The next ‘must read’:

Posted on October 16, 2012 by KG

Spoilt Rotten: The Toxic Cult of Sentimentality. By Theodore Dalrymple
‘In this perceptive and witty book, Theodore Dalrymple unmasks the hidden sentimentality that is suffocating public life. Under the multiple guises of raising children well, caring for the underprivileged, assisting the less able and doing good generally, we are achieving quite the opposite for the single purpose of feeling good about ourselves. Dalrymple takes the reader on both an entertaining and at times shocking journey through social, political, popular and literary issues as diverse as child tantrums, aggression, educational reform, honour killings, sexual abuse, Che Guevara, Eric Segal, Romeo and Juliet, the McCanns, public emotions and the role of suffering, and shows the perverse results when we abandon logic in favour of the cult of feeling.’
Too right! What Hitchens called “the Dianafication of grief” isn’t just unseemly, it degrades and devalues genuine grief, as though candle-lit vigils and piles of teddy bears and balloons at the scene of the latest tragedy had some real meaning, as though hundreds of people turning up to the funeral of somebody none of them knew means a damn thing.
Ersatz grief in an ersatz media-driven society….

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10 Responses to The next ‘must read’:

  1. The Gantt Guy says:
    October 16, 2012 at 10:15

    I’d rather 3 friends good and true turn up to farewell me, than 3000 who show up to salve their own consciences or get close to some perceived reflected glory.

    • KG says:
      October 16, 2012 at 10:29

      Absolutely!
      And an aspect of this faux grief that occurs to me is this: that in the case of somebody who has been brutally abused/murdered/ whatever, what this does is bleed off or dilute what ought to be genuine outrage and anger, as though a conspicuous display of grief were somehow a substitute for anger–because real, righteous anger frightens people who won’t take responsibility for themselves.

      • The Gantt Guy says:
        October 16, 2012 at 11:06

        Yup, spot on. More and more, it seems people are placing priority on an outward display of faux emotion rather than outrage and anger.

        I await a line-up of teddy bears outside what was once the US Embassy in Benghazi, where there should be (correction: should have been) a line-up of US Marines! :roll:

  2. erikter says:
    October 16, 2012 at 12:22

    I’ve read it and can vouch for the excellent quality of the essays in the book.
    Dalrymple is a gifted writer.

  3. KG says:
    October 16, 2012 at 13:14

    I’ve been a fan for years. Erikter. One reviewer in the UK Spectator complained that Dalrymple has a ‘too dark and pessimistic” view of today’s England.
    I think he’s a realist, and a lot of what he says applies all across the West.

  4. Anonymous says:
    October 16, 2012 at 14:31

    Theodore Dalrymple is an absolute treasure and long may he live. Those of you who don’t know should google him immediately and review his books. He is THAT GOOD. Thanks for putting it out KG.

  5. KG says:
    October 16, 2012 at 14:36

    :grin: Thanks, anon.

  6. jon says:
    October 16, 2012 at 14:45

    Sentimentality results in devolution (biological meaning)
    There is no survival value in it for those whose actions are based on it.

  7. KG says:
    October 16, 2012 at 14:54

    Quite so. It’s a luxury that should indulged in but seldom. ;-)

  8. pompuss says:
    October 17, 2012 at 06:03

    Thank you for the headsup KG. At long last humans are ‘getting it’.