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Out Into The Beautiful World
When I was a young man I thought that metaphysics was the most exciting (and important) thing in the world. I wish now that I had not wasted so much time on the imponderable questions of metaphysics but had used it to more worthwhile effect. Rather than study philosophy, I should have studied insects. In the little essays that follow, I have no grand theory to prove, no single message to convey. Small things and slight occurrences have caught my attention and caused me to reflect a little. I hope only to please the reader. — Theodore Dalrymple
212 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 13, 2015
About the author
Theodore Dalrymple
98 books641 followersAnthony Malcolm Daniels, who generally uses the pen name Theodore Dalrymple, is an English writer and retired prison doctor and psychiatrist. He worked in a number of Sub-Saharan African countries as well as in the east end of London. Before his retirement in 2005, he worked in City Hospital, Birmingham and Winson Green Prison in inner-city Birmingham, England.
Daniels is a contributing editor to City Journal, published by the Manhattan Institute, where he is the Dietrich Weismann Fellow. In addition to City Journal, his work has appeared in The British Medical Journal, The Times, The Observer, The Daily Telegraph, The Spectator, The Salisbury Review, National Review, and Axess magasin.
In 2011, Dalrymple received the 2011 Freedom Prize from the Flemish think tank Libera!.
Daniels is a contributing editor to City Journal, published by the Manhattan Institute, where he is the Dietrich Weismann Fellow. In addition to City Journal, his work has appeared in The British Medical Journal, The Times, The Observer, The Daily Telegraph, The Spectator, The Salisbury Review, National Review, and Axess magasin.
In 2011, Dalrymple received the 2011 Freedom Prize from the Flemish think tank Libera!.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 20, 2018
Theodore Dalrymple unwittingly gave me a terrific compliment by adopting my surname for his nom de plume. He was born Anthony Daniels and might have chosen any name he liked, but he chose mine. If I ever have the opportunity, I will thank him personally, but I’ll also ask: Why Dalrymple? Fond as I am of my last name, I don’t consider it very mellifluous, nor does it sound particularly sophisticated or imposing.
Perhaps the sometime-Mr Daniels hates highlanders: after all, it was a Dalrymple (Sir James, First Earl of Stair) who ordered the infamous Glencoe Massacre. Or perhaps he likes highlanders: there was a Dalrymple (Charlie) in the musical Brigadoon. It may be that Mr Daniels is an admirer of middle-shelf P.G. Wodehouse novels: there’s a Vera Dalrymple in Bachelors Anonymous. Alternately, he may have renamed himself after Alexander Dalrymple FRS, who famously theorized about an unmapped southern continent but was beaten to the punch when his rival James Cook charted the eastern coast of Australia first.
Whatever his reasons, I can only consider Mr Daniels’ choice of pen-name a compliment because he is, in my opinion, the best writer of essays in English today – and one of the very best living writers of English prose.
The essays collected here were originally published in New English Review. They’re offered as light, informal pieces, but this may be misleading. Dalrymple’s sense of humor tends toward the dry and dark. He has a low opinion of human nature, though his misanthropy can be winsome. He manages to bring a moral seriousness to every subject he considers. In this volume, that includes topics like famous medical serial killers, the behavior of the cuckoo, the question of whether it’s better to be oppressed by a foreign power or your own kind, the field of forensic entomology, free lunches used as bribes, and the pleasure of collecting worthless inflationary banknotes with denominations in the billions.
My only complaint with Out into the Beautiful World is that Mr Dalrymple is seriously failed by his editors. The book is inexcusably riddled with typos. The folks at New English Review Press owe him an apology – maybe even a free lunch.
(4.5 stars)
-
A few choice TheoDal quotes from this collection:
The fate of the world is too large a thing to engage my interest for very long.
No wrongdoing is beyond the reach of self-righteousness.
[A] world in which people thought and spoke only of the most important of subjects would be not only intolerable but filled with untruth.
There is nobility in failure, especially when it persists for a lifetime.
Defenders of the indefensible often have more at stake than attackers of the indefensible.
We live in a multicultural age, which in practice means that we like lots of different kinds of food.
Orwell, the patron saint of everyone who wants to claim him as such.
It is not true that every mystery is interesting.
Perhaps the sometime-Mr Daniels hates highlanders: after all, it was a Dalrymple (Sir James, First Earl of Stair) who ordered the infamous Glencoe Massacre. Or perhaps he likes highlanders: there was a Dalrymple (Charlie) in the musical Brigadoon. It may be that Mr Daniels is an admirer of middle-shelf P.G. Wodehouse novels: there’s a Vera Dalrymple in Bachelors Anonymous. Alternately, he may have renamed himself after Alexander Dalrymple FRS, who famously theorized about an unmapped southern continent but was beaten to the punch when his rival James Cook charted the eastern coast of Australia first.
Whatever his reasons, I can only consider Mr Daniels’ choice of pen-name a compliment because he is, in my opinion, the best writer of essays in English today – and one of the very best living writers of English prose.
The essays collected here were originally published in New English Review. They’re offered as light, informal pieces, but this may be misleading. Dalrymple’s sense of humor tends toward the dry and dark. He has a low opinion of human nature, though his misanthropy can be winsome. He manages to bring a moral seriousness to every subject he considers. In this volume, that includes topics like famous medical serial killers, the behavior of the cuckoo, the question of whether it’s better to be oppressed by a foreign power or your own kind, the field of forensic entomology, free lunches used as bribes, and the pleasure of collecting worthless inflationary banknotes with denominations in the billions.
My only complaint with Out into the Beautiful World is that Mr Dalrymple is seriously failed by his editors. The book is inexcusably riddled with typos. The folks at New English Review Press owe him an apology – maybe even a free lunch.
(4.5 stars)
-
A few choice TheoDal quotes from this collection:
The fate of the world is too large a thing to engage my interest for very long.
No wrongdoing is beyond the reach of self-righteousness.
[A] world in which people thought and spoke only of the most important of subjects would be not only intolerable but filled with untruth.
There is nobility in failure, especially when it persists for a lifetime.
Defenders of the indefensible often have more at stake than attackers of the indefensible.
We live in a multicultural age, which in practice means that we like lots of different kinds of food.
Orwell, the patron saint of everyone who wants to claim him as such.
It is not true that every mystery is interesting.
July 23, 2016
An interesting collection of essays on all sorts of topics.
Banknotes depicting tyrants. (Fun fact: a lot of twentieth century tyrants appeared on bank notes, but neither Stalin nor Hitler ever did.)
Spiders
The Rwandan genocide.
People's interest in murder.
And more.
Banknotes depicting tyrants. (Fun fact: a lot of twentieth century tyrants appeared on bank notes, but neither Stalin nor Hitler ever did.)
Spiders
The Rwandan genocide.
People's interest in murder.
And more.
October 16, 2015
A lovely and moving read. There was hilarity and there was humility, revelation and unsurity. You couldn't ask for more from such a wonderful essayist. What a pleasure to have read.
December 13, 2020
There are some 5-stars essays in this collection, but not enough of them to rate the entire book that highly. Apocalypse Now, Destructive Creation, and Hitching to Gomorrah are the best. Many of the rest are unusually lightweight for Dalrymple. One unfortunate essay, Driven Mad, is uncharacteristically whinging. The book also has a regrettable number of proofreading lapses, which presumably is the fault of his new publishers, New English Review Press.
June 14, 2019
Prosa excelente, ensayos breves pero muy disfrutables. Logran ser persuasivos y provocar el pensamiento a la vez.
October 27, 2023
A pleasant read, great for a little laugh and random tidbits of learning. And, as usual, witty and thoughtful writing.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews