Yes, Richard, it made my day too when they replied this way. I wasn't expecting it. I wonder what sort of distribution and marketing it will get though.... I don't know Alethes or the International Institute of Arts and Letters (though name of the latter is impressive enough), I wonder how much publicity this reprint will get. We'll have to help them with own little efforts!
This book explains so much about technology and so "grundlich" - far more than the cleverest contemporary commentators, who mess around on the surface and have lost sight of the fire in all the smoke of details and "solutions". Unfortunately I also find reading this book very depressing - it only confirms that our developments can only end in catastrophe. The only question is the degree of that catastrophe and if humanity will learn anything by it. As EJ says, the Titans are only stopped by catastrophe. This will inevitably happen, and thank the gods that it will, for humanity's sake and the earth's. But the question remains if humanity will learn anything from it all. I am pessimistic - two world wars only promoted the perfection and faith in technology. Dare I be quite frank? I can only assume that the coming catastrophes will dwarf even the world wars. The elemental powers that FGJ talks about are only more enslaved and pent-up now than back then. When they find their freedom from man's chains, may the gods help us. Of the 4 elements it is Fire that is particularly worrisome. Water and Earth have been exploited and exhausted, but Fire has only been multiplied and distributed to every small corner of the world. It is momentarily contained - in refineries, nuclear and other power plants, factories, combustion engines, heating furnaces, the whole electrical grid. But fuel is everywhere, and increased in its volatility by the retreat of water and earth. If, WHEN, this fire gets loose, the "firestorms" of Ernst Juenger's Eumeswil may be the result. Even the summer fires in Greece, California, Spain etc are not unrelated - bad omens. I told my father recently that if I were to write a book about the last few centuries of civilization it would be called "The failure of humanity". Imagine: we come all this way over so many generations, with so much hope and so much sacrifice to realize a future utopia, only to arrive and discover that we have actually destroyed humanity, merely prepared the ground for someone else, be it the insect or the robot - or most likely, the robot-man of a Brave New World. Talk about a grand disappointment! All the more reason to become an anarch and find your own meaning in life beyond society's successes or failures. Forgive my pessimistic tone - but "succeed in playing life as a game and you will find honey in nettles and hemlock" (badly paraphrased from Eumeswil). Simon http://ernst-juenger.blogspot.com ________________________________ Von: Richard Krähenbühl <ri...@t-online.de> An: juenger_org@yahoogroups.de Gesendet: Mittwoch, den 21. Oktober 2009, 22:09:52 Uhr Betreff: Re: [juenger_org] Re-publication of The Failure of Technology You made my day, dear Simon. That's great news! FGJ was so ahead of his time. He seems to be catching up. I always found it such a pity that his works should have fallen into oblivion. Thanks once more. Rich ----- Original Message ----- >From: Simon > Friedrich >To: juenger_org@yahoogroups.de >Cc: Tobias Wimbauer >Sent: Wednesday, October 21, 2009 8:19 > AM >Subject: [juenger_org] Re-publication of > The Failure of Technology > > >Dear List, > >I eventually got > around to writing to the rights holders of F.G Jünger´s "Die Perfektion der > Technik" (The Failure of Technology) to persuade them to reprint this > magically insightful book in English. > >They replied that > Alethes Press, the publishing arm of the International Institute of Arts and > Letters, will shortly be publishing it! > >Excellent news - I am > re-reading it now and am again and again impressed by F.G.J´s deep insights > into the true foundations and consequences of technology. Insights which I > believe also prove that myth speaks about deeper realities than reason can > reach - he certainly came to much of his understanding through his deep > knowledge of Greek mythology, in particular of the nature of the > Titans. > >This book matches anything EJ wrote - and I say that as a very > devoted fan of EJ´s. > > Simon >http://ernst- juenger.blogspot .com > > > > >________________________________ I am using the Free version of SPAMfighter. >We are a community of 6 million users fighting spam. >SPAMfighter has removed 662 of my spam emails to date. >The Professional version does not have this message. > > > >
