Emil M. Cioran
Paperback | Pages: 128 pages Rating: 4.2 | 4563 Users | 275 Reviews
Details Of Books On the Heights of Despair
| Title | : | On the Heights of Despair |
| Author | : | Emil M. Cioran |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 128 pages |
| Published | : | October 1st 1996 by University of Chicago Press (first published 1933) |
| Categories | : | Philosophy. Nonfiction. European Literature. Romanian Literature. Writing. Essays |
Explanation As Books On the Heights of Despair
Born of a terrible insomnia—"a dizzying lucidity which would turn even paradise into hell"—this book presents the youthful Emil Cioran, a self-described "Nietzsche still complete with his Zarathustra, his poses, his mystical clown's tricks, a whole circus of the heights."On the Heights of Despair shows Cioran's first grappling with themes he would return to in his mature works: despair and decay, absurdity and alienation, futility and the irrationality of existence. It also presents Cioran as a connoisseur of apocalypse, a theoretician of despair, for whom writing and philosophy both share the "lyrical virtues" that alone lead to a metaphysical revelation.
"No modern writer twists the knife with Cioran's dexterity. . . . His writing . . . is informed with the bitterness of genuine compassion."—Bill Marx, Boston Phoenix
"The dark, existential despair of Romanian philosopher Cioran's short meditations is paradoxically bracing and life-affirming. . . . Puts him in the company of Nietzsche and Kierkegaard."—Publishers Weekly, starred review
"This is self-pity as epigram, the sort of dyspeptic pronouncement that gets most people kicked out of bed but that has kept Mr. Cioran going for the rest of his life."—Judith Shulevitz, New York Times Book Review
Specify Books During On the Heights of Despair
| Original Title: | Pe culmile disperării |
| ISBN: | 0226106713 (ISBN13: 9780226106717) |
| Edition Language: | English |
Rating Of Books On the Heights of Despair
Ratings: 4.2 From 4563 Users | 275 ReviewsArticle Of Books On the Heights of Despair
Somewhat self-indulgent and unwittingly artificial (to an understated comic degree, be it consciously so or otherwise, which he will masterfully exploit in his more mature works), though interspersed with glimpses of sudden revelatory vision, almost religious in its constructed fervour - this is essayistic prose beginning to run amok with a poetic turn of phrase, these the impracticable ramblings of a Nietzschean dilettante in the particular intellectual atmosphere of Europe entre deux guerres.A little knowledge is delightful; a lot, disgusting. The more you know the less you want to know. He who has not sufferd from knowledge has never known anything.
This is an intense read that's a little hard to rate frankly. I suppose this book is depressing in a way but it's consoling too. But then I thought the same thing about Ligotti's "The Conspiracy Against the Human Race," so make of that what you will.At several points Cioran argues in favor of despair, in order to feel deep passion. To reach the heights of despair is almost akin to becoming Nietzsche's ubermensch. "An existence which does not hide a great madness has no value. How is it different
I keep returning to Cioran because I think, on the other side of his melodramatic griping, there are keys to living a fulfilling life. "Where does happiness begin? When we have persuaded ourselves that there is no truth. All salvation comes thenceforth, even salvation through nothing. He who does not believe in the impossibility of truth, or does not rejoice in it, has only one road to salvation, which he will, however, never find."For Cioran, the evolution of consciousness, which is unique to
I must be pretty miserable right now to be reading both this book and several introductions to Schopenhauer. I like Cioran a lot, but his earliest work is definitely not his best. It's kind of like a bunch of prose poems written by a very earnest youth with a penchant for melodrama. It isn't surprising that I find myself rolling my eyes at him pretty frequently. Still, I've been copying down passages every couple of pages, so there is some good stuff in here.
How does one become a pessimist?By reading your book, pal. You made Schopenhauer look like one of the Teletubbies. It was a fortunate thing that I didnt read this during my impressionable adolescence. I still cant rate it I think a 3-star rating is a good compromise. Many quotes that pulled on my heartstrings, and many chapters I already forgot, out of immunity to certain thoughts and dislike of overly melodramatic prose. Things that belong to the plane of ideas, naturally, since the kind of
I do think I may have finally found a philosopher whose work I can not only relate to but utterly enjoy. I blew through this one in under 24 hours, and thoroughly loved it. Like J.K. Huysmans, H.P. Lovecraft, and Thomas Ligotti (in fact, it was through Ligotti that I first ever even heard of Cioran), this E.M. Cioran transforms ennui, despair and cosmic pessimism into pure poisonous poetry. My only "problem" with the book was I had to keep pausing from my reading to jot down a line that I found
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