A Short History of Decay

by E. M. Cioran, Richard Howard (Translator), Eugene Thacker (Foreword by)

Overview

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 Décor 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

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781611457360
Publisher:	Arcade
Publication date:	11/13/2012
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	200
Sales rank:	271,331
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 5.60(h) x 0.70(d)

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.

Editorial Reviews

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

To miss reading this book would be a deprivation.

Los Angeles Times