Sentiment & Oblivion

by Saul van der Walt

This is a book full of pessimistic fragments and aphorisms touching on topics such as: individuality and introversion, misanthropy, feelings and laundry, work and slavery, life's uselessness, antinatalism, moral nihilism, political ideas and ideals, freedom, suicide, atheism, naturalism, dying and the hereafter, general nihilism about purpose but not Truth, rationalism, anti-correlationism, futility, collapse, the nonexistence of free will, moral responsibility, philosophy, values, anti-rights, writing, thoughts around both neorationalism and the dark enlightenment, and all that kind of thing.

Aside from pessimism, if there is a general theme, then it would be exploring and thinking through the relationship between groups and individuals. Many will find parts of this book terribly rash and distasteful, because it stands against so many firmly held beliefs and common moral ideas.Regarding politics: Leftist readers may find this book utterly revolting. Rightwing readers will probably feel let down too. Centrists and anti-extremists should probably not bother. Some common stances appearing in several fragments are: universalism, anti-tradition, anti-identitarianism, anti-particularism, anti-relativism, anti-decoloniality, non-racialism, libertarian ideals, and flirtations with communism and xenofeminism.

For a better picture, while certainly not as good, in terms of style and structure the book is something raw and informal taking inspiration from personalities like Fernando Pessoa (personality and hypocrisy), Emil Cioran (futility and melodrama), and Nietzsche's Genealogy of Morals (structure, hammering, and topics of focus).

467 pages, Paperback

First published August 6, 2020