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blackoxford's review against another edition
4.0
The End of the End
Drawn and Quartered begins with an account of the Gnostic myth of the origin of mankind. Originally part of the heavenly host, human beings were unable to make up their minds whether to join the battle of the angels for or against God. For this indecision, we were banished to earth. The essential feature of our existence here is its lack of meaning, an appropriate punishment indeed, which we constantly attempt to escape by inventing stories like the Gnostic myt..
This “truth of no truth” is the ultimate truth, as it were. “Our only choice is between irrespirable truths and salutary frauds.” We must hide from the truth in order to exist at all. This is “an inhuman truth,” one that is both inhumane and beyond the ability of our species to comprehend it. So we do our best to avoid it. The principal tool of our self-delusion is history. Without history we are already in what theologians call the eschaton , the end times. “History is the obstacle to ultimate revelation.”
Francis Fukuyama was right therefore when he declared the End of History (in 1992), but not in the sense he imagined. Cioran anticipated his point, and radicalized it, long before Fukuyama had made it: “Henceforth there will be no more events!” they will exclaim” (in 1979). Fukuyama was referring to the inevitability of democratic capitalism as the future of the political world. Given subsequent events, Fukuyama was merely guilty of wishful thinking. Cioran got it right: it is when a political system looks most permanent that it is most vulnerable to being swept away. This is the truth hiding in Fukuyama’s error.
This is what the eschaton looks like. We inhabit it. We have always lived in it but have taught ourselves not to notice. This is an error whose truth we cannot conceive. In the midst of the end we are unable to appreciate it for what it is: the absence of any meaning we have been trying incessantly to impose upon the world. There is nothing more beyond this. Even the end has no meaning. “The truth is, history does not quite lack essence, since it is the essence of deception, key to all that blinds us, all that helps us live in time.” For Cioran , history is “the rush toward a future where nothing ever becomes again?” His suggestion is that we stop rushing; we have arrived.
Drawn and Quartered begins with an account of the Gnostic myth of the origin of mankind. Originally part of the heavenly host, human beings were unable to make up their minds whether to join the battle of the angels for or against God. For this indecision, we were banished to earth. The essential feature of our existence here is its lack of meaning, an appropriate punishment indeed, which we constantly attempt to escape by inventing stories like the Gnostic myt..
This “truth of no truth” is the ultimate truth, as it were. “Our only choice is between irrespirable truths and salutary frauds.” We must hide from the truth in order to exist at all. This is “an inhuman truth,” one that is both inhumane and beyond the ability of our species to comprehend it. So we do our best to avoid it. The principal tool of our self-delusion is history. Without history we are already in what theologians call the eschaton , the end times. “History is the obstacle to ultimate revelation.”
Francis Fukuyama was right therefore when he declared the End of History (in 1992), but not in the sense he imagined. Cioran anticipated his point, and radicalized it, long before Fukuyama had made it: “Henceforth there will be no more events!” they will exclaim” (in 1979). Fukuyama was referring to the inevitability of democratic capitalism as the future of the political world. Given subsequent events, Fukuyama was merely guilty of wishful thinking. Cioran got it right: it is when a political system looks most permanent that it is most vulnerable to being swept away. This is the truth hiding in Fukuyama’s error.
This is what the eschaton looks like. We inhabit it. We have always lived in it but have taught ourselves not to notice. This is an error whose truth we cannot conceive. In the midst of the end we are unable to appreciate it for what it is: the absence of any meaning we have been trying incessantly to impose upon the world. There is nothing more beyond this. Even the end has no meaning. “The truth is, history does not quite lack essence, since it is the essence of deception, key to all that blinds us, all that helps us live in time.” For Cioran , history is “the rush toward a future where nothing ever becomes again?” His suggestion is that we stop rushing; we have arrived.
clmassey24's review
3.0
Certainly not Cioran's most profound, thought-provoking, or clear work, however, as always with his work there are truly astonishing pieces of thought. Sentences crafted with such elegant pessimism that even the most ardent optimist might willingly contemplate.
