Review of 'The Madness of Crowds : Gender, Race and Identity' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Another candid and timely book from Douglas Murray. Initially, his two most recent books don’t seem at all connected, but they both focus on trying to find the reality beneath the politics and signaling. In an interview for The Madness of Crowds, Douglas says "One of the things that connects both books is it’s speaking again into this void: What are we doing? And it’s a plea, among other things, to urge people to spend our time doing something better."
Despite the controversial air around the book, I thought it was genuinely sympathetic to all groups discussed, and focused on better understanding, concern, and real solutions. The writing was thoughtful, witty, and non-partisan. There’s quite a bit of historical background so that we can see the progress and eventual derailing of some of the most heated topics today.
A testament to the book's clarity, the four chapters are just titled …
Another candid and timely book from Douglas Murray. Initially, his two most recent books don’t seem at all connected, but they both focus on trying to find the reality beneath the politics and signaling. In an interview for The Madness of Crowds, Douglas says "One of the things that connects both books is it’s speaking again into this void: What are we doing? And it’s a plea, among other things, to urge people to spend our time doing something better."
Despite the controversial air around the book, I thought it was genuinely sympathetic to all groups discussed, and focused on better understanding, concern, and real solutions. The writing was thoughtful, witty, and non-partisan. There’s quite a bit of historical background so that we can see the progress and eventual derailing of some of the most heated topics today.
A testament to the book's clarity, the four chapters are just titled Gay, Women, Race, and Trans. Three interludes separate the chapters: Marxism, Tech, and Forgiveness. The interludes help make sense of what fuels the four pillars of controversy covered in the book. I was glad that Murray took the time to cover the role of technology, addressing not only the censorship/bias (Google, Twitter, Patreon, etc), but the unprecedented change we have been trying to adapt to for the last decade. The Madness of Crowds is what you come to expect from Murray's books, lectures, and debates: frank, transparent, and concerned.
"In the name of social justice, we are making our societies very unjust. In the name of anti-racism, we are making our societies increasingly racist. In the name of anti-homophobia, we are making our societies risk becoming more homophobic. And in the name of anti-trans we are making ourselves mad."
