Scan barcode
deepwater's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
jamie_o's review against another edition
challenging
dark
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
5.0
This excellent book is vast in scope. The best way I'd sum it up is: there's a movement against Western values, history, art, culture, politics, and historical figures. One doesn't need to look far to see that this is obvious.
Murray is a critical thinker who displays an astute understanding of history. This is a touchy topic to tackle, but he nailed it. I appreciate his respectful tone and dry British sense of humor.
Did Europeans of the past do bad things (conquering, slavery, racism, killing)? Yes. Did Africans, Asians, Middle Easterners, and Native Americans do the same bad things? Yes again. Murray contends that the anti-Western movement ignores crimes committed by non-Western peoples/Countries and blames the West for all the World's problems. The solution according to the proponents of anti-Westernism, is to destroy, condemn, and blaspheme the West, and the very racist, anti-racism. Murray quotes popular anti-racist author/professor Ibram X. Kendi, "The only remedy to racist discrimination is anti-racist discrimination, and the only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination, and the only remedy to present discrimination is future discrimination." And if you disagree with Kendi, on anything, you're labeled a racist.
I like that Murray offers ideas to change our trajectory, giving the book a hopeful note. One of my favorite parts of the book was his interlude on gratitude. As he states, "for, of course it is possible to lament what did not come to you or did not happen for you. That process could be endless and everybody on Earth could play it. The more important task of life is to recognize what you do not have, while being grateful for what you do." He also emphasizes that everything created by past Westerners is here for us all to enjoy and benefit from. We need to look for good and seek unity. I love this quote he provides from professor Jodi Shaw, "Stop reducing my personhood to a racial category. Stop telling me what I must think and feel about myself. Stop presuming to know who I am or what my culture is based upon my skin color. Stop asking me to project stereotypes and assumptions onto others based on their skin color."
more Douglas Murray quotes:
"There is something not just sad, but shameful about an era trying so hard not to admire, appreciate, or even just understand the hopes and dreams of earlier days. As though everybody who dreamed or created before the present must be found to have slipped up somewhere and then be cast aside for good."
"When you are speaking into a great vacuum of ignorance, people with malign intent can run an awfully long way awfully fast. They can tell their listeners things that they will simply believe and tell them what they should not question, and as you speak into a vacuum of knowledge, you can if you are so ideologically inclined, completely rewrite the history of the West, divorcing it from any proper understanding and certainly from any wider context."
I listened to the audiobook read by Douglas Murray himself.
Murray is a critical thinker who displays an astute understanding of history. This is a touchy topic to tackle, but he nailed it. I appreciate his respectful tone and dry British sense of humor.
Did Europeans of the past do bad things (conquering, slavery, racism, killing)? Yes. Did Africans, Asians, Middle Easterners, and Native Americans do the same bad things? Yes again. Murray contends that the anti-Western movement ignores crimes committed by non-Western peoples/Countries and blames the West for all the World's problems. The solution according to the proponents of anti-Westernism, is to destroy, condemn, and blaspheme the West, and the very racist, anti-racism. Murray quotes popular anti-racist author/professor Ibram X. Kendi, "The only remedy to racist discrimination is anti-racist discrimination, and the only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination, and the only remedy to present discrimination is future discrimination." And if you disagree with Kendi, on anything, you're labeled a racist.
I like that Murray offers ideas to change our trajectory, giving the book a hopeful note. One of my favorite parts of the book was his interlude on gratitude. As he states, "for, of course it is possible to lament what did not come to you or did not happen for you. That process could be endless and everybody on Earth could play it. The more important task of life is to recognize what you do not have, while being grateful for what you do." He also emphasizes that everything created by past Westerners is here for us all to enjoy and benefit from. We need to look for good and seek unity. I love this quote he provides from professor Jodi Shaw, "Stop reducing my personhood to a racial category. Stop telling me what I must think and feel about myself. Stop presuming to know who I am or what my culture is based upon my skin color. Stop asking me to project stereotypes and assumptions onto others based on their skin color."
more Douglas Murray quotes:
"There is something not just sad, but shameful about an era trying so hard not to admire, appreciate, or even just understand the hopes and dreams of earlier days. As though everybody who dreamed or created before the present must be found to have slipped up somewhere and then be cast aside for good."
"When you are speaking into a great vacuum of ignorance, people with malign intent can run an awfully long way awfully fast. They can tell their listeners things that they will simply believe and tell them what they should not question, and as you speak into a vacuum of knowledge, you can if you are so ideologically inclined, completely rewrite the history of the West, divorcing it from any proper understanding and certainly from any wider context."
I listened to the audiobook read by Douglas Murray himself.
mandler_'s review against another edition
2.0
I'm trying, really trying to see the points from multiple sides.
This book uses anecdotal and inflammatory language to rile up the reader and cause them to believe everything that he puts down on paper. On more than one occasion while reading, the author was making a point about a given topic and then made a logical leap that, as far as I could tell, had little to do with the point that he was originally making.
My primary complaint with this book is that he didn't actually give any solutions or thoughts on the actual premise. Why is the west worthy of being defended? Why shouldn't individuals look at historical figures or moments and critique them? Why is the United States not worthy of critique and criticism on its historical treatment of marginalized groups and people of color?
