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EN LAS CIMAS DE LA DESESPERACION by CIORAN…
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EN LAS CIMAS DE LA DESESPERACION (original 1934; edition 2011)

by CIORAN E. M.

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
632736,720 (3.92)17
Born of a terrible insomnia "a dizzying lucidity which would turn evenparadise 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""… (more)
Member:aldoleo2
Title:EN LAS CIMAS DE LA DESESPERACION
Authors:CIORAN E. M.
Info:Tusquets (2011), Paperback
Collections:Your library
Rating:****
Tags:default

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On the Heights of Despair by E. M. Cioran (1934)

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» See also 17 mentions

English (5)  Spanish (1)  Italian (1)  All languages (7)
Showing 5 of 5
Ebbro d'eterno, attratto dall'illimitato, scivolo attraverso gli spazi come un sole, e mi lancio per l'immensità con la levità di una illusione e la limpidezza di un sorriso, per poi disperdermi in un niente soffuso di terso azzurro e trascendenze di nubi.
(141)

Ignoro totalmente perché bisogna fare qualcosa su questa terra, perché bisogna avere amici e aspirazioni, speranze e sogni. Non sarebbe mille volte preferibile ritirarsi in disparte dal mondo, dove non giungesse neppure l'eco del suo frastuono e delle sue complicazioni?
(18)

Al culmine della disperazione, solo la passione dell'assurdo può rischiarare di una luce demoniaca il caos.
(21)

Ora, poiché non c'é salvezza né nell'esistenza né nel nulla, che vada in rovina il mondo con tutte le sue leggi eterne.
(41)

Una constatazione che verifico, con mio grande rammarico, a ogni istante: sono felici solo coloro che non pensano mai, vale a dire coloro che pensano giusto il poco che basta per vivere.
(56)

Quanto a me, dò le dimissioni dall'umanità.
(57)

Non capisco perché dovrei continuare a vivere nella storia, condividere gli ideali della mia epoca, preoccuparmi della cultura o dei problemi sociali. ... La storia va superata.
(80)

La vera conoscenza è la tenebra assoluta. Rinuncerei a tutti i problemi senza sbocco in cambio di un'ingenuità dolce e incosciente.
(92)
- Baudelaire -

La bellezza non salverà certo il mondo, ma avvicinerà più facilmente alla felicità quanti s'incammineranno sulla sua strada.
(135)
- Dostoevskij - ( )
  NewLibrary78 | Jul 22, 2023 |
No sé si el sistema de pensamiento de Cioran pueda calificarse como estrictamente filosófico. Me doy cuenta de que, en muchos fragmentos, se contradice bastante. Sin embargo, sí puedo ver a Cioran como a un extraordinario prosista y ensayista, hasta poeta. Cioran disecciona el dolor y la infelicidad humanas la soledad, desde su exaltada subjetividad, como lo hacen los mejores poetas. Este libro puede leerse como las breves y enrarecidas entradas de diario de un filósofo adolescente, harto de la academia y la hipocresía, de la insensibilidad ante el dolor tanto ajeno como propio. Es tan pesimista y deprimente que reconforta de una forma muy muy extraña. ( )
  LeoOrozco | Feb 26, 2019 |
This is my first exposure to Cioran, and he has enough of an arresting style that I plan to check out more of his books. The adolescent despair on display here charmed me for a while, but by the end of the (quite short) book I was getting tired of it. I did find Cioran to be compulsively readable and adorably misanthropic, and I look forward to reading some of his more mature work. ( )
  breadhat | Jul 23, 2013 |
What a waste of a good prose style! Cioran is a repetitive farting windbag of nihilism and misanthropy. I've been through too much suffering to be a nihilist anymore.

I could not even recommend this to angsty adolescents to distract them from misinterpreting Nietzsche. Those who might truly sympathize with it are those who have undergone major depression, and to give them a work so encouraging of death would be an act of criminal negligence. Perhaps in its own circumventing way, this book affirms one's personal meaning for existence. ( )
1 vote HadriantheBlind | Mar 30, 2013 |
Titled aphorisms, with "Introduction: Imagining Cioran" by the brilliant translator. ( )
  keylawk | Dec 30, 2012 |
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Perché non possiamo restare chiusi in noi stessi?
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Born of a terrible insomnia "a dizzying lucidity which would turn evenparadise 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""

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