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Our Culture, What's Left of It: The Mandarins and the Masses
This new collection of essays bears the unmistakable stamp of Theodore Dalrymple's bracingly clearsighted view of the human condition. In these twenty-six pieces, Dr. Dalrymple ranges over literature and ideas, from Shakespeare to Marx, from the break-down of Islam to the legalization of drugs. The book includes "When Islam Breaks Down," named by David Brooks of the New Yo...more
Paperback, 341 pages
Published
March 1st 2007
by Ivan R. Dee Publisher
(first published January 1st 2005)
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Theodore is a difficult case. I like his tough-mindedness and his insistence on describing things as they are, and I enjoy the fact that he's clearly a creature of the right (do these terms right & left still carry any weight anymore?). And I recognise the truth of much of what he says. But there's a but. When he anatomises the deterioration of public and private morality in Britain, he fails consistently to make it clear that he's talking about a specific section of the British people. When...more
Namedropping Dalrymple has turned out to be one of the more efficient ways of de-friending for me. It’s like asking people at a charity ball where they have rented their suit. Nobody likes a killjoy.
Our affluent society ,social welfare and especially the multicultural dream are a mess and Dalrymple is the kind of guy who leaves no opportunity unused to burst the bubble of the progressive elite that everything is brilliant. The problem is that he’s not some philosopher (or worst, a sociologist)...more
Our affluent society ,social welfare and especially the multicultural dream are a mess and Dalrymple is the kind of guy who leaves no opportunity unused to burst the bubble of the progressive elite that everything is brilliant. The problem is that he’s not some philosopher (or worst, a sociologist)...more
I never thought I would meet an author who makes me look like a ray of sunshine, but Mr. Dalrymple manages to pull it off. These essays on civilization's decline are elegantly written, incisive, and largely convincing (one needs only see the evening news to realize the world is fracturing badly.) The book, however, has a very narrow scope, and--unsurprisingly for a former prison doctor--focuses largely on the worst elements in our society. It would have benefited from a more encompassing overvie...more
Our Culture, What's Left Of It—The Mandarins and the Masses, by Theodore Dalrymple (2005).
Dr. Dalrymple is a writer and medical doctor that has practiced in third-world countries, worked in prisons and inner-city hospitals, and has generally seen a good bit of life's tragedies "at the bottom." His more famous book was titled, Life at the Bottom—The Worldview That Makes the Underclass. (2001)
In Our Culture..., a collection of essays, the author writes of the necessity of maintaining boundaries if...more
Dr. Dalrymple is a writer and medical doctor that has practiced in third-world countries, worked in prisons and inner-city hospitals, and has generally seen a good bit of life's tragedies "at the bottom." His more famous book was titled, Life at the Bottom—The Worldview That Makes the Underclass. (2001)
In Our Culture..., a collection of essays, the author writes of the necessity of maintaining boundaries if...more
The British author, Theodore Dalrymple, is a crank (read: conservative commentator). I picked up this book of essays because he had some interesting pieces in the Wall Street Journal about the recent riots in London. Plus I'll admit, I was intrigued by the cover.
Dalrymple is a retired prison psychiatrist, and this fact alone gives him some first-hand insights that most of us will never experience. He certainly has some stories to tell. And like most commentators, from both sides of the political...more
Dalrymple is a retired prison psychiatrist, and this fact alone gives him some first-hand insights that most of us will never experience. He certainly has some stories to tell. And like most commentators, from both sides of the political...more
Dalrymple (Dr. Anthony Daniels) is a nuanced and elegant writer and an unforgiving cultural observer. He's a doctor in prisons and psychiatric hospitals in the UK, or he was, before his recent retirement to France. His observations of the growing underclass in the UK are deeply disturbing. Well, that's an understatement. While I don't always agree with his solutions to the problems he sees, I certainly am intrigued and informed by his voice. Read it and weep. Illiteracy, fatherless children and...more
I disagree with Dalrymple on many things, but he's still my favourite writer to go to when I feel the need to challenge my own assumptions, prejudices and opinions. Is originality really that important in art? Is it always good to be non-judgmental? What is the value of being transgressive? His writing can be lucid and moving, but sometimes suffers from pretentious long-windedness.
His essays on good literature and its benefits are a joy to read. No-one could disagree with 'Sex and the Shakespear...more
His essays on good literature and its benefits are a joy to read. No-one could disagree with 'Sex and the Shakespear...more
Well, there goes the last bit of desire I had to see England or France.
In all seriousness, Theodore Dalrymple has some very insightful knowledge. Though not a Christian himself, Dalrymple (best last name ever) observes humankind's natural propensity toward evil, aka Original Sin. He also shows the destructive aftermath of communism/fascism/totalitarianism in multiple countries he has visited as a doctor. Dalrymple is a man who has seen the underclasses from around the world and has drawn reasone...more
In all seriousness, Theodore Dalrymple has some very insightful knowledge. Though not a Christian himself, Dalrymple (best last name ever) observes humankind's natural propensity toward evil, aka Original Sin. He also shows the destructive aftermath of communism/fascism/totalitarianism in multiple countries he has visited as a doctor. Dalrymple is a man who has seen the underclasses from around the world and has drawn reasone...more
Uhmmm. I still need gather my thoughts on how I'm going to write this review. I currently have five of his books on my bed, and I yet have to write a review of the first, which I've already finished reading. I have not enough time to clear my perception of him yet; redeeming qualities of his work are overshadowed by some horrible inferences, analogies, and implied -- heavily sanctimonious, admittedly, with a touch of panache -- personal opinions.
