Seven Deadly Sins Today [Paperback]

Henry Fairlie (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0268016984 | ISBN-13: 978-0268016982 | Publication Date: October 31, 1979 | Edition: 1

"Depressingly accurate about many of our malaises. . . . [Fairlie] fits the ancient sin to the contemporary condition." —The New York Times Book Review

"A biting critique of the hocum, the sleazy, self-deluding arrogance of much pop culture." —The Christian Century

Sin, like death, is an unassailable fact of life. It is also one of the last great taboos for public debate. In this compelling book, Henry Fairlie shows that it is possible and necessary to talk about sin in ways that enrich our societies and our personal lives. Fairlie relates these ancient sins to the central issues of contemporary life: liberal vs. conservative politics, discrimination, pornography, abortion, the vistas of modern science, and especially the pop-psychologies that confirm the narcissism of our age.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A solidly grounded, gracefully presented case against the 'me-ism' of today's culture. . . ." -- Library Journal, January 1, 1981

About the Author

The late Henry Fairlie, a native of Great Britain, was a frequent contributor to The New Republic and The Washington Post. Among his many acclaimed books are The Spoiled Child of the Western World and The Kennedy Promise.

Product Details

• Paperback: 216 pages
• Publisher: University of Notre Dame Press; 1 edition (October 31, 1979)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0268016984
• ISBN-13: 978-0268016982
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #535,370 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, beautifully-written, tough, and timeless., September 26, 1998

By 

James M. Strock ([e-mail]) (San Francisco, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Seven Deadly Sins Today (Paperback)

It is difficult to praise this book sufficiently. Henry Fairlie's 1978 book has thankfully been reprinted by the University of Notre Dame Press for a new generation. Fairlie presents the Seven Deadly Sins--Pride, Envy, Anger, Sloth, Avarice, Gluttony and Lust--as they manifest themselves in contemporary Western (especially American) society and in individual lives. Whether or not one is religious in orientation (Fairlie characterized himself as a "reluctant unbeliever")this book offers a disciplined optimism in suggesting that "The understanding that we sin is a summons to life."

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pointed, tough, and, given the author's position, brave, May 29, 2000

By 

The Sanity Inspector (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Seven Deadly Sins Today (Paperback)

Whatever happened to sin? as another book's title has it. Despite our best efforts to discard or "outgrow" the idea, sin remains a woven-in part of the human tapestry. We have not made ourselves into exceptions to human nature, and we are very like other people. Such is the thesis of the late British expatriate journalist Henry Fairlie, who also used to write for The New Republic. His style is very grave, like a less colorful G. K. Chesterton, or an even more disaffected Allan Bloom. He describes himself very aptly as "a reluctant unbeliever". Yet, while he cannot accept that we can in some way grieve the Supreme Being, he is sensitive enough to see the wreckage that sin visibly causes in our earthly lives. "Sin is the destruction of one's self as well as the destruction of one's relationships with others," he says. What makes this be sin rather than just some ordinary failing of character is that sin perverts something indefinably fundamental in us, from which all the rest of our humanity proceeds.

And so off he goes, incisively describing and deploring each of the traditional Seven Deadly Sins. His heartfelt, well-supported exposition should win understanding and respect from believers, and should give unbelievers pause. His politics sometimes trip up his argument. "Even our socialism is sinful..."--as if a political system based on breaking the Eighth and Tenth Commandments could ever be anything but sinful. But such missteps do not impede this pilgrim's progress

What does bring everything to a screeching halt is the final chapter, "The paths of love". Here his agnosticism brings him up short, and he is quite at sea trying to formulate a counter-balance to the awful fact of sin. One hopes that he eventually realized before he died that he didn't have to re-invent the wheel. An incredibly brave near-classic from a modern "pagan worthy".

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Same lessons over and over, December 8, 2005

By 

David Siegal "Charon13" (Farmingdale, N.Y.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Seven Deadly Sins Today (Paperback)

I read this book some years back and thought it was a good read, I am neither pro-religion or anti-religion, but as a social scientist and an armchair philosopher I can only say that Mr. Fairley has merely re-iterated the ages old question of vanity and materialism verses humility and spirituality. Whether it is Dante, Chauser, or Mr. Fairley, whether you are devoutly religious or irrefutably atheist, no matter what religion or culture, the issues addressed by all is simply a dissection of the dark side of human behaviour. It begs the question - Have we evolved in this area of our perception of ourselves? The real answer is, we evidently have not. You don't have to belong to one side or another to identify behaviour that is common to all human beings, good or bad. And its plain to anyone that in our extant society we are driven to accept rabid materialism as it is the fuel of the world economy and the key to our own prosperity. I agree with Mr. Fairley when he states " What we complain about today in the increased tempo of life is its harassment, and it is caused in part by the Avarice that is naturally in ourselves, but also the incitement to Avarice that our societies employ at every hour". I think that is a damn good observation. And what will we all collectively do about it? Nothing.