Counter-Currents
  • Archives
  • Authors
  • T&C
  • Rss
  • DLive
  • Telegram
  • Gab
  • Entropy
  • Rss
  • DLive
  • Telegram
  • Gab
  • Entropy
  • Webzine
  • Books
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Donate
  • Paywall
  • Crypto
  • Mailing List
  • About
  • Contact
  • RSS
    • Main feed
    • Comments feed
    • Podcast feed

LEVEL2

  • Webzine
  • Books
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Donate
  • Paywall
  • Crypto
  • Mailing List
  • About
  • Contact
  • RSS
    • Main feed
    • Comments feed
    • Podcast feed
  • Archives
  • Authors
  • T&C
  • Rss
  • DLive
  • Telegram
  • Gab
  • Entropy
Print
June 7, 2011 1 comments

Beyond Good and Evil:
Bill Hopkins’ The Divine & the Decay

Revilo Oliver

1,082 words

We need to be reminded from time to time of the crucial problem that must be solved if our race is to survive, the Jews’ subversion and inversion of our morality that Nietzsche so clearly analysed in Zur Genealogie der Moral.[1]

A novel that marginally touches upon that problem was republished in England late last year. The author, who styles himself Bill Hopkins,[2] was one of the seven young Englishmen who, distressed by the suicide of the British Empire and moral squalor of the Little Britain, were collectively known as the “Angry Young Men.” Hopkins, to judge by his chapter in the manifesto entitled Declaration (London, 1957), was the most original and incisive thinker in the group, although the member of it who is now best known was Malcolm Muggeridge, who ended his career by making Christians purr over a book about Jesus they did not understand.

Also in 1957, Hopkins’s novel, The Divine and the Decay, was issued by a pusillanimous publisher, who promptly suppressed it and destroyed all unsold copies when the Judaized jackals of the press began to howl that it was—oh, horrors!—“Fascistic.” It has now been republished, with a new preface by the author and an introduction by Colin Wilson (London: Deverell & Birdsey, 1984).

The Divine and the Decay is unsatisfactory, both as a novel and as a discussion of the moral problem. The promise of the opening situation is not fulfilled. The protagonist, a highly intelligent and seemingly ruthless young man named Plowart, had joined, five years before the story begins, a middle-aged and well-known conservative, Sir Gregory Bourcey, in founding the New Britain League,[3] and they attracted so large a following that their first candidate, Plowart, is almost certain to be elected to the Parliament in a proximate by-election. Plowart, who sees the need for a radical renaissance of his decadent nation, finds that Sir Gregory, who was so useful in building up the party, is only a politician whose limited mentality does not go beyond an ambition to be the leader of just another political party that will play the game of corruption and national futility that is called “democracy.” Sir Gregory has therefore become an obstacle in the way of a radical restoration of British courage and will, such as is possible only under the command of a Führer. Plowart accordingly instructs some of his own devoted followers to murder Sir Gregory, and he prepares an alibi for himself by going to Vachau, one of the smallest of the Channel Islands, some distance from Guernsey.

The narrative opens with Plowart on his way to Vachau, where he will make himself conspicuous before the murder of which he will be the obvious beneficiary. The situation is obviously one pregnant with possibilities of both dramatic action and a psychological exploration of a man who has deliberately made his body subordinate to his will, and whose politico-social fanaticism is based on a justified contempt for ordinary mankind.

There is action and adventure, but a reader with exacting literary standards will be displeased, because the action depends almost entirely on the oddity of the place that Plowart has chosen for establishing his alibi. Vachau has a total of seventy permanent residents. Only three are cultivated and intelligent persons, and each of them is peculiar in his own way to the very limit of credibility. The most nearly normal is the adult but unmarried daughter of the absent Seigneur, to whom Plowart is, of course, attracted. There is a wealthy and highly intelligent Englishman who has stupidly married a libidinous, romantically self-deceiving, and profligate woman, and, seeking consolation in alcohol, has crippled himself and come close to madness. The wife’s paramour, although central to the plot of the story, is a mere ruffian. The rest of the inhabitants of the island are clannish peasants and most of them show the genetic deterioration that is popularly supposed to be the consequence of inbreeding in a small group. But much of the story is made possible only by the odd behavior of the insular peasants.

