Primero Como Tragedia, Después Como Farsa (2000) - Plot & Excerpts
The title refers to the two lives a catastrophe has. First the actual tragedy, then the narrative invented for it. This is how the book starts, pointing out the false parables of the western world. There are truly some profound insights. Then Zizek goes off into his case for communism as he usually does. He then turns a critical eye on revolutions which is very interesting and should be required reading for every uprising. Then the whole thing ends with a rallying cry for sustainable, ethical, non-utopian communist thought. The rock star philosopher of our times writes yet another book censuring the liberal democratic capitalist hegemony, using precisely its recent shows of weakness (9/11 and 2008) to drive home his single point agenda - communism as the only alternative.The critique of the current order is precise. But the presentation of the new order is almost you-have-to-take-it-coz-I-am-saying-so. This, I find, is a common thing in Zizek's books. Many here have criticized the opening of the book, though my specific problem is the maintenance of that same intellectual aloofness when posing solutions.
What do You think about Primero Como Tragedia, Después Como Farsa (2000)?
Not Zizek's best work, by any measure, but a decent introduction to his way of thinking.
—hanin
heady....needed a dictionary, entertaining, thoughtful...from a radical point of view.
—stephanievelvet
An enjoyable read despite the subject being quite dense at times.
—Illicitus16
