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onbesturklirasi's review against another edition
challenging
fast-paced
2.5
this was like reading through someone's tumblr account in 2014
erinlcrane's review against another edition
2.0
This was a weird read. I didn’t hate it or passionately dislike it. But it was very meh, I don’t feel like I got much from it. Some of the aphorisms struck me, but they didn’t usually feel revelatory.
I don’t think I minded the aphoristic style as much as his decision to just kind of vomit onto the page whatever thought came into his head. As far as I can tell that was a very conscious choice, but maybe not a good one, at least to me. I found it repetitive and it never really built to anything. Again, presumably a conscious decision on his part. Doesn’t mean it should have been published
I don’t think I minded the aphoristic style as much as his decision to just kind of vomit onto the page whatever thought came into his head. As far as I can tell that was a very conscious choice, but maybe not a good one, at least to me. I found it repetitive and it never really built to anything. Again, presumably a conscious decision on his part. Doesn’t mean it should have been published
orndal's review against another edition
funny
fast-paced
3.0
edgelord cioran. cringe cioran.
every single one of these aphorisms are thought already held by a sevely mentally ill 11 year old girl.
I read this when i first started dating my girlfriend. I'd brush my teeth first and go to bed, hunting for a silly aphorism to make her laugh when she came to bed. For this reason alone i'll probably pick up more of ciorans work.
some of our faves include:
Everything that is engenders, sooner or later, nightmares. Let us try, therefore, to invent something better than being.
For the victim of anxiety, there is no difference between success and fiasco. His reaction to one is the same as to the other: both trouble him equally.
Years without coffee, without alcohol, without tobacco ... Luckily, there is anxiety, which usefully replaces the strongest stimulants.
(((((((((((((((birth is a curse and existence is a prison and death is the best we can hope for and the worst thing that could ever be thought of is eternal life, satre refuses to answer my emails, they think im silly, its probably because im not really french, like come on guys i said the thing, existence is the worst thing that ever happened, growing old is immoral, but now that im old i no longer agree, come on guys im cool i promise))))))))))))))))
every single one of these aphorisms are thought already held by a sevely mentally ill 11 year old girl.
I read this when i first started dating my girlfriend. I'd brush my teeth first and go to bed, hunting for a silly aphorism to make her laugh when she came to bed. For this reason alone i'll probably pick up more of ciorans work.
some of our faves include:
Everything that is engenders, sooner or later, nightmares. Let us try, therefore, to invent something better than being.
For the victim of anxiety, there is no difference between success and fiasco. His reaction to one is the same as to the other: both trouble him equally.
Years without coffee, without alcohol, without tobacco ... Luckily, there is anxiety, which usefully replaces the strongest stimulants.
(((((((((((((((birth is a curse and existence is a prison and death is the best we can hope for and the worst thing that could ever be thought of is eternal life, satre refuses to answer my emails, they think im silly, its probably because im not really french, like come on guys i said the thing, existence is the worst thing that ever happened, growing old is immoral, but now that im old i no longer agree, come on guys im cool i promise))))))))))))))))
insecam's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
the best (and worst) crisis book - brutally funny and agonizingly true. i really adore Cioran's prose, truly the most alienated man to ever live? everything he experiences contradicts himself in the most mind-numbingly painful way possible. consciously being locked out of understanding anything about the Absolute, while still feeling a heavy call to Buddhism (but still convinced of the futility of both.) torn between the chasm of accepting withdrawal or accepting a love of life. convinced to condemning man as a plague or passively coming to terms with mankind's existence in a defeated and dramatic way (as he tends to do). Cioran truly never could find peace. but weaved in between agonizing aphorisms about the unbearable yearning to return to pre-birth/non-existence, is the occasional and completely sublime, BEYOND poignant aphorism that shatters reality. this is a crisis book, rummage through his ramblings and pull what you need
& the aphorism about the alienated gorilla is unparalleled
"i've merely taken a leap outside my fate, and now i don't know where to turn, what to run for ..."
"...'the feeling of being everything and the evidence of being nothing.' I happened across this phrase in my youth, and was overwhelmed by it. Everything I felt in those days, and everything I would feel from then on, was summed in this extraordinary banal formula ..."
& the aphorism about the alienated gorilla is unparalleled
"i've merely taken a leap outside my fate, and now i don't know where to turn, what to run for ..."
"...'the feeling of being everything and the evidence of being nothing.' I happened across this phrase in my youth, and was overwhelmed by it. Everything I felt in those days, and everything I would feel from then on, was summed in this extraordinary banal formula ..."