Plowart’s character is exhibited in detail and with some psychological skill. He certainly is no Übermensch, and his confidence in his own strength is something of which he has convinced himself by assertion even while his subconscious mind is aware that it is pretense. As a potential Führer, he is so flawed by several weaknesses that the reader takes it for granted that the New Britain League will never become politically formidable, even if Plowart survives and becomes its dictatorial master. Whether he survives or not, we do not know. The author has chosen to end his narrative with a question, in the manner of Stockton’s celebrated short story, “The Lady or the Tiger.”

What is important is that we are also left with the crucial ethical question posed by the assassination of Sir Gregory Bourcey. Readers who squawk that there can be no question because of the “sacredness of human life” disqualify themselves for serious thought on matters of political or historical moment.

Notes

1. There are several English translations of The Genealogy of Morals, the most fundamental of all of Nietzsche’s works. The two best known are by Horace B. Samuel and Francis Golfing. I have collated neither with the German text and so cannot express an opinion about their relative merits.

2. I do not know whether ‘Bill’ is the old and rare English name, derived from Anglo-Saxon bill, a falchion or halberd, which now survives as a name for a kind of pruning-hook and as a surname, or is the nickname that is accepted as a hypocoristic substitute for ‘William,’ although it probably arose from some confusion with the dialectical or colloquial ‘billy,’ which is still occasionally heard in the phrase “his billies and titties,” i.e., his brothers and sisters, although it is obsolete in the sense of ‘fellow, boon companion.’

3. You must not suppose that Hopkins intended to allude to any of the patriotic organizations that were active in Britain in 1957. There is no basis for the gratuitous suggestion by a gossiping journalist that Sir Gregory was modeled on Sir Oswald Mosley. It is true that Mosley, after his long persecution by the Jews and British traitors, so modified and compromised his former and sounder principles that many of his former adherents regarded him as an impediment to effective political action, but the situation and characters in the novel are entirely different.

Source: Liberty Bell, vol. 13, no. 4, December 1985, pp. 17–19.

 

Related

  • The Halifax Grooming Gang Survivor

  • Quotations From Chairman Rabble
    Kenneth Roberts: A Patriotic Curmudgeon

  • Mihai Eminescu:
    Romania’s Morning Star

  • Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World & Me

  • Murder Maps:
    Agatha Christie’s Insular Imperialism

  • Agrarian Populism & Cargo Cult Fascism

  • The de la Poer Madness:
    Before and After Lovecraft’s “Rats in the Walls”

  • Culture, History, & Metapolitics in Poland:
    An Interview with Jaroslaw Ostrogniew, Part 2

Tags

Bill Hopkinsbook reviewsfascismFriedrich NietzscheliteratureRevilo OliverSir Oswald Mosleythe Angry Young MenThe Divine and the Decay

Previous

« Remembering Bill Hopkins, 1928–2011

Next

Interview with Bill Hopkins »

1 comment

  1. Fourmyle of Ceres says:
    June 7, 2011 at 9:40 pm

    The wife’s paramour, although central to the plot of the story, is a mere ruffian.

    Bad Boys – 1
    Nice Guys – 0

    The cuckold is always the last to know.

    Nothing new here!

    What’s In YOUR Future?

    Focus Northwest

Comments are closed.

If you have Paywall access,
simply login first to see your comment auto-approved.

Note on comments privacy & moderation

Your email is never published nor shared.

Comments are moderated. If you don't see your comment, please be patient. If approved, it will appear here soon. Do not post your comment a second time.

Recent posts
  • Fundraiser Update, this Weekend’s Livestreams, & A New Way to Support Counter-Currents

    Greg Johnson

    2

  • Two Nationalisms

    Nicholas R. Jeelvy

    16

  • A Robertson Roundup: 
    Remembering Wilmot Robertson
    (April 16, 1915 – July 8, 2005)

    Margot Metroland

    8

  • Remembering Dominique Venner
    (April 16, 1935 – May 21, 2013)

    Greg Johnson

    4

  • I’m Not a Racist, But. . .

