Tentacles Longer Than Night (Horror of Philosophy, 3) (Vol 3)

Probably the "lightest" of reads in the Horror of Philosophy trilogy, Tentacles Longer Than Night guides you through the process of reading (or misreading) horror as if it is philosophy. The book, like the other two in the series, does require an effort in reading (meaning a willingness to re-read and use a dictionary), but I found it extremely rewarding.I thought it was unique, clever, and insightful in how it takes the ideas that inform (or are created by) horror and uses those to reflect and illuminate the struggles we humans have faced when confronting the strangeness of our existence. The highlight for me was the fourth part of the book, "Meditation on the Weird." As an aside, someone really should give Thacker an award for his skills in coming up with excellent titles.Maybe, in summation, I can say I just loved that this book challenged me to think; I can say if you're a horror fan, enjoy media studies, philosophy, or just a good challenge this book (and series) is worth your time.

I cannot say enough about the flawless analysis and erudition in Tentacles, the third in a three volume set. . Then again Thacker's two previous offerings in this vein--In the Dust of This Planet and Starry Speculative Corpse--were equally scintillating. This is what should be taught in literature and philosophy courses because it is relevant to the modern age. The only things comparable in terms of idea density are the Edge series books by John Brockman. Needless to say, I own worn copies of every book mentioned in this review, and consult them regularly.

From the beginning of the book, the author already establishes an important distinction to his project: This is not a book about the philosophy of horror, but a book about the horror of philosophy. Through the book, the author shows a vast domain about the literature from all kinds of philosophy and all kinds of horror stories (books, movies, and others), which he does not use simplistically to establish show-off connections, but in order to create his own philosophy about the horror of philosophy, that which it can't comprehend, the wholly otherness to thought. An amazingly interesting book that works to move contemporary philosophy forward into interesting new directions.

This book had some interesting bits in it, but compared to the previous two volumes I felt like there was also a lot of filler, as if the author were inserting marginally relevant essays he'd previously written to bulk the book out. At one point he digresses for about 25 pages on the metaphor of the "body politic". What is the point of this digression? As far as I can tell, mostly to add about 25 pages to a book that's only 185 pages long (without "notes").

Great book thank you !

Olvídate de este libro si buscas un libro de texto o un catálogo de pensamiento filosófico del terror. No, este no es un libro de mera consulta. No, Eugene Thacker no pretendía escribir un macutazo.Este libro es un paseo por distintos autores que han tratado el horror en la filosofía. El mundo-sin-nosotros, el terror de lo inefable y desconocido, la solemnidad de la física allende las constricciones físicas y psíquicas del ser humano tienen cabida en esta obra amena y sin embargo concienzuda. En su seno contiene no sólo la filosofía tradicional, sino también expresiones artísticas y hechos de la cultura popular que, inopinadamente, cobran coherencia llevados de la mano de Thacker.