Men Among the Ruins: Post-War Reflections of a Radical Traditionalist by Julius Evola

Men Among the Ruins: Post-War Reflections of a Radical Traditionalist Reviews

• 
  Phil

  Let's say one star for the feasibility and desirability of implementing these ideas, and three stars for the fascinating experience of reading such an uncompromisingly extreme philosophy presented so eloquently. I have tremendous respect for Evola's writings on esoteric subjects. His The Hermetic Tradition is one of the best books available on the symbolism of spiritual alchemy. But his political philosophy was so detached from reality that it led him to associate himself with some truly reprehensible ideas, most notoriously Italian Fascism.
  
  Evola writes as if the kind of regimented, "organic" hierarchical society that he advocates actually existed at some time in the past. Maybe—and this is a big maybe—in Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, or China, or perhaps the Inca Empire, but certainly not in Europe, where Evola's attention is focused. Even in the distant past of the Near East, the Far East, and South America, what documentary and archaeological evidence exists shows that dissent, rebellion, and change weren't unknown even in what are commonly assumed to have been static societies.
  
  Some esoteric schools of thought, such as theosophy, see the Biblical Fall, the Hindu Yugas, and the Greek Ages of Man as metaphors for the gradual descent of our species from a purely spiritual to a tangibly physical mode of existence. Perhaps Evola saw his ideal society as something that only existed in some astral or ethereal state, prior to the messy vagaries of our human, all-too-human world. He seems to hint at something to that effect a couple of times. Whatever the case, it's unlikely that the kind of social order Evola advocates will ever come to pass, and thank goodness for that. But reading such an intelligent presentation of such outlandish ideas makes for an otherworldly experience, if nothing else.
• 
  Jacob Senholt

  Another excellent book by Evola, and quite interesting since it deals with the post-war period, and the failure of the totalitarian Fascism and Nazism. A guide for the few 'men among the ruins' (of everything after 1789/French Revolution).
• 
  TR

  Evola critiques the modern world with traditional standards. Magnificent companion to Revolt Against the Modern World', which should be read first.
• 
  Tvrtko Balić

  If you are looking for a good book by Evola, this is not it, go read Revolt Against the Modern World instead. That still has some flaws, but they are only amplified here.
  I admire Evola's idealism, I really do, but if you wondered if one can be too idealistic, the answer is here and the answer is yes. I find it sad that fascism offers so much of what Evola looked for, but he just didn't see it because he was so demanding. We need to revive a lot of the values from before the French Revolution, I agree with him on that, but the world has changed so much since then that we can't look at old systems of government for anything more than inspiration, we need to devise a new system of government that harnesses the immense technological potential of modern civilization instead of shying away from it.
  Evola also flirts with individualism by opposing totalitarianism, but noting that we should not hold the individual as something sacred, but instead that we should look after the "person" which is what he calls a higher, fully realized individual. I simply don't think we can afford to hold such standards without first establishing a strong authority to shape individuals into persons and maintain them as such. That is just one example, throughout the book he constantly jumps between opposing ideals and justifies his position by making subtle differences without being very convincing. The most absurd case of this is when he tries to differentiate between hierarchism and support for hierarchy.
  And then there are things where I just disagree with him and think he could have justified his position better as when he describes the natures of different nations and ethnicities, when he talks about the relation between sex and procreation or when he claims that a union of Europe under traditionalist principles is not possible, but I will not further analyze those issues here.
  I still admire Evola as a person and I will come back to him sometimes in the future, but I was very disappointed by this particular work, I hope his other books are more like Revolt Against the Modern World.
• 
  Matt

  A brilliant critique of capitalism, economics and the modern world system from the political right. Evola's only failings are his occasional slip into racism, and sexism - though I'd be remiss to call him xenophobic - his views are complex and a reflection of his time. While his call for an imperium is perhaps off the mark, his analysis of the spiritual death of the modern world since the Enlightenment and the French Revolution is poignant. This book gave me much food for thought, and in the parts I found disagreeable and even reprehensible it forced me to dig deeper and ask myself why I felt that way, ultimately coming to a better understanding of my own views and an understanding of the fundamental deficiency and flaws inherent to democracy. Evola's analysis is sharp, barbing, and clear. His views are difficult to dismiss, and should not be ignored.
• 
  Khedher Lahssini

  هنا يأتي إيفولا في كتاب آخر ليعلن الحرب هذه المرة بشكل صريح عن كل الأفكار التي ظهرت بعد الثورة الفرنسية، بعد قراءة كتاب ثورة ضد العالم الحديث لن تجد خيرا من هذا الكتاب حتى تتزود لعدوك الذي يتجلى في الحداثة بالمعرفة اللازمة لمواجهته، يناقش فيه ايفولا التوتاليتارية والفاشية والماركسية مع مواضيع أخرى من وجهة نظر تقليدية، كتاب جد رائع.
• 
  Linus Lindeberg

  Mer politisk än Revolt Against The Modern World. Rekommenderar definitivt att läsa den först. Utvecklar Evolas syn om exempelvis statsskick, ideologier, och historia.
• 
  Jonathan Hockey

