Ligotti's body of work constitutes perhaps the longest suicide note, and perhaps also the one most "writerly" in its composition, thus far in human history. That the act has yet to be consummated detracts little from this accomplishment, but one may to no less use or benefit spend time perusing road accident footage.
I'd argue that the things he despises so much are the exact same things that prevent consummation, so at a fundamental level, I doubt the soundness of his reasoning.
It would be a sign of callowness to bemoan the fact that pessimistic writers do not rate and may be reprehended in both good conscience and good company. Some critics of the pessimist often think they have his back to the wall when they blithely jeer, “If that is how this fellow feels, he should either kill himself or be decried as a hypocrite.” That the pessimist should kill himself in order to live up to his ideas may be counterattacked as betraying such a crass intellect that it does not deserve a response. Yet it is not much of a chore to produce one. Simply because someone has reached the conclusion that the amount of suffering in this world is enough that anyone would be better off never having been born does not mean that by force of logic or sincerity he must kill himself. It only means he has concluded that the amount of suffering in this world is enough that anyone would be better off never having been born. Others may disagree on this point as it pleases them, but they must accept that if they believe themselves to have a stronger case than the pessimist, then they are mistaken.
Naturally, there are pessimists who do kill themselves, but nothing obliges them to kill themselves or live with the mark of the hypocrite on their brow. Voluntary death might seem a thoroughly negative course of action, but it is not as simple as that. Every negation is adulterated or stealthily launched by an affirmative spirit. An unequivocal “no” cannot be uttered or acted upon. Lucifer’s last words in heaven may have been “Non serviam,” but none has served the Almighty so dutifully, since His sideshow in the clouds would never draw any customers if it were not for the main attraction of the devil’s hell on earth. Only catatonics and coma patients can persevere in a dignified withdrawal from life’s rattle and hum. Without a “yes” in our hearts, nothing would be done. And to be done with our existence en masse would be the most ambitious affirmation of all.
Ligotti repels me because, whether he acknowledges it or not, his is a counsel of despair. He's gotten so wrapped up in his own inability to find an answer to the simple question "why are we here?" that he has totally omitted to consider he may have a responsibility, in regard to his own person, to make an answer to it. Through that omission, he's inadvertently - I think inadvertently - made the purpose of at least his public life to tell everyone else how bad it is he can't come up with one.
Perhaps I'd have felt the same about Lovecraft, in his day.
> he may have a responsibility, in regard to his own person, to make an answer to it
I will concede that existentialism of this sort is really the only honest philosophical alternative to pessimism. Ligotti dismisses it, but I can't remember why right at the moment.
Oh dear. If I've ever seen literary onanism... this goes in the gallery.
Meanwhile, nobody argued that the writer should kill himself. What I said was that the things he does despise prevent the consummation of his expressed desire. Not acknowledging that is unsound.
But, as the kids say, "he probably can't hear himself over the sounds of his own talking".
"Impressiveness" is about the most subjective thing I can think of. It's literally about whether it impresses someone.
I've never heard of this Ligotti chap, but these quotes are not selling me on him.