In the Dust of This Planet: Horror of Philosophy vol. 1
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Thacker's discourse on the intersection of horror and philosophy is utterly original and utterly captivating...In the Dust of This Planet is an encyclopedic grimoire instructing us in the varieties of esoteric thought and infernal diversions that exist for the reader's further investigation, treating us to a delightful stroll down a midway of accursed attractions that alone are worth the ticket of this volume. --(Thomas Ligotti, author of The Conspiracy Against the Human Race)
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The world is increasingly unthinkable, a world of planetary disasters, emerging pandemics, and the looming threat of extinction. In this book Eugene Thacker suggests that we look to the genre of horror as offering a way of thinking about the unthinkable world. To confront this idea is to confront the limit of our ability to understand the world in which we live - a central motif of the horror genre. In the Dust of This Planet explores these relationships between philosophy and horror. In Thacker's hands, philosophy is not academic logic-chopping; instead, it is the thought of the limit of all thought, especially as it dovetails into occultism, demonology, and mysticism. Likewise, Thacker takes horror to mean something beyond the focus on gore and scare tactics, but as the under-appreciated genre of supernatural horror in fiction, film, comics, and music. This relationship between philosophy and horror does not mean the philosophy of horror, if anything, it means the reverse, the horror of philosophy: those moments when philosophical thinking enigmatically confronts the horizon of its own existence. For Thacker, the genre of supernatural horror is the key site in which this paradoxical thought of the unthinkable takes place.
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Fascinating, easy to read, packed with information
19 Mar 2012
This is an extraordinary book. Thacker is obviously an expert on a wide variety of seemingly unrelated things: Western philosophy, extreme music, horror and science fiction literature and film, and medieval through modern religious tracts. This book takes all of this and synthesizes it into a series of extremely thought-provoking claims, centered around the idea that horror is a window into the unthinkable occulted reality. If you have an interest in horror or awe you'll probably find something interesting in here and you will definitely be confronted with novel thoughts and ways of thinking. As a purely philosophical work, it's great.
More than that, it is also a success as literature itself. Thacker establishes a sort of horror ambiance that seems only partially derived from the subject matter. He also openly, perhaps somewhat ostentatiously, relies on medieval scholastic structure for the book itself, organizing the material into "lectio," "disputatio" and "quaestio", but it works quite well, because these structures are designed around raising questions, highlighting contradictions and taking diversions rather than linearly building up a proof the way a modern philosophical treatise would.
In short, it's an utter success in both form and content. It's a quick read, but contains many large, difficult ideas but presents them in a fun way. I strongly recommend it.
More than that, it is also a success as literature itself. Thacker establishes a sort of horror ambiance that seems only partially derived from the subject matter. He also openly, perhaps somewhat ostentatiously, relies on medieval scholastic structure for the book itself, organizing the material into "lectio," "disputatio" and "quaestio", but it works quite well, because these structures are designed around raising questions, highlighting contradictions and taking diversions rather than linearly building up a proof the way a modern philosophical treatise would.
In short, it's an utter success in both form and content. It's a quick read, but contains many large, difficult ideas but presents them in a fun way. I strongly recommend it.
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