On the Heights of Despair

by Cioran, E. M.; Zarifopol-Johnston, Ilinca

• ISBN13: 9780226106717
• ISBN10: 0226106713
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1996-10-01
• Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr

Summary

Born of a terrible insomnia"a dizzying lucidity which would turn even paradise into hell"this book presents the youthful 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 Despairshows 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 Emil M. Cioran (1911-1995) is the author of numerous works, including The Fall into Time, A Short History of Decay,andTears and Saints..

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Imagining Cioran On Being Lyrical

How Distant Everything Is! On Not Wanting to Live

The Passion for the Absurd

The World and I Weariness and Agony Despair and the Grotesque

The Premonition of Madness On Death Melancholy Nothing Is Important Ecstasy

The World in Which Nothing Is Solved

The Contradictory and the Inconsequential On Sadness Total Dissatisfaction

The Bath of Fire Disintegration On the Reality of the Body I Do Not Know On Individual and Cosmic Loneliness Apocalypse

The Monopoly of Suffering Absolute Lyricism

The Meaning of Grace

The Vanity of Compassion Eternity and Morality Moment and Eternity History and Eternity Not to Be a Man Anymore Magic and Fatality Unimaginable Joy

The Ambiguity of Suffering All Is Dust Enthusiasm as a Form of Love Light and Darkness Renunciation

The Blessings of Insomnia On the Transubstantiation of Love Man, the Insomniac Animal Truth, What a Word!

The Beauty of Flames The Paucity of Wisdom

The Return to Chaos Irony and Self-Irony On Poverty

The Flight from the Cross

The Cult of Infinity Transfiguration of Banality

The Burden of Sadness Degradation through Work

The Sense of Endings

The Satanic Principle of Suffering An Indirect Animal Impossible Truth Subjectivity Homo... Love in Brief Nothing Matters

The Sources of Evil Beauty's Magic Tricks Man's Inconsistency Capitulation Facing Silence

The Double and His Art Nonsense E. M. Cioran: A Short Chronology

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