Le Contre-ciel (Tusk Ivories)

For this early 20th century French poet-philosopher, life, in its most dynamic sense, can only be experienced after the facade of self-identity has been systematically negated through a kind of metaphysical suicide. In Le Contre-Ciel, Daumal invites us, his readers, to go through this process of regeneration-through-negation with him in order to revive in ourselves a knowledge and understanding of our primordial sources. The author of Mount Analogue explores an uncharted path to the authentic self in this enlightening volume of poetic meditations. For Rene Daumal, true living can only be experienced after the facade of self-identity has been stripped away through a kind of metaphysical suicide. As he states in the second poem of this collection, “The individual mind attains its absolute through successive negations. I am that which thinks, not that which is thought.” In Le Contre-Ciel , Daumal invites his readers to venture with him on this Existential journey. Through philosophically contemplative poems, he acts as both chronicler and guide to the process of regeneration-through-negation in pursuit of genuine self-knowledge. More information to be announced soon on this forthcoming title from Penguin USA