History and Utopia

Cioran transcends the human mind. Cioran is a case. A case which originated in Transilvania, near Sibiu (Rasinari). Growing up surrounded by religous elements (his father was an orthodox priest) and in the tumultous political scene of '30 in Romania, Emil was early age influenced by the most bizzare things: 1) being a kid, he was playing soccer with human skulls 2) when he is 14 he gets angry with his mom, and says to her " I wish you hadn't given birth to me". He is part of a top elite romanian philosophers generation, together with Constatin Noica, Mircea Eliade ,and Petre Tutea. Cioran moves to Paris after publishing 5 books in Romania. 10 years after, he writes his "Treatise of decomposition" in french, for which he receives the prize from the French Academy for the most promising french !!! writer. He refuses the prize, invoking the very essence of his book. He could not receive a prize after writing a book like "Treastise of decomposition". A crazy gesture of anguish and youth, as he declares decades later. He writes 10 more books in french.This book is a delightful, thought-provoking journey from the simple and ordinary questions of existence, to the most intense and shivering forms of lucidity in analyzing culture, society,and history. His reply-letter to his friend Contantin Noica is really moving, displaying a well anchored sense of reality. The letter presents his opinion on comparison between societies. Cioran is more lucid than the lucidity itself :).I would highly recommend this book to all the thought-consumer beings out there.

In this book Cioran continues to devalop his peculiar philosophy of despair. He focuses here on human obsession with history. He somewhat confirms Joyce's vision of history as a nightmare from which one wants to awake. He also knows that Utopia is - in translation from its Latin origin -a place that is nowhere. Once more Cioran is great. One more must-read for all fans of "Tears and Saints" and "Anathemas and Adirations"