
The Terror of Existence
From Ecclesiastes to Theatre of the Absurd
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $14.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Jack Wynters
About this listen
The cultural death of God has created a conundrum for intellectuals. How could a life stripped of ultimate meaning be anything but absurd? How was man to live? How could he find direction in a world of no direction? What would he tell his children that could make their lives worthwhile? What is the ground of morality?
Existentialism is the literary cri de coeur resulting from the realization that without God, everything good, true, and beautiful in human life is destined to be destroyed in a pitiless material cosmos. Theodore Dalrymple and Kenneth Francis examine the main existentialist works, from Ecclesiastes to the Theatre of the Absurd, each man coming from a different perspective. Francis is a believer, Dalrymple is not, but both empathize with the struggle to find meaning in a seemingly meaningless universe.
Part literary criticism, part philosophical exploration, this book holds many surprising gems of insight from two of the most interesting minds of our time.
©2018 Anthony M. Daniels and Kenneth Francis (P)2018 New English Review PressListeners also enjoyed...
-
Life at the Bottom
- The Worldview that Makes the Underclass
- By: Theodore Dalrymple
- Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
- Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Theodore Dalrymple, a British psychiatrist who treats the poor in a slum hospital and a prison in England, has seemingly seen it all. Yet in listening to and observing his patients, he is continually astonished by the latest twist of depravity that exceeds even his own considerable experience. Dalrymple's key insight in Life at the Bottom is that long-term poverty is caused not by economics, but by a dysfunctional set of values, one that is continually reinforced by an elite culture searching for victims.
-
-
Excellent!
- By Amazon Man on 02-15-21
-
So Little Done
- The Testament of a Serial Killer
- By: Theodore Dalrymple
- Narrated by: Gavin Orland, Andrea Zuvich
- Length: 5 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Graham Underwood worked as a government housing officer—until he was jailed for killing at least 15 people in a spree spanning several years. However, rather than showing remorse, this serial killer attempts to justify his actions and goes as far as to claim that he has done the world a public service in eliminating his victims....
-
-
Witty, intelligent and often hilarious
- By I. D. on 04-28-24
-
The White Pill
- A Tale of Good and Evil
- By: Michael Malice
- Narrated by: Michael Malice
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Bolsheviks promised that they were building a new society, a workers’ paradise that would change the nature of mankind itself. What they ended up constructing was the largest prison the world had ever seen: a Union of Soviet Socialist Republics that spanned half the globe.
-
-
Do not buy the audio version.
- By Todd on 02-20-23
By: Michael Malice
-
The War on the West
- By: Douglas Murray
- Narrated by: Douglas Murray
- Length: 12 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The War on the West, Douglas Murray shows how many well-meaning people have been fooled by hypocritical and inconsistent anti-West rhetoric. After all, if we must discard the ideas of Kant, Hume, and Mill for their opinions on race, shouldn’t we discard Marx, whose work is peppered with racial slurs and anti-Semitism? Embers of racism remain to be stamped out in America, but what about the raging racist inferno in the Middle East and Asia?
-
-
Every Human (seriously, everyone) Read This!
- By aaron on 04-27-22
By: Douglas Murray
-
The Canceling of the American Mind
- Cancel Culture Undermines Trust, Destroys Institutions, and Threatens Us All—but There Is a Solution
- By: Greg Lukianoff, Rikki Schlott
- Narrated by: Rikki Schlott, Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Cancel culture is a new phenomenon, and The Canceling of the American Mind is the first book to codify it and survey its effects, including hard data and research on what cancel culture is and how it works, along with hundreds of new examples showing the left and right both working to silence their enemies.
-
-
Good book, Important information, poorly read
- By pj on 12-08-23
By: Greg Lukianoff, and others
-
The Marxification of Education
- Paulo Freire's Critical Marxism and the Theft of Education
- By: James Lindsay
- Narrated by: James Lindsay
- Length: 7 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Education is in bad shape in America and beyond today. It’s obvious. Everyone perceives it. Something is going badly wrong in our schools. Our children aren’t learning as they should be. Their mastery of core academic curriculum like reading, writing, history, mathematics, science, and civics has declined to crisis levels and shows no signs of improvement. Meanwhile, they’re all learning to be activists, turning their backs on their nations, societies, and even their parents and religions.
