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greg_talbot 's review for:
The Revolt of the Masses
by José Ortega y Gasset
Gasset's writings from 1930 about the state of the mass-man, the average European man of that time, predict a new world. A civilization that is complex and beautiful, inhabited by barbarous masses who possess the "vital repertory which before had been characterized by superior miniorities".
Gasset dissects "modern man" and measures it up against Europe of the past.
The book fascinated me for two reasons. For one, Gasset's perspective of his own time is fascinating. His dismissal of fascism and Bolshevism as fads that will not endure, seems correct. His question of who will take over Europe as the center of civilization is mildly amusing, considering the historical events that have shaped the past 70 years.
More interesting is how many of the themes of Gasset's book resonant today. Concern about the moral code of today, about the pessimism of youth, the crumbling of your culture; what harbinger of past glories hasn't extolled these disapproving remarks? Also the remarks about how quickly people change their poltiical opinions, as if they have no strong foundation from which to judge.
Revolt of Masses is interesting, but as a writer Gasset comes off as dry and mythologizing his own time in a very pedantic way.
Gasset dissects "modern man" and measures it up against Europe of the past.
The book fascinated me for two reasons. For one, Gasset's perspective of his own time is fascinating. His dismissal of fascism and Bolshevism as fads that will not endure, seems correct. His question of who will take over Europe as the center of civilization is mildly amusing, considering the historical events that have shaped the past 70 years.
More interesting is how many of the themes of Gasset's book resonant today. Concern about the moral code of today, about the pessimism of youth, the crumbling of your culture; what harbinger of past glories hasn't extolled these disapproving remarks? Also the remarks about how quickly people change their poltiical opinions, as if they have no strong foundation from which to judge.
Revolt of Masses is interesting, but as a writer Gasset comes off as dry and mythologizing his own time in a very pedantic way.