    Jim Goad

    35

  • The Father

    Steven Clark

    5

  • Counter-Currents Radio Podcast No. 335
    Dark Enlightenment

    Counter-Currents Radio

    5

  • Are We Ready For “White Boy Summer”?

    Robert Hampton

    30

  • Can the Libertarian Party Become a Popular Vanguard?

    Beau Albrecht

    17

  • Every Phoenix Needs Its Ashes

    Mark Gullick

    23

  • Counter-Currents Radio Podcast No. 334
    Greg Johnson, Millennial Woes, & Fróði Midjord

    Counter-Currents Radio

    1

  • If I Were Black, I’d Vote Democrat

    Spencer J. Quinn

    14

  • The Silence of the Scam:
    The Killing of Dr. Lesslie

    Stephen Paul Foster

    6

  • Proud of Being Guilty:
    Fighting the Stigma of Lawfare in Sweden & Winning

    HMF Medaljen

    6

  • The Halifax Grooming Gang Survivor

    Morris van de Camp

    22

  • Get on the Right Side of the Paywall

    Greg Johnson

    12

  • The Worst Week Yet:
    April 4-10, 2021

    Jim Goad

    13

  • Forthcoming from Counter-Currents:
    Jonathan Bowden’s Reactionary Modernism

    Jonathan Bowden

  • Remembering Prince Philip

    Nicholas R. Jeelvy

    16

  • Remembering Jonathan Bowden
    (April 12, 1962–March 29, 2012)

    Greg Johnson

    7

  • Today’s Livestream:
    Ask Counter-Currents with Greg Johnson, Millennial Woes, & Frodi Midjord

    Counter-Currents Radio

  • Paywall Launch, Monday, April 12th

    Greg Johnson

    10

  • Galaxy Quest:
    From Cargo Cult to Cosplay

    James J. O'Meara

    13

  • Biden to Whites: Drop Dead!

    Spencer J. Quinn

    22

  • Politicians Didn’t Invent Racial Divisions

    Robert Hampton

    7

  • London: No City for White Men

    Jim Goad

    51

  • Republicans Should Stop Pandering to Blacks

    Lipton Matthews

    18

  • Quotations From Chairman Rabble
    Kenneth Roberts: A Patriotic Curmudgeon

    Steven Clark

    6

  • Remembering Emil Cioran
    (April 8, 1911–June 20, 1995)

    Guillaume Durocher

    5

  • An Interview with Béla Incze:
    The Man Who Destroyed a BLM Statue

    Béla Incze

    15

  • Heidegger’s History of Metaphysics, Part Six:
    G. W. Leibniz’s Will-to-Power

    Collin Cleary

    12

  • The Importance of Survival Skills

    Marcus Devonshire

    22

  • The Oslo Incident

    Greg Johnson

    2

  • Mihai Eminescu:
    Romania’s Morning Star

    Amory Stern

    1

  • Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World & Me

    Beau Albrecht

    21

  • Counter-Currents Radio Podcast No. 333
    Greg Johnson, Millennial Woes, & Fróði Midjord

    Counter-Currents Radio

    5

  • The Worst Week Yet:
    March 28-April 3, 2021

    Jim Goad

    18

  • Murder Maps:
    Agatha Christie’s Insular Imperialism

    Kathryn S.