-
-
Clearly describe Marxists cult theft of education
- By ANDREAS SAEBJOERNSEN on 12-24-22
By: James Lindsay
-
Life at the Bottom
- The Worldview that Makes the Underclass
- By: Theodore Dalrymple
- Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
- Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Theodore Dalrymple, a British psychiatrist who treats the poor in a slum hospital and a prison in England, has seemingly seen it all. Yet in listening to and observing his patients, he is continually astonished by the latest twist of depravity that exceeds even his own considerable experience. Dalrymple's key insight in Life at the Bottom is that long-term poverty is caused not by economics, but by a dysfunctional set of values, one that is continually reinforced by an elite culture searching for victims.
-
-
Excellent!
- By Amazon Man on 02-15-21
-
So Little Done
- The Testament of a Serial Killer
- By: Theodore Dalrymple
- Narrated by: Gavin Orland, Andrea Zuvich
- Length: 5 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Graham Underwood worked as a government housing officer—until he was jailed for killing at least 15 people in a spree spanning several years. However, rather than showing remorse, this serial killer attempts to justify his actions and goes as far as to claim that he has done the world a public service in eliminating his victims....
-
-
Witty, intelligent and often hilarious
- By I. D. on 04-28-24
-
The White Pill
- A Tale of Good and Evil
- By: Michael Malice
- Narrated by: Michael Malice
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Bolsheviks promised that they were building a new society, a workers’ paradise that would change the nature of mankind itself. What they ended up constructing was the largest prison the world had ever seen: a Union of Soviet Socialist Republics that spanned half the globe.
-
-
Do not buy the audio version.
- By Todd on 02-20-23
By: Michael Malice
-
The War on the West
- By: Douglas Murray
- Narrated by: Douglas Murray
- Length: 12 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The War on the West, Douglas Murray shows how many well-meaning people have been fooled by hypocritical and inconsistent anti-West rhetoric. After all, if we must discard the ideas of Kant, Hume, and Mill for their opinions on race, shouldn’t we discard Marx, whose work is peppered with racial slurs and anti-Semitism? Embers of racism remain to be stamped out in America, but what about the raging racist inferno in the Middle East and Asia?
-
-
Every Human (seriously, everyone) Read This!
- By aaron on 04-27-22
By: Douglas Murray
-
The Canceling of the American Mind
- Cancel Culture Undermines Trust, Destroys Institutions, and Threatens Us All—but There Is a Solution
- By: Greg Lukianoff, Rikki Schlott
- Narrated by: Rikki Schlott, Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Cancel culture is a new phenomenon, and The Canceling of the American Mind is the first book to codify it and survey its effects, including hard data and research on what cancel culture is and how it works, along with hundreds of new examples showing the left and right both working to silence their enemies.
-
-
Good book, Important information, poorly read
- By pj on 12-08-23
By: Greg Lukianoff, and others
-
The Marxification of Education
- Paulo Freire's Critical Marxism and the Theft of Education
- By: James Lindsay
- Narrated by: James Lindsay
- Length: 7 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Education is in bad shape in America and beyond today. It’s obvious. Everyone perceives it. Something is going badly wrong in our schools. Our children aren’t learning as they should be. Their mastery of core academic curriculum like reading, writing, history, mathematics, science, and civics has declined to crisis levels and shows no signs of improvement. Meanwhile, they’re all learning to be activists, turning their backs on their nations, societies, and even their parents and religions.
-
-
Clearly describe Marxists cult theft of education
- By ANDREAS SAEBJOERNSEN on 12-24-22
By: James Lindsay
-
Waiting for the Last Bus
- Reflections on Life and Death
- By: Richard Holloway
- Narrated by: Richard Holloway
- Length: 5 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Where do we go when we die? Or is there nowhere to go? Is death something we can do or is it just something that happens to us? Now in his ninth decade, former Bishop of Edinburgh, Richard Holloway, has spent a lifetime at the bedsides of the dying, guiding countless men and women towards peaceful deaths. In The Last Bus, he presents a positive, meditative and profound exploration of the many important lessons we can learn from death.
