On the Heights of Despair, Paperback

Descriere

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 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