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Not With a Bang But a Whimper: The Politics and Culture of Decline Hardcover – September 2, 2008

by Theodore Dalrymple (Author)

53 customer reviews

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Theodore Dalrymple's brilliant new collection of writings follows on the extraordinary success of his earlier books, Life at the Bottom and Our Culture, What's Left of It. No writer today is more adept and incisive in exploring the state of our culture and the ideas that are changing our ways of life. In Not with a Bang But a Whimper, he takes the measure of our cultural decline, with special attention to Britain-its bureaucratic muddle, oppressive welfare mentality, and aimless young-all pursued in the name of democracy and freedom. He shows how terrorism and the growing numbers of Muslim minorities have changed our public life. Also here are Mr. Dalrymple's trenchant observations on artists and ideologues, and on the treatment of criminals and the mentally disturbed, his area of medical interest.

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this essay collection, British writer Dalrymple (Life at the Bottom) lays out a case for the decline of Western civilization, finding its symptoms lurking in everything from multiculturalism to the delusions of honesty by political leaders. Although less of a lovable curmudgeon than plain ferocious in his ire, the author's forays into literary criticism are appealing if amateurish; a former prison doctor, the author is most cogent when on his own beat, analyzing the criminal justice and medical systems. Predictably pessimistic on the political front, the author has sharp words for his fellow Brits (They are educated by the state, the state provides for them in old age and has made saving unnecessary or, in some cases, actually uneconomic; they are treated and cured by the state... they are housed by the state.... Their choices concern only sex and shopping). He saves his worst condemnation for Muslims: ([Muslim men] satisfy their sexual needs with prostitutes and those whom they quite openly call 'white sluts' ); his pieces on terrorism and suicide bombers abound with ugly stereotyping from which this otherwise entertaining book never fully recovers. (Oct.)
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Mr. Dalrymple illuminates with great clarity and precision some of the most difficult problems of our times. (The Washington Times)

Beautifully written, insightful, and often sad. (Neofusionist)

Brilliant essays. (Conservative Book Club)

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Product details

Hardcover: 266 pages
Publisher: Ivan R. Dee; First Edition edition (September 2, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1566637953
ISBN-13: 978-1566637954
Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 1 x 9 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 53 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #718,221 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #293 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Social Sciences > Demography
- #1915 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Politics & Government > Specific Topics > Commentary & Opinion
- #4014 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Pop Culture > General

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Bernard Chapin

Genius Personified

October 29, 2008

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

As a disclaimer, I think that Dr. Theodore Dalrymple possesses one of the most important and insightful minds in all of conservadom. He's one of five men whom immediately command my attention whenever I discover that they have authored a new article or essay. I've read most of what this retired English psychiatrist has written since 2001 due to my having a subscription to The New Criterion (since that time). I've also devoured all of his City Journal pieces since the new millennium began. Therefore, I figured that I would simply skim this book; a notion that lasted until I got to page 2. At that point, I gave it my full focus as the opinions of Dr. Dalrymple are unlike those you will find elsewhere.

In these pages our narrator acts like a private Oxford Don instructing us both on the ways of humanity and the world. The one thing that the political left will never understand is that the doctor's detached voice is drenched in compassion and kindness. He offers us reality which is far more empathic than any gesture you'll receive from a utopian. Dr. Dalyrmple is appalled by what his native Britain has turned into but never lets his emotions interfere with the telling of the truth. His entire oeuvre is rooted in common sense but accentuated by erudition. Dr. Dalrymple thinks many of the same thoughts that the rest of us do but is better able to elucidate them due to his superior intelligence and breadth of experience.

The strongest essays here are "The Roads to Serfdom" [how pertinent this could be after next week's election], "A Murderess's Tale," "In the Asylum," "Multiculturalism Starts Losing Its Luster," and an analysis of A Clockwork Orange called "A Prophetic and Violent Masterpiece." Basically, political correctness--along with its corresponding effluvia concerning sensitivity, tolerance, multiculturalism, and the multivariate isms of sex, race, and class--is chiefly concerned with one thing: lying. PC demands we lie as a means to relate to one another. We have to be obsessed by the feelings of "the other"--even if it necessitates our not communicating at all. Dr. Dalrymple refuses to be the drone of our academic elites so he peers his exacting eyes into the culture as a whole, including topics ranging from the methodology of the English justice system to the faculty of language. This is a masterful work by one of our greatest masters.

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Rostislav

It was such a great pleasure to read this excellent book, being in a full unison with the author's thoughts and feelings!

March 24, 2013

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I believe that an unhurried delicious time spent in a company of wise, understanding and erudite person with a rich experience is one of the most exquisite pleasures of our lifetimes. That's exactly my impression from the hours, spent with Mr. Dalrymple's book: a wide range of the book's seemingly different subjects is tightly united by his sharp detection of their common basics and results, by his rich knowledge of the British history and culture, by his common-sense outlook. He is never militant with it, however, being not some ardent propagandist, but rather, just an honest and highly observant witness. In fact, I can say that my own outlook doesn't differ from that of Mr. Dalrymple, but my ideas were never corroborated by such a precise and well-sourced analysis as the one shared with his readers. But he is never too academic or too impartial either: his book is written both by the author's mind and by the author's heart and the result is extremely engaging, touching, powerful. I must mention the most eloquent cover design too (the quick transformation of a good apple into a rotten waste) – during my frequent business travels I see the same sad process, led by the utopian politicians, not only in Britain, but also in a lot of other European countries, in the USA, in Australia (and the example of my Russia shows that the reverse process is so torturously difficult that any really successful final would be bordering with a miracle). I've bought this excellent book in the Kindle edition, so I can't stand it on the cherished shelf of my favorite authors, alas, but nevertheless I think that Mr. Dalrymple has quite a worthy company in my electronic library too, being surrounded there by Eric Rush, David Horowitz, Jason Mattera and Ilana Mercer, God bless them all! Rostislav, Saint-Petersburg, Russia.

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Rick Skwiot

Pessimism with panache

July 6, 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I recently read and enjoyed, if that’s the right word, two of the curmudgeonly doctor Theodore Dalrymple’s admirably written and perceptive essay collections, “Our Culture, What’s Left of it: The Mandarins and the Masses” and “Not With a Bang but a Whimper: The Politics and Culture of Decline.” For I came away sadder and wiser, particularly regarding the sorry state of Great Britain, whose illegitimacy and crime rates now rival or exceed those of the U.S. There, as here, the breakdown of the family and resulting cultural, spiritual and moral decline has come with best of intentions and the worst of outcomes. And without much thought to addressing the spiraling rot by rescinding the laws and policies that fomented it.

But Dalrymple’s topics range far beyond politics and urban dysfunction (of which he has had ample firsthand knowledge, working as a prison psychiatrist.) He writes compellingly and freshly of literature, art, religion and more. I highly recommend both books—though not for those looking for cozy reads that posit an optimistic view of the future.

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An Avid Reader

A great book, but with few weak chapters in the middle

November 27, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

The book is essential reading to get a grasp of how England has so declined culturally and politically. The last chapter about Africa is particularly enlightening. The writing style is engaging. I would have given it 5 stars, * but a there are a few chapters in the middle * where the author goes off topic expounding on authors from days of yore without connecting them to the rest of the book. This is probably why I noticed than one reviewer said that she didn't finish it. Anyway, it is an enjoyable read. If you come across a chapter that doesn't grab you, then skip through it and on to the next. All in all, I recommend it highly.

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