-
-
Erudite, self-deprecating, and deep
- By Alice J. Viggiano on 04-03-25
By: Richard Holloway
-
The Case Against the Sexual Revolution
- By: Louise Perry
- Narrated by: Louise Perry
- Length: 6 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The sexual revolution has liberated us to enjoy a heady mixture of erotic freedom and personal autonomy. Right? Wrong, argues Louise Perry in her provocative new book.
-
-
A feminist's advice to girls and young women
- By Wayne on 02-17-23
By: Louise Perry
-
The Fall of Carthage
- The Punic Wars 265-146BC
- By: Adrian Goldsworthy
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 16 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The struggle between Rome and Carthage in the Punic Wars was arguably the greatest and most desperate conflict of antiquity. The forces involved and the casualties suffered by both sides were far greater than in any wars fought before the modern era, while the eventual outcome had far-reaching consequences for the history of the Western World, namely the ascendancy of Rome. An epic of war and battle, this is also the story of famous generals and leaders: Hannibal, Fabius Maximus, Scipio Africanus, and his grandson Scipio Aemilianus, who would finally bring down the walls of Carthage.
-
-
Captivating
- By Jean on 03-25-19
-
When Race Trumps Merit
- How the Pursuit of Equity Sacrifices Excellence, Destroys Beauty, and Threatens Lives
- By: Heather Mac Donald
- Narrated by: Olivia Lewis
- Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Does your workplace have too few Black people in top jobs? It’s racist. Does the advanced math and science high school in your city have too many Asians? It’s racist. Does your local museum employ too many White women? It’s racist, too. After the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, prestigious American institutions, from the medical profession to the fine arts, pleaded guilty to “systemic racism”.
-
-
People need to read/listen to this book
- By Casey on 04-20-23
-
Stalin, Volume I
- Paradoxes of Power, 1878-1928
- By: Stephen Kotkin
- Narrated by: Paul Hecht
- Length: 38 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Volume One of Stalin begins and ends in January 1928 as Stalin boards a train bound for Siberia, about to embark upon the greatest gamble of his political life. He is now the ruler of the largest country in the world, but a poor and backward one, far behind the great capitalist countries in industrial and military power, encircled on all sides. In Siberia, Stalin conceives of the largest program of social reengineering ever attempted.
-
-
Excellent Book But First Time Listener Beware
- By Nostromo on 03-23-15
By: Stephen Kotkin
-
The Hundred Years War
- The English in France 1337-1453
- By: Desmond Seward
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From 1337 to 1453 England repeatedly invaded France on the pretext that her kings had a right to the French throne. Though it was a small, poor country, England for most of those "100 years" won the battles, sacked the towns and castles, and dominated the war. Desmond Seward's critically acclaimed account of the Hundred Years War brings to life all of the intrigue, beauty, and royal to-the-death-fighting of that legendary century-long conflict.
-
-
Superb narrator and fascintating history
- By Julie Seavello on 05-30-21
By: Desmond Seward
-
Is Reality Optional?
- And Other Essays
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Leon Nixon
- Length: 7 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thomas Sowell challenges all the assumptions of contemporary liberalism on issues ranging from the economy to race to education in this collection of controversial essays, and captures his thoughts on politics, race, and common sense with a section at the end for thought-provoking quotes.
-
-
Amazing!
- By Anonymous User on 09-28-22
By: Thomas Sowell
-
End Times
- Elites, Counter-Elites, and the Path of Political Disintegration
- By: Peter Turchin
- Narrated by: Robin McAlpine
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Peter Turchin, one of the most interesting social scientists of our age, has infused the study of history with approaches and insights from other fields for more than a quarter century. End Times is the culmination of his work to understand what causes political communities to cohere and what causes them to fall apart, as applied to the current turmoil within the United States.
-
-
Boomer History
- By Kevin on 08-12-23
By: Peter Turchin
-
Manhood
- The Masculine Virtues America Needs
- By: Josh Hawley
- Narrated by: Josh Hawley
- Length: 6 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A free society that despises manhood will not remain free. The American Founders believed that a republic depends on certain masculine virtues. Senator Josh Hawley thinks they were right. In a bold new book, he calls on American men to stand up and embrace their God-given responsibility as husbands, fathers, and citizens.
