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53 of 57 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Must Read, March 6, 2010
This review is from: The New Vichy Syndrome: Why European Intellectuals Surrender to Barbarism (Hardcover)
One of the best books I've read in a long time. Dalrymple is, as a cover review reads, "erudite, witty, unfashionably blunt, and above all, wise." "Unfashionably blunt" is an understatement as he offers diagnosis for much of what is "wrong" in Europe, when the downward spiral started (with lots of examples), the result, and a modest warning for America in the last chapter. New Vichy is a short 155 pages, but is profound, alarming, and instructive. If you like Dalrymple's work, this addition won't disappoint.
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50 of 54 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great thoughts, but loosely organized around the title and many typographical errors, March 12, 2010
This review is from: The New Vichy Syndrome: Why European Intellectuals Surrender to Barbarism (Hardcover)
The thoughts presented in this book are interesting and logically-presented and this is quite apart from whether you will agree with them or not.
As another review mentioned, the focus is quite loose and really only offers thoughts around the subject matter suggested by the title and doesn't really answer the "why?" in his subtitle conclusively. It is presented as a book but reads more like a collection of essays interspersed with shorter pieces of commentary. Admittedly, though, it is a very speculative subject and perhaps a loose response is more appropriate than a tight, definitive one. To obtain a meaningful version of the latter may be difficult. But, Dalrymple provides you a view from his educated and thoughtful perspective.
I am also not sure about the "barbarism" part, since this is not a "radicalization of Europe via changing demographics" argument like Mark Steyn's "America Alone". In fact, he seems to disagree with this idea. This book is more about how the mental environment in Europe is not conducive to success in an increasingly competitive global market: they reject values of their past and are afraid of formulating concrete statements of truth and fact that would allow them to construct a foundation for future progress.
One thing I like about Dalrymple's style is that he doesn't overdo the references. In books such as these, references can sometimes be a lazy way of making your point, but he uses a lot of thought experiments that you can often test for yourself to make a decision about whether or not he's on the right track. He continues to use this approach here.
Finally, with Dalrymple being such an expert user of the English language, I was surprised to see a significant number of typographical errors throughout the text. His use of the language continues to be excellent, but the errors do break the spell a little bit.
It's a concise book that will make you think.
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64 of 77 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
You can skip this one, March 13, 2010
This review is from: The New Vichy Syndrome: Why European Intellectuals Surrender to Barbarism (Hardcover)
First, let it be known that I am a Dalrymple fan, as is evidenced by the fact that I read this book days within its appearance. "Culture, what's left of it" was a tour de force. I read it out on the street under the light of a streetlamp, so I could be away from the wife and kids, and concentrate. So, it is hard for me to say, that Dalrymple fans should skip this one. I understand that this is not a book, but an extended essay, and there are nuggets of insight, but they are mostly about Britain, and not European intellectuals. I agree with the thesis that Europe is in decline, and the grand European intellectual tradition does have enough weight to provide resistance to this trend. But, this text loses its focus after the first couple of short chapters. Dalrymple probes for various "causes" - why are we like this? - for this decline, but none of these are probed more than superficially. Perhaps, I will go back one day, to recognize the import of these attempts. At this time, my verdict is that this text is incoherent, and its author appears tired.
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