000			a
999			_c30499 _d30499
008			211022b xxu||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d
020			_a9780226106717
082			_a194 _bCIO
100			_aCioran, E. M.
245			_aOn the heights of despair
260			_bUniversity of Chicago Press, _c1992 _aChicago :
300			_axxi, 128 p. ; _c22 cm
365			_b29.00 _cUSD _d77.30
520			_aThis book saved my life." So recalls the Romanian philosopher E.M. Cioran about a book that meditates on madness and death, the absurdity of existence, and the agony of consciousness. Cioran finds in our darkest fears not only reasons to continue living but also the comic, absurd humor in doing so. This early work by Cioran, whom Susan Sontag calls "the most distinguished figure in the tradition of Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, and Wittgenstein," and Marc Fumaroli recently described as "a legend ... a master of French prose," portrays the philosophical mind in the crisis of its self-consuming fever. Born out of a terrible insomnia which Cioran characterizes as "a dizzying lucidity which would turn even paradise into hell," On the Heights of Despair was written in Romania in 1934 at the age of twenty-two. It presents us with the youthful Cioran, who described himself as "a Nietzsche still complete with his Zarathustra, his poses, his mystical clown's tricks, a whole circus of the heights." It also presents Cioran as a connoisseur of apocalypse, a theoretician of despair. For Cioran, writing and philosophy are closely related to physical suffering: both share the "lyrical virtues" that alone lead to metaphysical revelation. The result is a book that becomes a substitute for as well as an antidote to suicide. By enacting the struggle of the Romantic soul against God, the universe, and itself, Cioran releases a saving burst of lyrical energy that carries him safely out of his desperation. On the Heights of Despair shows the philosopher'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. Yet the bracing verve of Cioran's writing and his earthy good humor point toward the elegant stylist of later works. An exorcism of despair, On the Heights of Despair offers insight into the ironic anguish of this philosophical mind. It also gives readers a fascinating look at Cioran's early development, opening new perspectives on his evolution as a writer and thinker.
650			_aPhilosophy
650			_aLife
650			_aOntology
650			_aDeath
650			_aSkepticism
650			_aCynicism
650			_aPhilosophy, Romanian
650			_aAphorisms and apothegms
710			_aZarifopol-Johnston, Ilinca tr.
942			_2ddc _cBK