Let me just tell you that I am seething mad at thi...more
Let me just tell you that I am seething mad at thi...more
This is an astounding book on several levels. I do not have the time to write a complete review right now, however, so will just describe the main points of my reaction to reading this book: First, for someone whose specialty is psychiatry, Dalrymple views the world as black and white (read: past is white, present is ever blackening further). If there is one thing that stands out for most psychotherapists (my training is in this field), it's that the world is comprised of infinite shades of gra...more
Nothing really new here in terms of ideas or opinions... The author repeats, in a better articulated way, what social conservatives have been saying for decades about the left, the decline of the Western civilization, the power of the State, etc. I usually don't agree with him, but that's not the point. I knew, at the bookstore, that I was buying the work of a conservative writer. I just wanted more original thoughts on today's society.
Dalrymple puts me mind of the grumpy old man with whom I fundamentally agree, but who urges me on toward optimistic vigor. Nice to pick up in one of Wellington's used bookshops, as I'm not sure this is available in the States...but I'm going to have to agree to disagree with some of what he's got going on here.
That said, glad he resuscitates the under-appreciated Stefan Zweig, and the Turgenev/Marx essay is spot-on.
That said, glad he resuscitates the under-appreciated Stefan Zweig, and the Turgenev/Marx essay is spot-on.
I find Theodore the best when he's painting bleak or heartwrenching vignettes of underclass society, though even then I question the rather broad strokes in which he paints them.
Compared to other conservative writers - such as Roger Scruton or Richard M. Weavers - his views come across as more obvious than incisive. Better as a social journalist than a social critic, I daresay.
Compared to other conservative writers - such as Roger Scruton or Richard M. Weavers - his views come across as more obvious than incisive. Better as a social journalist than a social critic, I daresay.
This mainstream book has a wide disparity of subject matter, some scintillating, others not that interesting, at least to an American reader. The author's autobiography is impressive: a British physician who has observed life while working among the inner-city poor, in war zones and in prisons. His keen writing skills in discussing the troubles with contemporary culture form the backbone of the book. In a common-sense approach, he chronicles how society has fallen in the past two generations due...more
I'm a fan of Dalrymple's writing. He's a british doctor who's worked in Africa and British slums and prisons. His personal philosophy on human nature is shaped from that experience. His observations on society and culture and based on anecdotes in working with patients. He's dark, funny, very british and spot on.
This book is a collection of essays many of which I've found online published by City Journal, all of which I really liked. Many of essays were like a more understandable echo of things explained in Closing of the American Mind and nearly all of them contain profound general insights based on the rich personal experience of the author as a medical doctor in Britain and various African countries as well as his extensive travels. If you ever feel like you need some encouragement against the prevai...more
A book of 26 essays discussing the decline, and causes of decline, in Western Culture. While some essays I found a bit obtuse, most were enlightening and well written.... genarally from the perspective of a first hand observer.
This is a fascinating book by a right-leaning British doctor. His take on crime and the poor is very interesting, though I don't agree with all of his conclusions. It's well worth reading for one view of what the future holds for 'civilization' as we know it.
A well-rounded collection of short works from a cosmopolitan, world-traveling European conservative. It's not polemic, and can be dry at times, but it's a very interesting read.
Everyone should read this book. Very well read and well travelled, some of his ideas may sit badly, even shock you, but his arguments are so well crafted you have to attend... and probably read again.
A profound and literary exploration of our declining modernist culture. Dalrymple has more insights per page than most have per book.
although I disagreed with nearly every conclusion drawn by Dalrymple, this was well written and enjoyable.
Incredible essays and observations from an extraordinary author. Always thought-provoking.
Brilliant analysis & execution. Unforgettable insights. Tone reminiscent of George Orwell.
Aug 03, 2011
Kaethe
marked it as stricken
A collection of essays whose theme is we're-going-to-hell-in-a-handbasket.
Fantastic.
We are doomed. But here is a book that clearly tells you why. And it's not economics or (mainly) politics.
Dalrymple is a highly intelligent conservative social critic who loves Shakespeare. He is one of the only essayists (maybe along with PJ O'Rourke) who I enjoy reading even though I disagree with him so much. He intelligently defends very reductive views of several topics and believes that his high intelligence makes him a moral guide for the lower classes. But he is also highly literary and observant. It's fun to mull over my arguments to his elegant, often misguided essays.
Dalrymple's essays on the state of British society sound a clear warning about the direction we're heading. Unfortunately, the people who need to hear it the most are the least likely to listen.
A very disturbing book by an erudite and deeply observational right-winger which seeks to demolish the shibboleths of the reigning intellectual elite in the view that they give to the populace on the politically correct attitude to life. Many of his arguments are unassailable and many cannot be opposed without a depth of knowledge equal to his own. A deeply worrying book.
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Anthony Daniels is a British writer and retired physician (prison doctor and psychiatrist), who generally uses the pen name Theodore Dalrymple. He has also used the pen name Edward Theberton and two other pen names. Before his retirement in 2005 he worked as a doctor and psychiatrist in a hospital and nearby prison in a slum area in Birmingham.
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“[T]he scale of a man's evil is not entirely to be measured by its practical consequences. Men commit evil within the scope available to them.”
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