfare and the no-blame culture bear a high degree of responsibility; but I beg to suggest that Dalrymple does not give enough weight to the overwhelming, rapid and now total decline of mass employment opportunities in British manufacturing, which has now died so completely that we employ more people as museum attendants than we do in factories. Is his attribution of power to the leftist elite a kind of conspiracy theory?... Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Great
This is a fantastic book. I have been a fan of Dalrymple's writing for quite some time. It makes interesting (if depressing at times) reading. Read more
Published 17 days ago by Kenny Thomas
4.0 out of 5 stars on more Dalrymple
This book is very readable and must be authoritative, as the writer works in the depths of the 'lower orders'. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Mr. M. Macrae
5.0 out of 5 stars Behold the author suffer for your entertainment
If you're coming from the Right you'll lap this up; if not, it'll give you much to chew on. (The demolition of Virginia Woolf had me cheering from the rooftops. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Simon G. Barrett
3.0 out of 5 stars Sad reminder of our culture, but over-burdened with literary...
Filled with somewhat high flown literary references which appear important and relevant to the author but which are of limited interest (I would have thought) to the average... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Clive Turner
4.0 out of 5 stars Analysis of the underclass
Theordore Dalrymple works as a prison doctor and sees a large number of the feckless, criminal and stupid. Read more
Published 9 months ago by marianne victoria
5.0 out of 5 stars Would very much recommend.
Theodore raises some great points, very well written collection of essays.

Much of the art and literary comparisons went over my head and he leans towards the opposite... Read more
Published 10 months ago by inaudible
3.0 out of 5 stars Important issues, but spoiled by the authors intellectual snobbery.
This could have been an excellent book covering many serious critical issues that must be resolved within our society, but instead of a balanced overview,and in depth, approach, he... Read more
Published 17 months ago by G. Hodgson
5.0 out of 5 stars Pure Genius
If there is only one book you ever read again in your life (having already read the complete works of Jane Austen and PG Wodehouse of course and obviously 'The Great Gatsby'and 'At... Read more
Published 17 months ago by Tjlondon
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating
This chap is clearly of the HARD RIGHT and I am apolitical, yet I enjoyed this. It affected my views on our insipid, childish and morally rudderless culture. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Marty
5.0 out of 5 stars Simply brilliant.
Fascinating and entertaining. An erudite look at the problems of today, but never preaching. A great way to while away a lazy afternoon. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Annoyed
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When young people want to praise themselves, they describe themselves as ‘nonjudgmental.’ For them, the highest form of morality is amorality. &quote;
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If Custine were among us now, he would recognise the evil of political correctness at once, because of the violence that it does to people’s souls by forcing them to say or imply what they do not believe but must not question. Custine would demonstrate to us that, without an external despot to explain our pusillanimity, we have willingly adopted the mental habits of people who live under a totalitarian dictatorship. &quote;
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The provision of charity as of right destroyed the motive for human solidarity in the face of hardship, and undermined both ties of personal affection and the sense of duty toward close relations. Intended as an expression of social responsibility, it liberated selfishness. &quote;
Highlighted by 30 Kindle users

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