E.M. Cioran

[Malone]

I think Cioran means himself to be taken completely seriously.He dedicated his entire life to writing unfashionably negative philosophy,'eeking out a living' while he did so.I think if further proof be needed of Cioran's importance to Ligotti,then check the new interview where he states that he recently reread the whole of Cioran's opus.On a personal note,my favourite Cioran work is 'The Trouble With Being Born',a great collection of easily digestible aphorisms on the misfortune of birth.Highly recommended.

[dekadent666]

I have the same problem with Cioran that I do
with Heidegger, though ostensibly they have more to do with individual integrity than whether they really meant what they wrote or not. Cioran's temporary but very firm allegiance to the Iron Guard bugs me when I look at him as a person. Same with Heidegger's allegiance to the Third Reich which was, admittedly, longer lasting and the crucial difference being that Cioran apologized and Heidegger's only regret was that the Nazi death machine wasn't successful in exterminating the Jews.

Apart from all that, I still can only view him as a heavier version of Brother Theodore. There is an undeniable humorist in him that the more pathological and deadly serious nihilists do not have. That's just me.

[Malone]

To be fair to Cioran,I think he did genuinely regret his involvement in the Iron Guard,putting it down to youth and a Nietzschean desire to shake things up.If you read his notebooks,the memory of that period haunted him,which is more than can be said of Heidegger,as you say.

[bendk]

Thomas Ligotti has been reading E.M. Cioran for at least 25 years. With his recent reread of Cioran's work that he mentioned in his interview with Matt Cardin (possibly in connection with research for TCATHR?) his interest in the Transylvannian-born philosopher spans his entire career. The earliest reference that I can find in print is in a letter to Nyctalops #16 from 1981. This is the issue that contains his first published story "The Chymist." A year later, TL uses a Cioran quote to introduce the early tale, "Ghost Stories for the Dead" that originally appeared in Grimoire #2 in the Fall of 1982. Another Cioran quote in 1985 to introduce "Consolations of Horror" in Dark Horizons # 28 Spring 1985. In interviews, the book review of Anathemas and Admirations, David Tibet's mention of Cioran in e-mail correspondance with TL, and introductory quotes, Cioran's influence is clearly documented. (Also, Dr. Zirk said recently that TL mentions Cioran in his introduction to Topor's The Tenant. I still haven't received my copy.)

TL used the term "Gothic nihilism" to describe Cioran's philosophy. I can think of no better term to describe the writings of this philosopher from the land of Nosferatu. TL's work is infused with it as well.

"We may hide from horror only in the heart of horror."
Thomas Ligotti - "Medusa"

This quote from TL's "Cioran story" transcends his fiction and encompasses the philosophical approach that both he and Cioran have used to countenance the horror of everyday existence. They have both chosen this precarious life - or it has chosen them. Unwilling or unable to embrace the delusions that have comforted the majority of mankind, they tread the Darkness and chart its depths. They are cartographers of the Abyss.

	TCATHR The Conspiracy Against the Human Race

[Karnos]

Quote Originally Posted by dekadent666";p=&quot

I have the same problem with Cioran that I do with Heidegger, though ostensibly they have more to do with individual integrity than whether they really meant what they wrote or not. Cioran's temporary but very firm allegiance to the Iron Guard bugs me when I look at him as a person. Same with Heidegger's allegiance to the Third Reich which was, admittedly, longer lasting and the crucial difference being that Cioran apologized and Heidegger's only regret was that the Nazi death machine wasn't successful in exterminating the Jews.

I don't see life as a quarrel between "good guys" and "bad guys", but a conflict of interests, where morals don't have any objective existence at all and are played depending on convenience, so that is why I have no problems with Cioran being a member of the Iron Guard or Heidegger a closet Nazi, but then again there is a very strong Fascist blood line in my family, so that combined with my more naturalistic views of the world makes me immune to any political allegiance writers and artists I admire had during their lives, so that is why I enjoy of radical lefties and righties as long as their work is good.

One of my immediate ancestors was from the Mother Country, Spain. My great grand father was a Franquist and a member of the Blau Division, a unit made of free volunteers from Spain that fought alongside the Germans against Russia on the Eastern Front. He was a remarkable soldier and marksman (I inherited his war journal, it is an incredible read) and was awarded both the Iron Cross (the highest honor a soldier could obtain, reserved only to Germans, with just a few exceptions) and the German citizenship by Hitler himself, -I own the picture of the event- however he rejected it because he was “first and foremost a Spaniard”. This is one of the many interesting stories of this man and I in no way feel ashamed of having an ancestor who was a Franquist and a Nazi supporter (unlike quite a bunch of others), that didn’t stop him from being a perfect family man and an accomplished businessman. He died peacefully and with no regrets, and he wasn’t a monster like liberal media likes to portray these men... and "the good guys" of this global story also have a lot of skeletons and corpses they still need to be equally stigmatized for.


I recently finished reading Cioran's "On the Heights of Despair", what an amazing book that was.

[Parzival]

- Those who do not see how fake his later-stylistically brilliant-volumes are, have failed to understand Cioran. There is not an ounce of sincerity in them: the solitude, the misogyny, and the despair-these are are nothing but the masks of the reactionary. Yet it was not out of necessity, nor out of habit, or more likely out of malice that Cioran played the role of the writer "E. M. Cioran."

[waffles]

Counting the of Insomnia - Opinionator Blog - NYTimes.com

[Sand]

Found via the always resourceful Literary Saloon website, a translation of this review-essay by Fritz J. Raddatz about a book of Cioran's early essays, perturbed by his youthful "worship of infamy":

http://www.signandsight.com/features/2137.html

[bendk]

My apologies if this has been posted before. Chapter Five of Cioran's second book , The Book of Delusions.

--Documents

[Zingali]

My friend is addicted to EC. Wrote a tribute piece as an introductory way to introduce the work to new readers.

E. M. Cioran | Favorite Quotes