-
-
A Great Biblical History of the World
- By Paul Darafeev on 07-03-23
By: Josh Hawley
-
The Weight of Glory
- By: C. S. Lewis
- Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
- Length: 4 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Selected from sermons delivered by C. S. Lewis during World War II, these nine addresses show the beloved author and theologian bringing hope and courage in a time of great doubt. "The Weight of Glory", considered by many to be Lewis’s finest sermon of all, is an incomparable explication of virtue, goodness, desire, and glory.
-
-
Indispensible Lewis
- By Lyle on 01-17-12
By: C. S. Lewis
-
The Age of Insight
- The Quest to Understand the Unconscious in Art, Mind, and Brain, from Vienna 1900 to the Present
- By: Eric R. Kandel
- Narrated by: James Anderson Foster
- Length: 16 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A brilliant book by Nobel Prize winner Eric R. Kandel, The Age of Insight takes us to Vienna 1900, where leaders in science, medicine, and art began a revolution that changed forever how we think about the human mind - our conscious and unconscious thoughts and emotions - and how mind and brain relate to art.
-
-
Worth the listen
- By Amazon Customer on 01-28-19
By: Eric R. Kandel
-
Notes of a Native Son
- By: James Baldwin
- Narrated by: Ron Butler
- Length: 5 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Written during the 1940s and early 1950s, when Baldwin was only in his twenties, the essays collected in Notes of a Native Son capture a view of Black life and Black thought at the dawn of the civil rights movement and as the movement slowly gained strength through the words of one of the most captivating essayists and foremost intellectuals of that era.
-
-
Masterful Essayist
- By Andre on 09-30-16
By: James Baldwin
What listeners say about The Terror of Existence
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Zachary C. Linde
- 06-28-21
A guide to further reading
This book is a series of essays written by two authors about various other books, plays, and movies that impacted their views of the existential problems we face. It serves as a great starting point for further exploration, making you want to read each of the works mentioned. The narration is excellent - it is calm while remaining engaging.
If you enjoy thinking about existential matters such as life, death, and God, this book is definitely for you.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- J. Castleberry
- 10-12-23
Terror
This is a difficult subject. The authors did a marvelous job of sharing how artists and philosophers deal with, what to many, is a terror.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 11-05-21
chapter 14/15 especially
Francis goes absolutely unhinged for two essays, blaming society for oppressing white christian males and comparing modern America multiple times to gulags and internment camps. Incredibly up his own ass, he hardly links it to the rest of the book, which is to say he doesn't. The whiplash is real, reading these unhinged rants against "anti-christians" back to back with Dalrymples dissection of Hamlet. I mean other than that he has some wonderful points to think about.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Carl R. Berner
- 07-24-20
Excellent choices of philosophers, theologians...
What a cogent argument from both sides, well presented and represented by each authors defenders. Also, the narrator was superb. Thank you for an enjoyable and enlightening listen.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- 20shop11
- 01-28-20
Theism does not win, but secularism loses.
An informative and thoughtful collection of essays analyzing the great works of existential and nihilist literature and how this literature both expressed and prepared the West for embracing the divorce of faith and reason thereby ushering in the present postmodernist decadence---itself another failed post-Enlightenment project---and the death of meaning. Nietzsche's Parable of a Madman fairly captures the post-Darwinian dilemma wrought by the "Death of God" and the loss of human agency as reductionist naturalism asserts that only science can give humanity complete and reliable knowledge of reality; a self-refuting claim. The artistic works discussed in this collection of essays do an outstanding job of illustrating the topics considered in this book. In fact, this format of literary criticism and philosophical discussion is an excellent way to explore these topics with the guidance of two learned thinkers whose views differ respectfully.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Tal
- 02-04-19
Great book
Great book. I like the disposition of the author. Christians have a point there. Recommended
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mathew
- 11-15-22
Good narration insightful study
I really enjoyed this short book. The study of the different classical works by the two juxtaposed opinions of the authors is very insightful. The narration is well done and adds to the book. If you want something to provoke your thoughts this is the book for you! Will definitely revisit with a second listen.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!