Jump to content

Now reading...


Recommended Posts

"The Stranger" - Albert Camus

How does it hold up?

I still have lots of respect for Camus, but somehow I tend to file most of his books in the "stuff I liked when I was 16" box... the post-humous "Le premier homme" might be different, and also more generally his philosophical position seems to hold up quite well (much better than Sartre's, for sure), but I'm no expert there...

Well, I'll be 32 this year, and this was my first experience reading The Stranger. As my personal feelings of isolation, anxiety and hopelessness haven't really receded with age, I thought it was a fantastic read that really hit home.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 9.1k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Posted Images

"The Stranger" - Albert Camus

How does it hold up?

I still have lots of respect for Camus, but somehow I tend to file most of his books in the "stuff I liked when I was 16" box... the post-humous "Le premier homme" might be different, and also more generally his philosophical position seems to hold up quite well (much better than Sartre's, for sure), but I'm no expert there...

Well, I'll be 32 this year, and this was my first experience reading The Stranger. As my personal feelings of isolation, anxiety and hopelessness haven't really receded with age, I thought it was a fantastic read that really hit home.

I haven't read it since my teen years either, but the way life has gone, I can't imagine it having any less of an impact today. Heck, I've been carting my copy from place to place for close to thirty-five years now. Maybe it's time to justify all that packing and unpacking and read it again!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just finished John Steinbeck's "The Pearl". Life-affirming, in a Steinbeck way. I couldn't help thinking about "The Old Man And The Sea" and "The Diamond As Big As The Ritz" when I was reading this.

Speaking of Steinbeck: I'm reading In Dubious Battle. They really, really, really, don't write books like this anymore -- which is a great loss for America.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As far as Camus goes, I was entranced with THe Rebel and The Myth of Sisyphus, which captures perfectly the sense of futility I experienced around age 18.

Still juggling Traitor To His Class: The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of FDR with Poems For The Millenium:The university of California Book of Romantic and Post-Romantic Poetry (Volume 3).

I'm more impressed with FDR as I grow older, there was something in his character that allowed him to identify with the average man's struggles despite his patrician background. This is a fascinating reading of that character and Presidency.

Despite the heft of this behemoth of a poetry anthology, I'm at least skimming it. So far I know I don't admire de Sade, I want to read more Goethe and am beginning to think of Christopher Smart as the fore-runner of the Beats.

I will miss JazzTimes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just finished John Steinbeck's "The Pearl". Life-affirming, in a Steinbeck way. I couldn't help thinking about "The Old Man And The Sea" and "The Diamond As Big As The Ritz" when I was reading this.

Speaking of Steinbeck: I'm reading In Dubious Battle. They really, really, really, don't write books like this anymore -- which is a great loss for America.

You've got me interested in that one Matthew.

Edited by rdavenport
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just finished John Steinbeck's "The Pearl". Life-affirming, in a Steinbeck way. I couldn't help thinking about "The Old Man And The Sea" and "The Diamond As Big As The Ritz" when I was reading this.

Speaking of Steinbeck: I'm reading In Dubious Battle. They really, really, really, don't write books like this anymore -- which is a great loss for America.

You've got me interested in that one Matthew.

The book could only have been written in the 1930s, and you don't see books like this now, where the story:

1. Is about someone joining the communist party, and that's seen as a good thing.

2. The book in utterly sincere about the poor and labor.

3. No "winking" at the reader.

4. Historical forces are more important than the characters.

In some ways, it's a more amazing book that The Grapes of Wrath.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just finished Fitzgerald's 'The Great Gatsby'. I really loved it ages ago, I was sixteen I think, now it has a different taste. Still a good book, but not the masterpiece I thought at time.

That sound you heard was thousands of American English majors whispering "blashphemy!"... ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One of those books one feels one ought to have read - Joseph Conrad's "Heart Of Darkness". I must admit, I'm struggling to see what the fuss is about - fairly tedious so far (about 45 pages in).

that's one i read when i was 17 (one of only two or three conrad books i was able to finish) and i remember it as really really great - guess i should have a second look sometime...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One of those books one feels one ought to have read - Joseph Conrad's "Heart Of Darkness". I must admit, I'm struggling to see what the fuss is about - fairly tedious so far (about 45 pages in).

that's one i read when i was 17 (one of only two or three conrad books i was able to finish) and i remember it as really really great - guess i should have a second look sometime...

Conrad is one of the Greats, period.

The fact about the 'true' Classics is that it's really difficult to see them in perspective.

I mean that before Conrad, or Shakespeare or Dostojevskij or Kafka, the 'things' were different. They are the cornerstone, now they might sound 'obvious' , 'naive', even a 'cliche', but they build the 'obvious' and the 'cliche'.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One of those books one feels one ought to have read - Joseph Conrad's "Heart Of Darkness". I must admit, I'm struggling to see what the fuss is about - fairly tedious so far (about 45 pages in).

Reread it a couple of months back and loved it (and I don't read much 'literature' these days). Sent me off to get the background in 'King Leopold's Ghost' and now:

41ZJ86BABSL._SL500_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-big,TopRight,35,-73_OU02_AA240_.jpg

Other Conrad I've attempted I've found really hard going.

I loved Gatsby when I read it in the 70s. Especially the final sentence.

I don't think the problem is how great a book is or not; it's this strange need to constantly put things in hierarchies. If a book has grabbed you at 17 it hardly matters what someone else thinks about its significance...even yourself thirty years later.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't think the problem is how great a book is or not; it's this strange need to constantly put things in hierarchies. If a book has grabbed you at 17 it hardly matters what someone else thinks about its significance...even yourself thirty years later.

Excellent point, and one I must admit never occurred to me. You can't really reread a book thirty years later; the person who read it the first time no longer exists.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

×
×
  • Create New...