The Last Messiah by Peter Zapffe-ESSAY REVIEW

In this video I discuss Peter Zapffe's famous essay, The Last Messiah.
Leave your comments below.
My personal website: www.jamesflynn.org/
#peterzappfe #antinatalism #pessimism #zapffe

[@shanesonn]

Hey James, I really like your book reviews. I hope you wish to do more of them especially with these antinatalist viewpoints.

[@AuthorJamesFlynn]

Thanks for watching, Shane.

[@Dougbrown1947]

Hi James, Thank you for your insightful presentation of Peter Zapffe's philosophy. Not for the faint of heart! I've been aware of him for a long time but never explored him in depth. After recently reading Thomas Ligotti's book, which you mentioned, "The Conspiracy Against the Human Race," I really got me interested in Zapffe's philosophy. So, I appreciate your inspiration to pursue a further study of Zapffe. Thanks! Doug Brown.

[@AuthorJamesFlynn]

Thanks for watching, Doug. It’s certainly a dark philosophy, but I respect the honesty of it.

[@ArnoldTohtFan]

I feel that all the wisdom of the great pessimistic authors is captured beautifully in an episode of the X-Files from its sixth season. The episode _Tithonus_ is centred around the character Alfred Fellig, a 19th century man who works as a crime scene photographer in the present day. He became immortal after escaping a close brush with death, and is now desperately trying to capture death on film, so that he can look into death's face and die himself. I can't think of a more appropriate profession for an immortal man than photography, tying in as it does with the Victorian practice of photographing the dead. The highlight of the episode is the very profound and incredibly sad exchange between Scully and Fellig in the darkroom of his decrepit apartment, on the human condition and the inevitable decay of all things. The character is played exquisitely with a palpable world-weariness by the late Geoffrey Lewis in one of the best television performances I've ever seen. It's definitely worth a look, and it's an episode that anyone can easily watch without having to understand the wider mythology of the show.

[@AuthorJamesFlynn]

I’ll watch that, I think. I’m sure I can find it here on KZbin. Thanks Mr Spasticus.

[@Andreas-hp3se]

Discovering Zapffe for me was a huge deal. I will say that it is a stronger essay in its native Norwegian but I'm glad there is a good English translation. Thank you for your review James

[@AuthorJamesFlynn]

Thanks for watching, Andreas.

[@JoshuaFernandez11]

Enjoying your book reviews. Im using your channel as a sort of stepping off point for a few books i had backed up on my goodreads. Your channel helps a ton thanks.

[@AuthorJamesFlynn]

Glad to be of service. Happy reading.

[@olegwiththeknowledge1729]

Hi James, I read Zapffe as a young boy in school. I lived in a small village in northern Norway where there was a Zapffe cult for a brief period. All the children was thouroughly educated in understanding life as suffering and we where told to practice letting go of our anchoring amongst other things. Today most of us children have left this village and went on to live our lives. But once every third year we meet in Oslo (the capital) and every year there are fewer and fewer of us. This is proof that Zapffes philosophy really gets the job done if started really early in life...

[@AuthorJamesFlynn]

You mean, people are committing suicide?

[@burriedabove]

@@AuthorJamesFlynn sounds like that’s what he means

[@ainslie187]

In my view physical existence is paradoxical to its core. Because of this there is no lasting satisfaction to be found on Earth; turning toward spiritual pursuits seems the only chance for reaching enlightenment or transcendence precisely because you stop looking outside for comfort and instead have become still and silent- turning inward. What freaks me out is not that life is pointless, but that I may have to reincarnate forever.

[@ikechukwuokocha6830]

I fear reincarnation a lot too, the idea of living continuously in a loop without the thought of your previous lives. If reincarnation is true, was I a tree, an insect, a bird, a fish, etc...in my past lives? Did I suffer miserably? Will I also suffer more miserably in my future lives? I hope death is final.

[@FactsCountdown]

​@@ikechukwuokocha6830 reincarnation is not true, it's just imaginary concept created by humans imagination. Nobody has a proff that reincarnation has ever happened.

[@pavelhanek9790]

Never have heard the deer antlers analogy when it comes to consciousness. Interesting

[@Svankmajer]

Nice review! About the writing style being too technical and academic.. which translation did you read? There's two different ones floating around. One by Gisle Tangenes, and the other by Sigmund Kvaløy. I'm Norwegian and have read it in the original... I something think Tangenes uses some technical language sometimes, when its not needed, so I'd recommend Kvaløy's. I've also talked to others who has read both who prefer Kvaløy's. I personally love the essay, and it means a lot to me. Not sure I see his views of suicide the same way, but I probably should re-examine that part. It should also be noted the essay was the interlude to his big philosophical book "On The Tragic", which develops further on these ideas. This is a huge book, but never translated to English, unfortunately, despite many requests.

[@ruanstrydom7533]

Great review , James.I am a big fan of your channel.I have recently read Thomas Ligotti's book "conspiracy against the human race" and in the book he touches on Zapffe's work.Would you say that reading Ligotti's book is sufficient enough or does Zapffe's book bring something else to the table?I realize that Zapffe's book/essay is oly about 20 pages long...Wishing you all the best for the future.

[@AuthorJamesFlynn]

@@ruanstrydom7533 If you've read Ligotti's book, this one is probably unnecessary.

[@gio3229]

Thanks

[@georgeaye7535]

ironic that he lived to almost 100

[@buddhabunnee]

Horror show or wonderful adventure.. well if those are the only two options I would personally lean more towards horror show. For me, I relate very deeply to Zapffe's line of thinking and to the kind of thoughts put forward in the Conspiracy book. However, I think any individual's experience with life is entirely subjective. There are millions (billions even?) of people on this planet who are perfectly happy in their existence.

[@AuthorJamesFlynn]

That’s a good point. And a lot of people would claim that it’s unprovable one way or the other. However, David Benatar has famously created a diagram that proves that life is always a net harm. And he claims that people’s rose tinted spectacles are due to something called the Pollyanna Principle.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Well, of course life is a complete horror show. Despite the misery of it all I do find many things in it worthwhile. Being an atheist materialist I suspect only oblivion in the end anyway, so I see no reason to rush into death. I always procrastinate! Really interesting video. I see that you write. Do you have a recommendation about what book of yours I should read first?

[@AuthorJamesFlynn]

I think I agree that life is a horror show for the most part. However, horror shows can be fun! Yes, Michael, I do write. If you fancy sampling some of my work without too much of a commitment, I'd recommend a novella of mine called 'Swarm'. It's about a prison that harnesses the power of the inmates' subconscious minds. The links are below (Smashwords is cheaper). Thanks for watching. www.amazon.com/Swarm-James-Flynn-ebook/dp/B08R2GZHH5/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=swarm+flynn&qid=1629783063&sr=8-1 www.smashwords.com/books/view/1061111

[@billieeyelashes9486]

where can i buy the book?

[@AuthorJamesFlynn]

Just search for the PDF online.

[@billieeyelashes9486]

@@AuthorJamesFlynn oki thank you so much. i thought it had an actual physical copy but i wasnt able to find one lol

[@theantinatalismzone234]

He was propably stuck on a very small island

[@xinchaodefeng08]

100% horror show, can’t even argue against that

[@moesypittounikos]

Give the gentleman some mdma and then we'll talk

[@catherineobrien8696]

An absolute horror show.