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A review by anal4seinfeld
The War on the West by Douglas Murray
3.0
A true friend is a friend who's willing to tell you the hard hitting truth in the face when you've gone too far.
In 'The War on the West', Douglas Murray proves himself to be the modern progressive movement's true friend.
With British charm and sarcastic intellect Murray logically dismantles and exposes a worrying phenomenon that appears to be taking over Western culture from the inside.
Valid as his criticism is, Murray has a tendency to present it in a judgmental tone, which is fair, but at the cost of a more thorough constructive analysis. Basically, it's a book that seemingly aims to affirm its readers' view rather than convince, using too many anecdotes alongside with clear negative trends.
This is most noticeable where Murray drifts into philosophical and literary ramblings in which he seems to take personal offense to these attacks on the West, rather than leave it as a logical response with counter-arguments to the issues presented.
Personally, as an Israeli, it gave me a frame from which I can understand the anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism prevalent throughout the West post the October 7th attacks (Israel being mistakenly viewed as a symbol of colonialism to the self-hating West).
And as an Israeli, which is to say, a Westerner from a non-American or European country, I was unfamiliar with CRT aside from an occasional mention in the first place.
To summarize, it's a good case, especially if you're familiar with, and enjoy, Douglas Murray's argumentation.
But it could have been an op-ed.
In 'The War on the West', Douglas Murray proves himself to be the modern progressive movement's true friend.
With British charm and sarcastic intellect Murray logically dismantles and exposes a worrying phenomenon that appears to be taking over Western culture from the inside.
Valid as his criticism is, Murray has a tendency to present it in a judgmental tone, which is fair, but at the cost of a more thorough constructive analysis. Basically, it's a book that seemingly aims to affirm its readers' view rather than convince, using too many anecdotes alongside with clear negative trends.
This is most noticeable where Murray drifts into philosophical and literary ramblings in which he seems to take personal offense to these attacks on the West, rather than leave it as a logical response with counter-arguments to the issues presented.
Personally, as an Israeli, it gave me a frame from which I can understand the anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism prevalent throughout the West post the October 7th attacks (Israel being mistakenly viewed as a symbol of colonialism to the self-hating West).
And as an Israeli, which is to say, a Westerner from a non-American or European country, I was unfamiliar with CRT aside from an occasional mention in the first place.
To summarize, it's a good case, especially if you're familiar with, and enjoy, Douglas Murray's argumentation.
But it could have been an op-ed.