Synopses & Reviews
E. M. Cioran confronts the place of today's world in the context of human history—focusing on such major issues of the twentieth century as human progress, fanaticism, and science—in this nihilistic and witty collection of aphoristic essays concerning the nature of civilization in mid-twentieth-century Europe. Touching upon Man's need to worship, the feebleness of God, the downfall of the Ancient Greeks and the melancholy baseness of all existence, Cioran's pieces are pessimistic in the extreme, but also display a beautiful certainty that renders them delicate, vivid, and memorable. Illuminating and brutally honest, A Short History of Decay dissects Man's decadence in a remarkable series of moving and beautiful pieces.
Review
"Anyone coming fresh to the field will be captivated by the richness, variety, humor, and pathos of a classic literature that, through a shared historical experience, transcends national and linguistic boundaries." Independent
Review
"To miss reading this book would be a deprivation." Los Angeles Times
Synopsis
“In the fact of being born there is such an absence of necessity that when you think about it a little more than usual you are left . . . with a foolish grin.”
Synopsis
Dissects Man's decadence in a remarkable series of moving and beautiful pieces. "To miss reading this book would be a deprivation."--Los Angeles Times E. M. Cioran confronts the place of today's world in the context of human history--focusing on such major issues of the twentieth century as human progress, fanaticism, and science--in this nihilistic and witty collection of aphoristic essays concerning the nature of civilization in mid-twentieth-century Europe. Table of Contents:
- Foreword
- Directions for Decomposition
- The Second-Hand Thinker
- Faces of Decadence
- Sanctity and the Grimaces of the Absolute
- The D cor of Knowledge
- Abdications
Touching upon Man's need to worship, the feebleness of God, the downfall of the Ancient Greeks and the melancholy baseness of all existence, Cioran's pieces are pessimistic in the extreme, but also display a beautiful certainty that renders them delicate, vivid, and memorable. Illuminating and brutally honest,
"When A Short History of Decay was published, it tended to polarize readers. Many dismissed it as overly morose and pessimistic, completely out of tune with the obligatory optimism of postwar European culture. Others praised it for precisely these reasons (in his review of the book, Maurice Nadeau proclaimed Cioran 'the one whose arrival has been prepared by all the philosophers of the void and of the absurd, harbinger of bad news par excellence'). The original impact of Cioran's book can still be felt in reading A Short History of Decay today."--Eugene Thacker, from his Foreword
Synopsis
“In the fact of being born there is such an absence of necessity that when you think about it a little more than usual you are left . . . with a foolish grin.”
About the Author
E. M. Cioran left his native land of Romania for Paris in the late 1930s, where he lived and wrote until his death in 1995. His many books include Anathemas and Admirations, A Short History of Decay, and The Trouble with Being Born.Richard Howard is the author of eleven books of poetry, including Untitled Subjects, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1970. He is the translator for more than 150 works from the French language. He received the American Book Award for his translation of Charles Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs du Mal.Eugene Thacker is the author of several books, including After Life and Horror of Philosophy. He teaches at The New School in New York.