Define Books Supposing On the Heights of Despair
| Original Title: | Pe culmile disperării |
| ISBN: | 0226106713 (ISBN13: 9780226106717) |
| Edition Language: | English |
Emil M. Cioran
Paperback | Pages: 128 pages Rating: 4.2 | 4563 Users | 275 Reviews
Explanation In Favor Of 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
List Containing Books On the Heights of Despair
| Title | : | On the Heights of Despair |
| Author | : | Emil M. Cioran |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | First 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 |
Rating Containing Books On the Heights of Despair
Ratings: 4.2 From 4563 Users | 275 ReviewsWrite-Up Containing Books On the Heights of Despair
I can say I don't agree on most of the ideas in this book and I wonder how can someone live like this? Thinking no one ever does an altruistic gesture and vices being the best thing to have, otherwise you're boring?! I do understand him at some points, as pessimism and depression are opaque and subjective feelings you can hardly see through... Unbelievable but among all that pessimism I could find some optimism, paradoxically (as he keeps repeating! The beginning and the ending have kind ofCioran's particular brand of melancholy fatalism sours any sort of existential insight that can be had from this book.Laid out as a series of short, topical essays ranging in length from small paragraphs to a few pages, each is a snapshot or distillation of Cioran's views on despair, death, and lyricism.While he makes some lambent points, especially with concern to the often hubristic certitude of philosophers, he makes an even greater number of absurd points. All the while, his self-absorbed,
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
Before writing in French, this was philosopher Emil Cioran's first book published in Romania in 1934, when he was in his early 20s. The short pieces/essays that make up the book are full of great melancholy and bleakness, and it feels appropriate to read this when it's pitch black outside and pouring with rain, not on a nice summer's day. In Romania in the 1960s and 1970s, Cioran was seen as a mysterious, almost mythological figure. One would hear that such a person existed, but he became as
Don't be afraid to ask for a hug when you want one; you do matter (just saying). *shrugs :D
Not Walt Whitman... But CloseThis fictional memoir sums up a young mans view of being old. Being old means finally having to confront the end of oneself. Cioran does this as a self-professed therapeutic exercise. His translator calls the book a prose song of myself, thus connecting Cioran with Whitman. Perhaps; but could this be more than merely the sense that each is the opposite of the other?Whitman finds his joy and inspiration in his good health; Cioran revels in his physical suffering as
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