/lit/ - Literature

Has anyone else ever read this or any of Ernst Jungers works? Read this and I'm currently reading through The Peace by him. Found out how incredibly difficult it is to find discussions on this guy or his works despite the fact he seems to have influence quite a lot of political and philosophical thinkers in the 20th century.

>>19826489
>What are some other books that argue for the importance of pain and suffering in our lives?

Just finished pic related. The preface claims that Junger was "clamoring" for the objectification of man via technology, but that sounds like a total misreading to me. The impression I got from reading the essay was that he thought distancing oneself from pain by mechanical or technical means was a poor substitute for actual heroic self-mastery. The tone seemed very ambivalent, but I don't know whether that was the result of me projecting my own beliefs onto the translated text of an author I don't know much about. I would appreciate it if someone more knowledgeable could elaborate on this.
>We saw that man is able to resist the assault of pain to the degree that he is capable of self-detachment. This self-detachment, this functionalization and objectification of life increases uninterruptedly. The age of security has been superseded with surprising speed by another, in which the values of technology prevail. The logic and mathematics now governing life are extraordinary and awe inspiring. One has the feeling the game is too sophisticated for the human mind to have devised.
>Yet all this in now way relieves us of responsibility. If one looks at the individual in his lonely state, driven out into dangerous spaces and on high alert, the question concerning the reason for this state of emergency arises. The power must be enormous that is capable of subjecting man to demands one places on a machine. Nonetheless, the eye will search in vain for secure spaces above the fray, beyond all uncertainty or doubt, and removed from the processes now preparing for military conflict. But the only things beyond doubt are the destruction of old cults, the impotency of culture, and the wretched mediocrity of the actors.

Blown away by this essay. Drop your essay recommendations itt.

Read this recently and although it’s from the 1930s, has some apt predictions and discussions of mankind’s objectification of pain and increasing reliance on technology as leading to mass boredom and embitterment.

The 10 page introduction was more insightful than the actual work. I get that it's a reaction to Germany's WW1 loss but christ it's a slog for only being a 10 page essay. Why is most philosophy over the top nonsense?

I've heard the Ernst Junger's essay On pain and other works by him are heavily influenced by Nietzsche. In a kind of "applied" perspective.