{"product_id":"melancholic-joy-9781350177734","title":"Melancholic Joy","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eToday, we find ourselves surrounded by numerous reasons to despair, from loneliness, suffering and death at an individual level to societal alienation, oppression, sectarian conflict and war. No honest assessment of life can take   place without facing up to these facts and it is not surprising that more and   more people are beginning to suspect that the human story will end in   tragedy. However, this focus on despair does not paint a complete and   accurate picture of reality, which is also inflected with beauty and   goodness. Working with examples from poetry and literature, including Virginia Woolf and Jack Gilbert and the films of Terrence Malick, \u003ci\u003eMelancholic Joy\u003c\/i\u003e offers an honest assessment   of the human condition. It unflinchingly acknowledges the everyday   frustrations and extraordinary horrors that generate despair and argues that   the appropriate response is to take up joy again, not in an   attempt to ignore or dismiss evil, but rather as part of a melancholic joy\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis volume is beautifully written and well-argued … While optimism can be cruel, and hopeless stoicism can seem courageous, Treanor’s wide-eyed invitation into Melancholic Joy is a welcome corrective in a field that is saturated by calls to tarry with the negative. * Journal for Continental Philosophy of Religion *\u003cbr\u003eDrawing on a myriad of sources (literary, poetic, theological, and philosophical) that can only come from a lifetime of reading, reflection, and experience, Brian Treanor’s \u003ci\u003eMelancholic Joy: On Life Worth Living\u003c\/i\u003e strikes one as profoundly personal yet hermeneutically universal. ... this text is joyful and very much worth reading, either as an object of scholarly inquiry or for no other reason than enriching oneself in this transitory existence. * Worldviews *\u003cbr\u003eBrian Treanor goes beyond poetic exhortation to explore the grounds for affirming the goodness of being, suggesting ways of living that leave one open to experiences of wonder and joy even while remaining cognizant of the darker aspects of reality ... readers committed to a “life worth living” even in the face of death, pandemics, climate change, and other sources of suffering will also find much of value in this book. * Reading Religion *\u003cbr\u003eTreanor's \u003ci\u003eMelancholic Joy\u003c\/i\u003e is a marvelous achievement: beautifully written, endlessly rich, and wise. * Michael Hauskeller, Professor of Philosophy, University of Liverpool, UK *\u003cbr\u003eSimply put, this book is fantastic. It offers the reader, not simply a \u003ci\u003etheory\u003c\/i\u003e about finding joy in a suffering world, but an injunction and a path to \u003ci\u003ediscover\u003c\/i\u003e such joy in their own lives. * Neal DeRoo, Canada Research Chair in Phenomenology and Philosophy of Religion, The King’s University, Canada *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIntroduction Chapter One: We Perish,   Each Alone Chapter Two: Joy and the   Myopia of Finitude Chapter Three: From   Mortality to Vitality: Carnal, Seraphic Bodies Chapter Four: Hoping in   the Dark Chapter Five: \u003ci\u003eAmor Mundi\u003c\/i\u003e Chapter Six: Melancholic   Joy Conclusion","brand":"Bloomsbury Publishing PLC","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49083874050391,"sku":"9781350177734","price":56.25,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781350177734.jpg?v=1725550291","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/melancholic-joy-9781350177734","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}