AccueilGroupesDiscussionsPlusTendances
Site de recherche
Ce site utilise des cookies pour fournir nos services, optimiser les performances, pour les analyses, et (si vous n'êtes pas connecté) pour les publicités. En utilisant Librarything, vous reconnaissez avoir lu et compris nos conditions générales d'utilisation et de services. Votre utilisation du site et de ses services vaut acceptation de ces conditions et termes.

Résultats trouvés sur Google Books

Cliquer sur une vignette pour aller sur Google Books.

Chargement...

Gray's Anatomy: Selected Writings

par John Gray

MembresCritiquesPopularitéÉvaluation moyenneMentions
1492182,078 (3.72)3
Why is the human imagination to blame for the worst crimes of the twentieth century? Why is progress a pernicious myth? Why is contemporary atheism just a hangover from Christian faith? John Gray, author of Straw Dogsand Black Mass, is one of the most original and iconoclastic thinkers of our time. In this pugnacious and brilliantly readable collection of essays from across his career, he smashes through humanity's most cherished beliefs to overturn our view of the world, and our place in it. 'If humans are different from other animals it is chiefly in being governed by myths, which are not creations of the will but creatures of the imagination.' 'No traditional myth is as untruthful as the modern myth of progress. All prevailing philosophies embody the fiction that human life can be altered at will. Better aim for the impossible, they say, than submit to fate. Invariably, the result is a cult of human self-assertion that soon ends in farce.'… (plus d'informations)
Aucun
Chargement...

Inscrivez-vous à LibraryThing pour découvrir si vous aimerez ce livre

Actuellement, il n'y a pas de discussions au sujet de ce livre.

» Voir aussi les 3 mentions

An extremely well-written and informative collection of essays concerned, broadly, with political matters, though some are more concerned with social commentary. Gray is considered a ‘conservative’ public intellectual, but that does not mean that he propounds a hidebound ideology in his essays. Clearly, he is generally conservative in his worldview, but he has little patience for certain strains of conservative thought. An example would be the neo-conservatives, who came to such prominence during George W. Bush’s stint in the White House. Gray is excoriating towards them, and he has little good to say for strongly doctrinaire libertarians, either. His range of interests is not confined to the political, as mentioned above; he quotes poets, dramatists and novelists, and he is obviously extremely well-read. He has, for instance, a whole essay based on Joseph Conrad’s works. Some of the social issues he confronts are the growing influence of the New Atheists, and the rise of the conservation movement (‘the Greens’). The essays date all the way from the seventies to contemporary times, but they are rarely irrelevant.

When I say that Gray’s essays are well-written, I am actually understating Gray’s style. His writing is incisive and clear, always erudite, and rarely too academic. Yes, there is jargon here, but it tends to go with the territory. I must admit that I finally learned the meaning of many words which have been vaguely floating around my consciousness, but which I never bothered to look up before: irredentist, indefeasible, irrefragable – and those are only the i’s. Shamefully, I must admit that I usually just skip over terms that I do not understand. But, since reading Gray’s concentrated text, I have made a resolution to always look up difficult and unknown words, wherever they may occur. I found my understanding of Gray’s arguments to be greatly enriched by a precise comprehension of his words, which seems obvious, but I am astounded how often people (myself included) fail to argue properly because they do not understand the terms of the debate.

Before getting to the good things about Gray’s exploration of his topics, a few grumbles. Some of his essays seemed just a tad dated. Strangely, this was most evident in his writings about the Bush presidency, and not those on, for example, the Thatcher years. Perhaps this is because familiarity breeds contempt, or because the Bush essays are more concerned with what was then contemporary policy. Arguably, the essays which stood the test of time best are those which, while based on the political issues of their day, still manage to find a relevance to more general human concerns. Some more nit-picking. I found two of Gray’s essays somewhat out of character: ‘Torture: a modest proposal’ and ‘A modest defence of George W. Bush’. Anyone who has read Jonathan Swift, or has a reasonable general knowledge, should recognise the homage paid to Swift’s ‘A modest proposal’ in the titles. In it, Swift proposed (satirically, of course) that the impoverished Irish population of his day could alleviate their circumstances by selling their babies to the rich – to be eaten. If you did not catch the reference, don’t feel too bad: many (most?) of Gray’s initial readers also didn’t, and believed that he was genuinely proposing that torture was a necessary evil/good. Apparently, he still receives letters from aggrieved civil libertarians complaining about this! In any case, my problem with these two essays is not their satirical character. Rather, I found them an uneven mixture of subtly-convincing arguments and heavy-handedness. What I mean is that, at times, Gray had even me unsure whether he was being satirical or whether he was writing in good faith. But, at other times, he gives such broad hints that he is not being serious, that I cannot believe some people actually accused him of promoting torture (or Bush’s policies). Whatever the result, I found these essays a little unbalanced, and preferred the straight essays, which make up the majority of the collection.

Besides these quibbles, I found myself intellectually stimulated throughout by Gray’s arguments, even when I disagreed strongly with them. I am for instance not as strongly opposed as Gray to the idea of progress in human affairs, which he calls a ‘pernicious myth’, although he has convinced me that most attempts to improve humanity end in utopian farce or horror. I also enjoyed his essay on the New Atheists, in which he clearly shows that much of their creed is just that – a creed of a very dogmatic bend, with their atheism as ‘a hangover from Christian faith’. This is to simplify things greatly, as one would have to follow his nuanced arguments to their end to get a clear idea of their import. This is of course a problem that all reviews of densely argued books suffer – one can hardly convey the complexity of the writer’s argument in a short review. But I hope that this is at least an interesting segue into Gray’s work, and that I might whet a few appetites of those interested in political and social commentary. Anyone who feels sceptical towards claims such as Fukuyama’s ‘end of history’ thesis, or who questions the dogmas of hidebound conservatism or secular liberalism, will find this book interesting, or provoking, at least. I grew up in a liberal atmosphere, but I still found this foray into nominal conservative territory invigorating.