_fitbrah_'s review against another edition
3.0
The long-form essays on the philosophy of history are really good and interesting, but the books ends with 70 pages of aphorisms that are irrelevnt and, in fact, read like the B-sides of Temptation To Exist.
Ultimately kinda lame. Cioran's written better books. Best part is when he trashes the french.
Edit: the essays are an interesting Coda to "Schimbarea la fata a Romaniei". If you care about how his opinion on patriotism, history and culture has changed in the intervening 40 years, read the first essays.
Ultimately kinda lame. Cioran's written better books. Best part is when he trashes the french.
Edit: the essays are an interesting Coda to "Schimbarea la fata a Romaniei". If you care about how his opinion on patriotism, history and culture has changed in the intervening 40 years, read the first essays.
blackoxford's review against another edition
4.0
The End of the End
Drawn and Quartered begins with an account of the Gnostic myth of the origin of mankind. Originally part of the heavenly host, human beings were unable to make up their minds whether to join the battle of the angels for or against God. For this indecision, we were banished to earth. The essential feature of our existence here is its lack of meaning, an appropriate punishment indeed, which we constantly attempt to escape by inventing stories like the Gnostic myth.
This “truth of no truth” is the ultimate truth, as it were. “Our only choice is between irrespirable truths and salutary frauds.” We must hide from the truth in order to exist at all. This is “an inhuman truth,” one that is both inhumane and beyond the ability of our species to comprehend it. So we do our best to avoid it. The principal tool of our self-delusion is history. Without history we are already in what theologians call the eschaton , the end times. “History is the obstacle to ultimate revelation.”
Francis Fukuyama was right therefore when he declared the End of History (in 1992), but not in the sense he imagined. Cioran anticipated his point, and radicalized it, long before Fukuyama had made it: “Henceforth there will be no more events!” they will exclaim” (in 1979). Fukuyama was referring to the inevitability of democratic capitalism as the future of the political world. Given subsequent events, Fukuyama was merely guilty of wishful thinking. Cioran got it right: it is when a political system looks most permanent that it is most vulnerable to being swept away. This is the truth hiding in Fukuyama’s error.
This is what the eschaton looks like. We inhabit it. We have always lived in it but have taught ourselves not to notice. This is an error whose truth we cannot conceive. In the midst of the end we are unable to appreciate it for what it is: the absence of any meaning we have been trying incessantly to impose upon the world. There is nothing more beyond this. Even the end has no meaning. “The truth is, history does not quite lack essence, since it is the essence of deception, key to all that blinds us, all that helps us live in time.” For Cioran , history is “the rush toward a future where nothing ever becomes again?” His suggestion is that we stop rushing; we have arrived.
Drawn and Quartered begins with an account of the Gnostic myth of the origin of mankind. Originally part of the heavenly host, human beings were unable to make up their minds whether to join the battle of the angels for or against God. For this indecision, we were banished to earth. The essential feature of our existence here is its lack of meaning, an appropriate punishment indeed, which we constantly attempt to escape by inventing stories like the Gnostic myth.
This “truth of no truth” is the ultimate truth, as it were. “Our only choice is between irrespirable truths and salutary frauds.” We must hide from the truth in order to exist at all. This is “an inhuman truth,” one that is both inhumane and beyond the ability of our species to comprehend it. So we do our best to avoid it. The principal tool of our self-delusion is history. Without history we are already in what theologians call the eschaton , the end times. “History is the obstacle to ultimate revelation.”
Francis Fukuyama was right therefore when he declared the End of History (in 1992), but not in the sense he imagined. Cioran anticipated his point, and radicalized it, long before Fukuyama had made it: “Henceforth there will be no more events!” they will exclaim” (in 1979). Fukuyama was referring to the inevitability of democratic capitalism as the future of the political world. Given subsequent events, Fukuyama was merely guilty of wishful thinking. Cioran got it right: it is when a political system looks most permanent that it is most vulnerable to being swept away. This is the truth hiding in Fukuyama’s error.
