Matthew

A Hatred of Masculinity

Reviewed: 23-10-22

This book will go down in history as another largely unread example of fourth wave feminism going too far and unmasking itself as an anti male movement.
I should add that I didn’t feel that way before I listened to this book, but when you write a novel claiming to be a history and you launch a 10+ hour assault on everything male, leaving no stone unturned, it’s hard to see it any other way.

Not once in this fiction does the author address the fact that we live in a world where women can do everything men can do and men still can’t give birth. A fact not likely to change, even if you play with definitions.
This single fact gives women the power over life and fatherhood (her body her choice) and renders men effectively useless on earth without female permission and consent and still we have to listen to diatribes like this that outline how women have no power and everything men have left (sports, the life of the mind, the workplace and the company of other males) is inherently toxic, patriarchal and misogynistic.

The author should be utterly ashamed to call himself a historian on men, a friend to women and rational novelist.
Every negative utterance about woke ideology can be justified by the existence of this book.
It’s more likely to damage the relationship between men and women than help anyone progress.

It will go down in history as the greatest printed result of self loathing as hero complex alongside White Fragility and some suicide notes.

If you’re male, for god’s sake don’t touch this.
Women have never been pathetic and weak and it’s not 1800.

Be kind

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Culloden?

Reviewed: 28-09-20

This book is a history of English military heads who are variously connected to the battle of Culloden.
What I found interesting (as a Scotsman) was the seldom discussed genesis of the British empire by the pacifying of the Jacobites in the mountains of Scotland.
The battle the book is named for occupies the opening chapters of the book, the rest follows the exploits of a few major figures in the empires history as they fought the French for dominion in the Americas, India and Europe.
What I didn’t like was buying a book about Culloden only to spend hours of my life hearing about the well trodden ground of English history. I was let down by the fact that Scotland was merely the narrative launchpad for a story about the British Empire.
Possibly this is my own fault, I hope that next time I buy a book that appears to concern the history of my own place, people and culture that I am not so disappointed.
For those curious about Culloden and it’s role in the birth of the US and Canada, this book is a must.

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Books that leave you speechless.

Reviewed: 09-06-20

I will never forget this book. My wish is to live long enough to understand it. I hope to live the kind of life that refuses me that wish.
When the best story tellers are finished you keep listening, silent, as the tale goes on ringing in your soul.
Cormac McCarthy will forever remain the greatest of American writers.
Buyer beware. A brilliant darkness follows the purchase.

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The most valuable book of our times.

Reviewed: 23-05-20

If we can’t have a basic income then we should consider having a universal basic book. This is it.
It is as a-political as a smile and as valuable as a hug.
The research rivals Yuval Noah Harari’s best.
The arguments are tight and revelatory.
My faith in humanity is well and truly restored.
I can highly recommend to people of all stripes and spots.
Well done Sir.

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Maybe if you’re not Scottish

Reviewed: 20-01-20

This was a disappointment. I think I was hoping for the atmosphere of the film. I also would love to hear it recorded by a Scottish performer. No disrespect to the narrator, but if the accents don’t work I can’t stay invested.

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28 people found this helpful

The trolls have taken the centre

Reviewed: 07-06-19

As a Scotsman and worn out lefty trying to keep up with the modern age of shifting moral goalposts, group think, victim olympics and the thought crime justice system that is social media, I have waited for a rational monologue from anyone with integrity and a spine. I just didn’t expect it to be the guy who invented Patrick Bateman.

I now firmly believe the most punk rock thing anyone can do is speak their own mind.

Bret, whether he realises it or not, is standing up to the cry bullies selfishly dismantling everything that makes our western culture a space where they can exist. He will go down in history as one of the few who saw true intolerance and stared it down. In his own meandering, roguish way.

Cheers Bret

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9 people found this helpful

What the fourth estate won’t say

Reviewed: 17-05-19

For anyone who enjoyed Road to Somewhere this is the obvious follow up.

An exploration of the nuances in modern politics that are typically swept under the rug.
Anyone who wonders why Europe and America have rejected the old political order, turned to online media and news sources and if you don’t understand the “yellow vest” movement, this is for you.

If you are on the far left (or literally anyone in media) this should be mandatory listening.

Read by one of the authors, his droning narration actually worked for me. The subject matter kept me more than hooked.

I want more journalism like this.
I will listen to this many times over.

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