{"product_id":"tears-and-saints-9780226106724","title":"Tears and Saints","description":"\u003cp\u003eBy the mid-1930s  Emil Cioran was already known as a leader of a new generation of politically committed Romanian intellectuals. Researching another  more radical book  Cioran was spending hours in a library poring over the lives of saints. As a modern hagiographer  Cioran \"dreamt\" himself \"the chronicler of these saints falls between heaven and earth  the intimate knower of the ardors in their hearts  the historian of Gods insomniacs.\" Inspired by Nietzsches Beyond Good and Evil  Cioran \"searched for the origin of tears.\" He asked himself if saints could be \"the sources of tears better light.\"  \"Who can tell?\" he wrote in the first paragraph of this book  first published in Romania in 1937. \"To be sure  tears are their trace. Tears did not enter the world through the saints; but without them we would never have known that we cry because we long for a lost paradise.\" By following in their traces  \"wetting the soles of ones feet in their tears \" Cioran hoped to understand how a human being can renounce being human. Written in Ciorans characteristic aphoristic style  this flamboyant  bold  and provocative book is one of his most importantand revelatoryworks.  Cioran focuses not on martyrs or heroes but on the mysticsprimarily femalefamous for their keening spirituality and intimate knowledge of God. Their Christianity was anti-theological  anti-institutional  and based solely on intuition and sentiment. Many  such as Catherine of Siena  Teresa of Avila  and Saint John of the Cross  have produced classic works of mystical literature; but Cioran celebrates many more minor and unusual figures as well.  Following Nietzsche  he focuses explicitly on the political element hidden in saints lives. In his hands  however  their charitable deeds are much less interesting than their thirst for pain and their equally powerful capacity to endure it. Behind their suffering and their uncanny ability to renounce everything through ascetic practices  Cioran detects a fanatical will to power.  \"Like Nietzsche  Cioran is an important religious thinker. His book intertwines God and music with passion and tears. . . . Tears and Saints has a chillingly contemporary ring that makes this translation important here and now.\"Booklist\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45279690031157,"sku":"ByrdShop_0226106721","price":90.97,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780226106724.jpg?v=1780606548","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/tears-and-saints-9780226106724","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}