I also recommend reading The Last Hour of Gann by R Lee Smith. Looks like shitty alien erotica, but is something like 800ish pages of debate about what it means to be human. One of the most honest takes that I’ve ever read. Is like seven different genres.
It’s not precisely pessimism, but dances around the topic with the plot. (I’ve read Ligotti, but I think R Lee Smith conveys stuff in a way that is really clever. She doesn’t have answers for anyone, basically—I thought Ligotti was heavy handed.)
Meh_thoughts123 t1_jclney4 wrote
Reply to comment by Solobotomy in Schopenhauer and Hegel’s feud was metaphysical: a pessimist who recognised the unchangeable essence of the world and an optimist who saw human history as perpetual growth could never get along. by IAI_Admin
I also recommend reading The Last Hour of Gann by R Lee Smith. Looks like shitty alien erotica, but is something like 800ish pages of debate about what it means to be human. One of the most honest takes that I’ve ever read. Is like seven different genres.
It’s not precisely pessimism, but dances around the topic with the plot. (I’ve read Ligotti, but I think R Lee Smith conveys stuff in a way that is really clever. She doesn’t have answers for anyone, basically—I thought Ligotti was heavy handed.)