Does the author believe that these points or experiences of others don't exist and are not worth analyzing? Okay, that's fine. You don't want or believe that CRT is good. You think that we shouldn't disavow "the West". It is the same complaint I have against other conservative ideas. So, you don't like [insert thing here]. However, your belief doesn't change what others are going through. There are people who are saying that they experience things differently... In my understanding, it comes down to not believing or not caring about the experiences of others, for if we did, maybe we wouldn't agree on how to solve the issues, however, we would talk and be more open to actually fixing the situation and making progress in some regard.
I want to learn more and I want to see the world from the other side, but I am struggling to get there.
This book uses anecdotal and inflammatory language to rile up the reader and cause them to believe everything that he puts down on paper. On more than one occasion while reading, the author was making a point about a given topic and then made a logical leap that, as far as I could tell, had little to do with the point that he was originally making.
My primary complaint with this book is that he didn't actually give any solutions or thoughts on the actual premise. Why is the west worthy of being defended? Why shouldn't individuals look at historical figures or moments and critique them? Why is the United States not worthy of critique and criticism on its historical treatment of marginalized groups and people of color?
Does the author believe that these points or experiences of others don't exist and are not worth analyzing? Okay, that's fine. You don't want or believe that CRT is good. You think that we shouldn't disavow "the West". It is the same complaint I have against other conservative ideas. So, you don't like [insert thing here]. However, your belief doesn't change what others are going through. There are people who are saying that they experience things differently... In my understanding, it comes down to not believing or not caring about the experiences of others, for if we did, maybe we wouldn't agree on how to solve the issues, however, we would talk and be more open to actually fixing the situation and making progress in some regard.
I want to learn more and I want to see the world from the other side, but I am struggling to get there.
rebeccareeves____'s review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
eatwritereadrepeat's review against another edition
challenging
informative
medium-paced
3.5
Good to see both sides of the argument
prairie_fairie's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
5.0
After reading Murray's "The Madness of Crowds", it was hard NOT to pick this up when I came across it. The War on the West is an interesting and intelligently informative read about the changing political and cultural landscape occurring in the world today. Murray shows his worldly knowledge in music, art, foreign culture, global politics and the current trends in Western and briefly, non-Western societies.
This book is not an attack on the west. It is an indictment on some of the people attacking the west, which broadly speaking has many roots in Judeo-Christian ideologies and while Murray doesn't focus on this much, the sentiment is there. Murray demonstrates with example upon example how many western people denounce the western ways and demonize it by calling it 'white' and the broad strokes with how white western culture is so demonized, if it were reversed, those crying foul on Western culture (while enjoying its relative freedom of expression) would indeed suggest it was racist. Because it is.
Many western nations have practically fallen over themselves to try and make up for the real or perceived mistakes of their colonial ancestors, whether or not, their ancestors were responsible for smallpox blankets or displacement of peoples. If not them, most likely it would have been someone eventually. The demonization of Western ideals is a common trend in today's society and this has given way to a collective shame that has encouraged whole governments and corporations to 'reeducate' their staff into ways that are actually quite ludicrous. When we are expected to feel guilt for things not done or said and it's perfectly acceptable, yet if the roles were reversed it would be victimization, then we have a problem. When it's perfectly acceptable to pick apart the ways of the West, yet not consider the histories of other lands who often don't give people the ability to speak, practice beliefs freely, or permit backchat on their own nation, nobody is seeing a problem with that? Perhaps the West has had it too good for too long that maybe those who are vying to come here at risk of drowning, or being shot at borders deserve the West more than those in it.
Read this book. If nothing else, read the conclusion and then start from the beginning.
This book is not an attack on the west. It is an indictment on some of the people attacking the west, which broadly speaking has many roots in Judeo-Christian ideologies and while Murray doesn't focus on this much, the sentiment is there. Murray demonstrates with example upon example how many western people denounce the western ways and demonize it by calling it 'white' and the broad strokes with how white western culture is so demonized, if it were reversed, those crying foul on Western culture (while enjoying its relative freedom of expression) would indeed suggest it was racist. Because it is.
Many western nations have practically fallen over themselves to try and make up for the real or perceived mistakes of their colonial ancestors, whether or not, their ancestors were responsible for smallpox blankets or displacement of peoples. If not them, most likely it would have been someone eventually. The demonization of Western ideals is a common trend in today's society and this has given way to a collective shame that has encouraged whole governments and corporations to 'reeducate' their staff into ways that are actually quite ludicrous. When we are expected to feel guilt for things not done or said and it's perfectly acceptable, yet if the roles were reversed it would be victimization, then we have a problem. When it's perfectly acceptable to pick apart the ways of the West, yet not consider the histories of other lands who often don't give people the ability to speak, practice beliefs freely, or permit backchat on their own nation, nobody is seeing a problem with that? Perhaps the West has had it too good for too long that maybe those who are vying to come here at risk of drowning, or being shot at borders deserve the West more than those in it.
Read this book. If nothing else, read the conclusion and then start from the beginning.
camscampbell's review against another edition
informative
4.0
A very well-written book that sets out its themes clearly and backs them up well with citations from other sources. The chapter on Culture was particularly enjoyable.
It will be interesting to look back at this period in history, and I would imagine that anyone who follows Douglas Murray will have similar hopes on how they (we) would like it to go.
It will be interesting to look back at this period in history, and I would imagine that anyone who follows Douglas Murray will have similar hopes on how they (we) would like it to go.