Infinite Resignation

Insightful and accessible (in the best possible way that philosophy should be). Both Thacker’s original aphorisms “On Pessimism” and his accounts of “The Patron Saints of Pessimism” are wonderfully fun and well written, full of an authentic, witty bleakness that shrugs at existential truth and sighs with infinite resignation. (Sorry for that last bit. But it is aptly true.)Thacker, from the few books I’ve read that are connected to him, seems to be the crowning prince of pessimism today. 🤟🏻

From the first page “Pessimism is the humility of the species that has named itself, thought furtively stumbling upon its own limitations on black wings of futility. (And is this helpful...?)” If you are the type of person who wakes up with dread and a resignation to dread, you will enjoy this book. And you enjoy this paradox. It’s also really funny.

I'm not a philosophy student (rather, I studied in the sciences) so I don't have the background in Kant, Nietzsche, Kafka or other philosophic authors to compare this from a literary context. If you read this straight through, you'll find the author's ability to bring you into a "nice depression" is impeccable. The depression hit me like a ton of bricks. Can this, a self-hindrance book (which is, of course, the opposite of a self-help book) bring a new perspective on things? It lowers the volume on the positive aspects of life, no matter how superficial those positive aspects are to you. Is that useful? I don't know. I had to put the book down several times since I didn't want to put myself into the black hole that the author is in. But it's hard not to go there, at least in the first section of the book. One star deducted because a lot of the first section of the book uses quotations from other pessimistic (misanthropic + nihilistic) philosophers, so the author could have tried a little harder to make some original thought. Despite the horrendous depression it brings, it'd be 5-Star work, since it's definitely clear that this is otherwise a work of literary art. This is the first - and likely the last - self-hindrance / misanthropy tome I'll purchase for my personal library. I'm satisfied living in my bubble of happiness and reading books on being positive and having authors deliver manufactured self-encouragement. I'm OK with that. I'm probably not alone, since this is why authors from Napoleon Hill to Seth Godin (and yes, even Anthony Robbins) do so well commercially. The author is probably not (in his lifetime at least) going to see that same commercial success from this type of work. That said, it doesn't mean you shouldn't read it - again, it's literary art. Not to sound trite, but there used to be a skit on Saturday Night Live called "Debbie Downer" (I'm sure YouTube will provide great reference there). The author is an authentic, real-life version of that fictional character.

Really liked this one.

I dont know want to do this.

This reads almost like notes for several books instead of a one cohesive one: the aphorism are pithy and, indeed, pessimistic, but not early as clear as the aphorists that Thacker lists in his hagiographies of pessimism. Furthermore, some of them are clever at the first read but not particularly insightful after a few, which is someone one wants from darker aphorists. I kept wondering, despite liking Thacker's more systemic (or maybe, complete), works, why I wasn't just reading Schopenhauer, Cioran, Leopardi, Lichtenberg, or Nietzsche directly. The hagiographies are interesting, although they are wildly varied in-completeness and insight.

Inconceivably good. If you love pessimism and nihilism and melancholy and depression and all that positive stuff, you'll love this. I deem a book good by the amount of highlights in it and this one has sooooo many.If you enjoy this, you MUST read all three of John Tottenham's books: The Hate Poems, The Inertia Variations, Antiepithalamia: & Other Poems of Regret and Resentment.

If you want to read a real philosophical work on pessimism, read "Pessimism: Philosophy, Ethic, Spirit," by Dienstag. This book, unfortunately, is a collection of random musings. It's boring, unoriginal, and a lot of it is self-aggrandized stream of stupid consciousness.