The New Gods

By: E. M. Cioran

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Synopsis: Dubbed OC Nietzsche without his hammerOCO by literary critic James Wood, the Romanian philosopher E. M. Cioran is known as much for his profound pessimism and fatalistic approach as for the lyrical, raging prose with which he communicates them. Unlike many of his other works, such as "On the Heights of Despair" and "Tears and Saints," "The New Gods" eschews his usual aphoristic approach in favor of more extensive and analytic essays. aReturning to many of CioranOCOs favorite themes, "The New Gods "explores humanityOCOs attachment to gods, death, fear, and infirmity, in essays that vary widely in form and approach. In OC PaleontologyOCO Cioran describes a visit to a museum, finding the relatively pedestrian destination rife with decay, death, and human weakness. In another chapter, Cioran explores suicide in shorter, impressionistic bursts, while OC The DemiurgeOCO is a shambolic exploration of manOCOs relationship with good, evil, and God. All the while, "The New Gods "reaffirms CioranOCOs belief in OC lucid despair, OCO and his own signature mixture of pessimism and skepticism in language that never fails to be a pleasure. Perhaps his prose itself is an argument against CioranOCOs near-nihilism: there is beauty in his books. "