About book The Conspiracy Against The Human Race (2010)
The balm of bleakness. As a depressive for most of my adult life, none of the ruminations and observations herein were particularly illuminating for me. Admittedly, the chapter on the illusion of the "Self" was bursting with fresh revelations that had never occurred to me with any clarity. Especially disturbing was the way Ligotti managed to illustrate this idea in concordance with recent developments in neuroscience.The book is paradoxically comforting to read, almost joyful in its turns of phrase that so effectively outline the darkest truths of existence. A truly sublime work of "sublimation", as the term is employed in the context of this work. I do have one disappointment to express. Ligotti seems to assume that our consciousness forces us to seek "meaning" in our lives, thus sparking the great tragedy of the human condition. What he never addresses is the concept of "meaning" itself in relation to all of the other illusions that conspire against the human race. Isn't this nebulous sense of "meaning" just another hobgoblin of our consciousness? Why should we pay it any mind?The obvious answer is that the avoidance of meaning-seeking is impossible. I'm not so sure. Recently, in one of my melancholic depressive funks, I appealed to my father to explain what his interpretation of the "meaning" of life could be. My father, lucky bastard, is by no means inclined to philosophical brooding or long periods of introspection. And yet his answer was just as profound as anything Ligotti espouses: Why does there have to be a purpose to life? This book had come so highly recommended to me that I was almost certain it would blow me away. That was not the case.It's not a bad book; it's not poorly written, nor does it fail to give a decent representation of pessimism. Perhaps to a complete layman it might have a more ground-breaking effect, but beyond the nice prose and the cool tidbits about other pessimists it didn't do much for me. By the time I reached the half-way point I was half-asleep. I wanted to be horrified and depressed; instead I just felt bored. However, I'd find myself at odds recommending this to anyone, because this doesn't do much as an "intro." Ligotti kind of takes you knowing what he's talking about for granted, so I can imagine someone who has no interest in "buying into" pessimism remaining fairly unconvinced, and quite disappointed with their purchase. But maybe he's not trying to sell pessimism to anyone. That's the thing: I'm not really sure what The Conspiracy Against The Human Race is intended to be. I really want to say it. Should I say it? I found the book - at least subjectively - to be... MALIGNANTLY USELESS.
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Well written paean to pessimism, a rare work that braves an odyssey into a philosophy of horror.
—Juliet
I have just finished translating this book to Persian.
—Etcelym