My favourite essay (because most congenial to my interests) was ‘Theodore Powys and the life of contemplation’. I admit to never having heard of Theodore Powys, yet, like his brothers, the more famous John Cowper, and Llewelyn, he was also a writer. And what an interesting portrait Gray paints of him! His books sound fascinating, easily as intriguing as John Cowper’s. Listen to this description of Unclay, his last novel: ‘John Death is God’s messenger, instructed to ‘scythe’ or ‘unclay’ two inhabitants of the village of Dodder. Losing the parchment that contains their names, he determines to spend the summer in the village. Throughout his stay he gives and receives joy, relishing sexual encounters with the village women and rejoicing in his mission of bringing release to suffering humanity.’ That sounds right up my alley, and if it is somewhat reminiscent of ‘Meet Joe Black’ and even Terry Pratchett’s Death (well, not the sex), then one has to remember who has precedence here. It is a shame that most of his books are out-of-print; hopefully, the situation will soon be rectified.

I leave you with one of my favourite quotes from Gray’s book. It is from Michael Oakeshott, and serves as a warning to those enamoured of scientism:

The project of science, as I understand it, is to solve the mystery, to wake us from our dream, to destroy the myth; and were this project fully achieved, not only should we find ourselves awake in a profound darkness, but a dreadful insomnia would settle upon mankind, not less intolerable for being only a nightmare. ( )
5 voter dmsteyn | Jan 11, 2012 |
Het boek is een samenstel van essays, die samen de weerslag vormen van zijn pogingen om de afgelopen decennia te duiden. Gray is scherp in de ontmaskering van de grote politieke stromingen als menselijke utopieën. Hij richt zich hierbij vooral tegen het vooruitgangsdenken. Het idee van verlossing door vrije markt en democratie ontleedt hij als relict van het christendom en de verlichting. Najagen van utopieën met als uitgangspunt dat de mensheid de toekomst vorm kan geven, leidt alleen maar tot narigheid. Hij definieert politiek liever als “de kunde om tijdelijke remedies te bedenken voor terugkerende kwaden, een opeenvolging van redmiddelen derhalve en geen project voor verlossing”.
Gray ziet in de mens op zijn kruistocht voor economische vooruitgang een ‘home rapiens’ die bezig is de aarde leeg te roven om het te laten verworden tot een onaantrekkelijk oord. Hij pleit voor een groen conservatisme.
Veel denkers en bekendheden passeren de revue in het boek, van Oakeshott tot Tony Blair, van Joseph Conrad tot George Soros. Door diepgang te verbinden met breed praktisch denken is het een zeer lezenswaardig boek. De laatste essays zijn erg contemplatief van aard en behandelen de verhouding van de mens tot zijn natuurlijke omgeving. Zingeving door economische activiteit om op die manier als persoon je stempel op de wereld achter te laten is een illusie. Een erg persoonlijk slothoofdstuk sluit hij af met de vraag: “Geestelijk leven is niet een zoeken naar betekenis maar een bevrijding ervan. (..) Andere dieren hebben geen doel in het leven nodig. Het menselijk dier, een tegenspraak met zichzelf, kan echter niet zonder. Waarom zouden we er niet van uitgaan dat de zin van het leven eenvoudig is te zien?”
Een boek dat stevig rammelt aan een tijdgeest waarin ieder rekent op steeds meer, beter en verder, maar waarover steeds meer onbehagen ontstaat. ( )
  H.Roosink | Nov 25, 2010 |
2 sur 2
aucune critique | ajouter une critique
Vous devez vous identifier pour modifier le Partage des connaissances.
Pour plus d'aide, voir la page Aide sur le Partage des connaissances [en anglais].
Titre canonique
Titre original
Titres alternatifs
Date de première publication
Personnes ou personnages
Lieux importants
Évènements importants
Films connexes
Épigraphe
Dédicace
Premiers mots
Citations
Derniers mots
Notice de désambigüisation
Directeur de publication
Courtes éloges de critiques
Langue d'origine
DDC/MDS canonique
LCC canonique

Références à cette œuvre sur des ressources externes.

Wikipédia en anglais

Aucun

Why is the human imagination to blame for the worst crimes of the twentieth century? Why is progress a pernicious myth? Why is contemporary atheism just a hangover from Christian faith? John Gray, author of Straw Dogsand Black Mass, is one of the most original and iconoclastic thinkers of our time. In this pugnacious and brilliantly readable collection of essays from across his career, he smashes through humanity's most cherished beliefs to overturn our view of the world, and our place in it. 'If humans are different from other animals it is chiefly in being governed by myths, which are not creations of the will but creatures of the imagination.' 'No traditional myth is as untruthful as the modern myth of progress. All prevailing philosophies embody the fiction that human life can be altered at will. Better aim for the impossible, they say, than submit to fate. Invariably, the result is a cult of human self-assertion that soon ends in farce.'

Aucune description trouvée dans une bibliothèque

Description du livre
Résumé sous forme de haïku

Discussion en cours

Aucun

Couvertures populaires

Vos raccourcis

Évaluation

Moyenne: (3.72)
0.5 1
1
1.5
2 1
2.5 2
3 5
3.5
4 6
4.5 2
5 6

Est-ce vous ?

Devenez un(e) auteur LibraryThing.

 

À propos | Contact | LibraryThing.com | Respect de la vie privée et règles d'utilisation | Aide/FAQ | Blog | Boutique | APIs | TinyCat | Bibliothèques historiques | Critiques en avant-première | Partage des connaissances | 203,199,050 livres! | Barre supérieure: Toujours visible