Christopher Spranger

Ugh. How did he get this published? I don't see any comedy at all, unless unrelenting depression is supposed to be funny. It's not, actually, a depressing book - because there's no hook, no connection to it at all, so the parade of nastiness didn't really touch me. It consists of a section of short bits - one or two lines - like quotes, but unattributed so I suppose they're this author's thoughts. They're all depressed and attempting to depress - how death is the only real thing, suicide is a good idea, and pain is the only real sensation, everything else is imaginary and anyone who thinks they've felt anything pleasant is deluding themselves. Ew. Many of these short bits are rather obscure - either he's using words I don't know, or he's using the wrong words (and I've got a very good vocabulary. I didn't look anything up because I didn't care enough). Then a second section of slightly longer bits - half a page up to two pages - of very much the same sort of stuff, just longer. I did read all of it, but _only_ because it was an (ancient) ER book. I have no idea why I requested this, let alone why I got it. I'm very glad I've finished reading it so now I can get it out of my house.… (more)

Given the information overload that we experience on a daily basis, where we fall into the trap of thinking more is always better, it is extraordinarily refreshing to read well-crafted aphorisms and short essays that encapsulate the human condition with eloquence and elegance. Christopher Spranger does just that in "The comedy of agony: a book of poisonous contemplations". Granted, Spranger is not the first to write about the misery of the human condition. Much of what he laments has been the subject of other writers' sentences. But rarely has anyone described so succinctly and accurately the reasons for our tears.

Since the book is only 139 pages, it is easy to read it in one sitting. But these aphorisms are so well-crafted that it is more appropriate to read one and mull over it for hours, days, even weeks - and in doing so, one finds innumerable layers of ideas captured by a few beautiful sentences. That is, I believe, the point of this work: to make one think. As Spranger writes, "The headache is Nature's none too subtle way of informing the man unaccustomed to reflect of what having a brain feels like." A recurring theme throughout the work is not only that we have forgotten what it is to think, but that we would try anything to avoid the possibility of having to do so. By writing in aphorisms, which require deep reflection in order to be understood, he is challenging us to use our minds. Even the seemingly blasphemous lines about the divine should not be taken at face value, but rather given deeper consideration: what does our understanding of the Divine say about us? How could we come up with such a wicked idea, and name Him God? Could we dare think of Him in some other way?

Some reviewers have condemned this work as misanthropic. I would, rather, say that it is honest. When Spranger writes, "The most precious possession any person can have is the ability to delude himself", he is not being misanthropic. He is, rather, helping us grapple with what we deep down really know - that no matter how many self-help books we read, and how much we lie to ourselves, this life is not one of sweetness and light, where everyone rides off into the sunset with the perfect partner, to live happily ever after. Unfortunately, in our material culture, we believe that we can create such a life if we just buy the right things: the right electronics, the right information, the right pharmaceuticals. Spranger thus reads like a voice crying out in the wilderness, trying to call our attention to what our lives really are. His descriptions of the human condition are none too pretty. Considering the mountains of tripe published every day, Spranger brings us something that few other authors do - the truth. Perhaps we will hate him for it. We will especially hate him because he wants us to think, which is something nearly verboten in this world. I think Spranger would be pleased at the prospect that some readers will disagree with what he has to say - merely because they would have to think in order to do so.

I highly recommend this work, not only because it promotes thinking, reflection, and contemplation, but also because it is the sort of work one can return to again and again, and always find something new written between the lines.… (more)