  This is in one part a revealing historical document of the post world war 2 ruins of European ideas and values, in another an early warning of what was logically inevitable to come for western society by following the path we did, and in a third aspect it suggests some ways and means of resisting this disastrous state of affairs. For those with their ideological blinkers on, or who have only learned of Evola second hand, they will come to this work rushing to the usual leftist battle cry judgments of things they don't understand and don't want to understand. But for the rest of us, there are a mixed bag of views in here that don't fit neatly with either right wing or left wing ideas as we have come to caricature them. He believes in and emphasises the importance of tradition, yes, but also based on community values, and he is very much against the profit motive of the selfish capitalism of today which he sees as just one aspect of the problem of the materialism of our time. He also promotes birth control as part of population control measures against the position of the Catholic Church. And hopes for a United Europe based on meaningful qualitative values to counteract, at his time, further US materialism and degeneracy and the red Machine of the Soviets.
• 
  Matti

  Evola is best left exploring the esoteric aspects of spirituality rather than publishing the same analyses as found by Guenon before him. This book has many redeeming aspects, yet also is very dry in many chapters. An uneven consistency is found throughout the book leaving it hard to mentally absorb.
• 
  Karpur Shukla

  It started off badly, tailed off a little in the middle, and the less said about the end the better. But other than that, excellent.
• 
  Z Ross

  Chapter 6: Work, The Demonic Nature of the Economy was my favorite part and easily the strongest chapter in the book. It has the most relatable content as well.
• 
  Raimonds Krumgolds

  Две книги неожиданно срифмовались. Первая, Размышления Марка Аврелия - блестящий образец римского стиля в лучшем смысле этого слова. Вторая - Люди и Руины Эволы. Пример многословных рассуждений, в том числе и об этом самом римском стиле.
  После кристально чистого, прозрачного текста императора-стоика, размышления Эволы оказалось немного трудно читать. Без отторжения, но с раздражением. Вполне умный человек, своеобразный взгляд на мир, но... с тем же Геноном и близко нельзя поставить.
  И только под конец, прочитав в приложении о "современных мифах" следующую фразу "помимо наплыва негров в студенческую среду, где они выделяются вызывающей наглостью и заодно с "протестантами" и "волосатиками" занимаются подозрительными делишками" я понял. В бароне Эволе, несмотря на весь его объём знаний о традиции, отсутствовал подлинный аристократизм. И всякий раз, когда он начинал писать о чём то более менее "актуальном", в нём моментально просыпался суетливый брюзга. На фоне Генона или великого Юнгера это смотрится особенно неприятно. Даже в либеральном по сути Ортеге-и-Гассете было гораздо больше истинного аристократизма.
  Да и по сути его книг, тот же Блок, всё сжато и лаконично сформулировал в первой главе Возмездия
  
  Но тот, кто двигал, управляя
  Марионетками всех стран, -
  Тот знал, что делал, насылая
  Гуманистический туман:
  Там, в сером и гнилом тумане,
  Увяла плоть, и дух погас,
  И ангел сам священной брани,
  Казалось, отлетел от нас:
  Там - распри кровные решают
  Дипломатическим умом,
  Там - пушки новые мешают
  Сойтись лицом к лицу с врагом,
  Там - вместо храбрости - нахальство,
  А вместо подвигов - "психоз",
  И вечно ссорится начальство,
  И длинный громоздко'й обоз
  Воло'чит за собой команда,
  Штаб, интендантов, грязь кляня,
  Рожком горниста - рог Роланда
  И шлем - фуражкой заменя...
  
• 
  Γιώργος Σταφυλάς

  Tεράστιο σε αξία ευσύνοπτο εγχειρίδιο για τον άνθρωπο που αναζητα κατι περαν της υλιστικής παρακμής που βιώνουμε σήμερα και που εχει ημερομηνια ορόσημο τον 1789. Οσοι σκεφτονται περαν των υλιστικών ιδεολογιων περαν του μαερξισμου και του φιλελευθερισμου που ειναι απλως οι δυο διαφορετικες οψεις του ιδιου νομισματος, οφείλουν να το διαβάσουν. Περήφανος που διάβασα αυτο το μέγιστο έργο δυο φορες μεσα σε δεκαπέντε μερες.
• 
  Brendan

  A thorough critique of the modern world, and an argument for a return to traditional values. I may not agree with Evola’s main thrust (especially when he uses the Protocols in getting his point across), but it is well written and well presented. The extensive introductory essay is also worth noting here; it is an excellent analysis of Evola’s political thought.
  
• 
  Radu

  A summary of Julius Evola's thoughts on the world after the Second World War. He mainly focuses on Italian geopolitics, his thoughts on the failure of Fascism and National Socialism, the Cold War conflict between capitalism and communism at the time and other issues that were present during the 50s and 60s towards the end of his life.
• 
  Oolalaa

  9/20
• 
  Shortsman

  Honestly a pretty varied book, with perspectives on a wide array of issues, all related to what could be called the revival of Indo European values and dominance.
• 
  Malte HIlbricht

  Evola bester man
• 
  Launceai

  I like his ideology and his type of writing.
• 
  Kjǫlsigʀ

  A definitively thorough diagnosis of the morally postapocalytpic waste following the most recent victory of spiritual dissolution against spiritual integrity.
• 
  Sápi Balázs

  Kiemelkedő munka. Kötelező olvasmány.
• 
  Emil Kovarcz

  Emberek a romok között.
• 
  IMPERIVM

  Decent analysis of modernity; noteworthy defense of warrior-ascetic values against liberal democrats.
• 
  Jack

  pretty bad