A Short History of Decay

A Short History of Decay (1949) is E. M. Cioran's nihilistic and witty collection of aphoristic essays concerning the nature of civilization in mid 20th-century Europe. Touching upon man's need to worship the feebleness of God the downfall of the Ancient Greeks and the melancholy baseness of all existence Cioran's pieces are pessimistic in the extreme but also display a beautiful certainty that renders them delicate vivid and memorable. Illuminating and brutally honest A Short History of Decay dissects man's decadence in a remarkable series of moving and beautiful pieces.|E. M. Cioran (1911-1995) was one of Central Europe's most remarkable philosophers author of what William Gass called romances on 'alienation absurdity boredom futility decay the tyranny of history the vulgarities of change awareness as agony reason as disease'. A Romanian he lived much of his life in Paris and many of his major works were written in French including A Short History of Decay The Trouble with Being Born and Drawn and Quartered.|To miss reading this book would be a deprivation|Sheds remarkable light on the literature culture and politics of the region...anyone coming fresh to the field will be captivated by the richness variety humour and pathos of a classic literature that through a shared historical experience transcends national and linguistic boundaries.|A Short History of Decay (1949) is E. M. Cioran's nihilistic and witty collection of aphoristic essays concerning the nature of civilization in mid 20th-century Europe. Touching upon man's need to worship the feebleness of God the downfall of the Ancient Greeks and the melancholy baseness of all existence Cioran's pieces are pessimistic in the extreme but also display a beautiful certainty that renders them delicate vivid and memorable. Illuminating and brutally honest A Short History of Decay dissects man's decadence in a remarkable series of moving and beautiful pieces.