Like Leo Tolstoy's "War and Peace", the sheer volume of Oswald Spengler's "The Decline of the West" makes one wonder just how many of those who bought the book actually read it.
However, unlike "War and Peace", which could perhaps be summed up in just five words - "Everyone is sad; it snows" - the complexity and erudition, to say nothing of the apocalyptic views expressed in "The Decline of the West" ("Der Untergang des Abendlandes") draws one in.
Remember the good old days, when predictions that "the end is nigh" were seen only on sandwich boards, and the doom-mongers who carried them were easy enough to ignore. If only things had stayed so simple.
The sandwich boards have mostly gone and the world is still here, but the gloomy predictions keep coming, and not all of them are based on creative interpretations of religious texts. Scientists, historians and politicians alike have begun to warn that Western culture is reaching a critical juncture. Is it finally time to read "The Decline of the West"?
Its two volumes, "Form and Actuality" and "Perspectives of World-History", are not an easy read, but this being perhaps the coldest winter I've ever lived through at "Riverbend" which I'm spending sitting by the fireplace, it may be as good a time as any to make a start on them.
P.S. A kindly soul, who identifies himself only as "Raffetz", undertook the truly heroic task of creating an audiobook of Spengler's book. To access it, click here and follow the many-hour-long instalments shown in the right-hand margin. And don't forget to give "Raffetz" the thumb-up sign.