    29

  • A Clockwork Orange

    Trevor Lynch

    21

  • Easter Livestream:
    Ask Counter-Currents with Greg Johnson, Millennial Woes, & Frodi Midjord

    Greg Johnson

    1

  • Our Big, Beautiful Wall

    Greg Johnson

    4

  • Agrarian Populism & Cargo Cult Fascism

    Nicholas R. Jeelvy

    9

  • One Carjacking Embodies the New America

    Robert Hampton

    38

  • The de la Poer Madness:
    Before and After Lovecraft’s “Rats in the Walls”

    James J. O'Meara

    9

  • Requiem for a Jigger

    Jim Goad

    39

  • The Promise & the Reality of Globalization 

    Algis Avižienis

    17

  • When They Destroy Memorials, We Raise Our Own to the Fallen

    Hawkwood

    8

  • The Counter-Currents Newsletter, March 2021

    Greg Johnson

    3

  • Making Lions out of Lambs:
    A Response to Max Morton of American Greatness

    Spencer J. Quinn

    9

  • How the Coronavirus Took Over the World

    Veiko Hessler

    13

Recent comments
  • As far as I can tell, a conspiracy theorist is someone who thinks that those in power don't leave...
  • "If some anglo-saxons from the Antipodes can easily become 100% authentic Americans then what really...
  • Initially, I was amazed at the amount of space dedicated to someone who was totally irrelevant, as...
  • "Suppose the German Air Force saturated" Luftwaffe for sh*ts sake! Look, I don't expect from...
  • First, "I'm not racist, but...' Really annoying to hear that from anyone. I wonder if it's a desire...
Editor-in-Chief
Greg Johnson
Our titles
  • White Identity Politics
  • Here’s the Thing
  • Trevor Lynch: Part Four of the Trilogy
  • Graduate School with Heidegger
  • It’s Okay to Be White
  • Imperium
  • The Enemy of Europe
  • The World in Flames
  • The White Nationalist Manifesto
  • From Plato to Postmodernism
  • The Gizmo
  • Return of the Son of Trevor Lynch’s CENSORED Guide to the Movies
  • Toward a New Nationalism
  • The Smut Book
  • The Alternative Right
  • My Nationalist Pony
  • Dark Right: Batman Viewed From the Right
  • The Philatelist
  • Novel Folklore
  • Confessions of an Anti-Feminist
  • East and West
  • Though We Be Dead, Yet Our Day Will Come
  • White Like You
  • The Homo and the Negro, Second Edition
  • Numinous Machines
  • Venus and Her Thugs
  • Cynosura
  • North American New Right, vol. 2
  • You Asked For It
  • More Artists of the Right
  • Extremists: Studies in Metapolitics
  • Rising
  • The Importance of James Bond
  • In Defense of Prejudice
  • Confessions of a Reluctant Hater (2nd ed.)
  • The Hypocrisies of Heaven
  • Waking Up from the American Dream
  • Green Nazis in Space!
  • Truth, Justice, and a Nice White Country
  • Heidegger in Chicago
  • The End of an Era
  • Sexual Utopia in Power
  • What is a Rune? & Other Essays
  • Son of Trevor Lynch’s White Nationalist Guide to the Movies
  • The Lightning & the Sun
  • The Eldritch Evola
  • Western Civilization Bites Back
  • New Right vs. Old Right
  • Lost Violent Souls
  • Journey Late at Night: Poems and Translations
  • The Non-Hindu Indians & Indian Unity
  • Baader Meinhof ceramic pistol, Charles Kraaft 2013
  • Pulp Fascism
  • The Lost Philosopher, Second Expanded Edition
  • Trevor Lynch’s A White Nationalist Guide to the Movies
  • And Time Rolls On
  • The Homo & the Negro
  • Artists of the Right
  • North American New Right, Vol. 1
  • Some Thoughts on Hitler
  • Tikkun Olam and Other Poems
  • Under the Nihil
  • Summoning the Gods
  • Hold Back This Day
  • The Columbine Pilgrim
  • Taking Our Own Side
  • Toward the White Republic
  • Reuben
  • The Node
  • The New Austerities
  • Morning Crafts
  • The Passing of a Profit & Other Forgotten Stories
  • Gold in the Furnace
  • Defiance
Distributed Titles
  • Rss
  • DLive
  • Telegram
  • Gab
  • Entropy
Copyright © 2021 Counter-Currents Publishing, Ltd. Beyond Good and Evil:
Bill Hopkins’ The Divine & the Decay

Paywall Access





Please enter your email address. You will receive mail with link to set new password.