This is what the eschaton looks like. We inhabit it. We have always lived in it but have taught ourselves not to notice. This is an error whose truth we cannot conceive. In the midst of the end we are unable to appreciate it for what it is: the absence of any meaning we have been trying incessantly to impose upon the world. There is nothing more beyond this. Even the end has no meaning. “The truth is, history does not quite lack essence, since it is the essence of deception, key to all that blinds us, all that helps us live in time.” For Cioran , history is “the rush toward a future where nothing ever becomes again?” His suggestion is that we stop rushing; we have arrived.
epictetsocrate's review against another edition
4.0
Potrivit unei legende de inspiraţie gnostică, în cer s-a dat o luptă între îngeri, în care cei aflaţi de partea arhanghelului Mihail i-au învins pe cei ai Balaurului. Aceia dintre îngeri care, nehotărâţi, s-au mulţumit să privească au fost alungaţi pe pământ pentru a face aici alegerea la care nu se putuseră hotărî acolo sus; alegere cu atât mai anevoie de făcut cu cât nu păstrau nici o aducere-aminte despre luptă şi mai puţin încă despre atitudinea lor echivocă.
Începutul istoriei s-ar datora, aşadar, unui moment de ezitare, iar omul ar fi rodul unei şovăieli originare, al neputinţei de a fi luat o hotărâre înaintea izgonirii sale. Azvârlit pe pământ pentru a învăţa să opteze, el va fi osândit să făptuiască, să fie robul aventurii şi nu va fi în stare să-şi împlinească osânda decât atunci când îl va fi sugrumat pe spectatorul care zace în el. Şi fiindcă numai cerul îngăduie întrucâtva să fii neutru, istoria, dimpotrivă, va apărea ca o pedeapsă a celor care, înainte de încarnare, nu găseau temeiuri să se alăture unei tabere mai degrabă decât alteia. Iată de ce sunt oamenii aşa grăbiţi să-mbrătiseze o cauză, să se adune laolaltă, să-şi strângă rândurile în jurul unui adevăr. În jurul cărui fel de adevăr?
În budismul târziu, mai cu seamă în scoală Mādhyamika, se pune accentul pe opoziţia radicală dintre adevărul adevărat sau paramārtha, apanajul eliberatului, şi adevărul oarecare sau samvriti, adevăr „învăluit”, mai precis „adevăr al erorii”, privilegiu sau blestem al celui neizbăvit.
Începutul istoriei s-ar datora, aşadar, unui moment de ezitare, iar omul ar fi rodul unei şovăieli originare, al neputinţei de a fi luat o hotărâre înaintea izgonirii sale. Azvârlit pe pământ pentru a învăţa să opteze, el va fi osândit să făptuiască, să fie robul aventurii şi nu va fi în stare să-şi împlinească osânda decât atunci când îl va fi sugrumat pe spectatorul care zace în el. Şi fiindcă numai cerul îngăduie întrucâtva să fii neutru, istoria, dimpotrivă, va apărea ca o pedeapsă a celor care, înainte de încarnare, nu găseau temeiuri să se alăture unei tabere mai degrabă decât alteia. Iată de ce sunt oamenii aşa grăbiţi să-mbrătiseze o cauză, să se adune laolaltă, să-şi strângă rândurile în jurul unui adevăr. În jurul cărui fel de adevăr?
În budismul târziu, mai cu seamă în scoală Mādhyamika, se pune accentul pe opoziţia radicală dintre adevărul adevărat sau paramārtha, apanajul eliberatului, şi adevărul oarecare sau samvriti, adevăr „învăluit”, mai precis „adevăr al erorii”, privilegiu sau blestem al celui neizbăvit.
1sarah's review against another edition
medium-paced
3.0
"the trouble with being born" was way better in my opinion. Still good tho
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