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Pascal Bruckner
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The Temptation of Innocence - Living in the Age of Entitlement Paperback – November 1, 2000

by Pascal Bruckner (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 3 ratings
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A highly insightful essay on the culture of dependency and its damaging effects on the moral fiber of society; from corporate welfare to affirmative action, the author takes on the culture of copping out. A book against depression, existential angst, cry-babies and whining "victims," either acting as a child in a candy store or as a martyr of one's own fears. Men against women, women against men, isn't it time to grow up and take charge of our own destiny?
Previous page
  1. Print length
    300 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Algora Publishing
  4. Publication date
    November 1, 2000
  5. Dimensions
    6 x 0.76 x 9 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1892941562
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1892941565
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Prolific essayist and novelist Bruckner (a winner of France's prestigious Medici Prize) offers a gracefully erudite, deliciously mordant critique of a recent species of human self-deception: infantilism and victimization, the idea that powerlessness is a virtue without responsibility. Among those skewered by Bruckner's biting wit are parents who identify with the children they pamper, feminists who bastardize men, and ethnic nationalities (most especially the Serbs) who tout past sufferings as warrant for persecuting others. Bruckner's European education, which he wears lightly; his unpreachy, aphoristic style; and his obvious delight in paradox save this book from the ranks of a tedious diatribe against permissiveness. Citings of Europe's philosophical and literary masters (Rousseau, Hegel, Nietzsche among many others) help Bruckner, who is French (this admirable translation is not, alas, credited), make the case that the modern individual, weakened by responsibilities of freedom too great to bear, finds freedom in weakness itself: the freedom from moral constraint. In consequence, the distinction between genuine weakness, which merits compassion, and self-promoting distortions of it is obscured. Bruckner's paradigmatic antidote to resentment is decidedly French: the inventive lover for whom suffering is less a virtue than an unavoidable risk, made bearable not by self-deception but by acknowledging and tolerating ambiguity. In a final variation on Bruckner's theme of things becoming their opposites (e.g., victims who persecute), a childlike Cupid points individuals, social groups and nations away from childish self-pity into responsible relations with others. Bruckner should find a ready audience among philosophically inclined readers who bring a skeptical eye to contemporary trends and agree that freedom from responsibility is no freedom at all.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Publisher

Awarded the prestigious Académie Française Prix 2000 and the Medici Prize for Essays.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Algora Publishing; 1st edition (November 1, 2000)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 300 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1892941562
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1892941565
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.05 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.76 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 3 ratings

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Pascal Bruckner

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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
3 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Juan Meyer
5.0 out of 5 stars A stunning book about modern European malaise
Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2007
Don't miss this book. Pascal Bruckner, along with Alain Finkielkraut and Andre Glucksmann, is one of the foremost French intellectuals. They are controversial in that they are not the typical anti-US, hip multicultural, thinkers. They go deeper than that. They question the post-modern way of living, thinking and behaving.

This book by Bruckner is stunning, and its study of modern man's malaise is fascinating and thought provoking. Many of the ideas which are being discussed right now politically and philosophically, Bruckner addresses in this book, which he wrote a while ago.

If you want to go deep into some of the deepest troubles facing the Western World, pick this up now! You will not regret it.
14 people found this helpful
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Noone Inparticular
4.0 out of 5 stars Could have been better, but still very good...
Reviewed in the United States on March 2, 2007
Verified Purchase
Good thoughts, but uneven writing, sometimes clumsy translation (does not even say who did it, my feeling is, the author himself). It is really more of a collection of essays than a book with a consistent line of thought. On a good side, lots of detailed references and interesting, unorthodox ideas. It is still worth reading but could and should have been better.

The main themes, infantilism and (self)victimization of modern man have been circumscribed but not elaborated.
It feels like Bruckner is broadly painting the surrounding areas and lets us divine the substance of his thoughts.
And despite the title, there is very little word in the book about the expectation of entitlement, the malaise from which Europe, even more than US, definitely suffers today.

(Had I not expected more, maybe it would have been a 4 star book...) => obsolete comment, see below

Update Jan 2015: re-reading the book after 3 years, I think it actually does merit 4 stars. It is refreshing to see the modern philosopher on the left call things as they are, not as the political correctness would want them to be. I do recommend reading the book.
8 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Steve
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in Canada on August 28, 2017
Verified Purchase
still actual, a mirror of current western humanity
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