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Anyone here read Camus?

#6
I read The Stranger, it was good. Should probably read more of his stuff.

I really like Sartre when it comes to existentialism, in particular No Exit.
 
#9
SomecallmeTim said:
I agree, The Stranger is the logical starting point. Make sure you also read The Plague at some point, too.

EDIT: Has anyone read The Fall? I picked it up for 50 cents at a used bookstore the other day, but I've never met anyone who has read it. I'm too busy to start it now.
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Yeah, I read it. Maybe one of the most innovative ways of telling a story - you'll see. I liked it, more than the Plague but less than the Stranger.

For me, the best two works of literary existentialism (distinct from philosophical, in which Kierkegaard's Literary Review and Heidegger's Introduction to Metaphysics are my favorites) are:

Jean-Paul Sartre's The Wall (short story)
Knut Hamsun's Hunger

If Knut Hamsun's Pan counts as extistential, then that is my favorite, but it's borderline for me.
 
#12
So I found a copy of "The Stranger" yesterday, and I just finished it. I'm a little confused, though, so maybe some of you guys can help me.

I definitely saw the Absurdist themes coming through in this book. What I'm a little confused about is Meursault's assertion that life is essentially meaningless, and how other people will try to look for some rationality and meaning in life. I can see the Existential part here, where we carve our own path (free will), but it seems awfully Nihilistic to me. So, what's confusing me is, just how closely are Existentialism and Nihilism related? Am I wrong in seeing Meursault's final narrative as being very Nihilistic in the first place?
 
#13
There is a difference in that nihilism is believed that there is no meaning to life, not even that which you can make yourself, while existentialism is the belief that while life is meaningless on its own, YOU are the one who creates meaning for your own life.

Meursault's belief is that he gives his own life meaning, even if life as a whole, the universe if you will, holds no meaning (of course, until you give it one, or "find" your own meaning to it).

Good thread, nice to see you guys enjoy french classics :)
 
#15
Scarlet Fire said:
So I found a copy of "The Stranger" yesterday, and I just finished it. I'm a little confused, though, so maybe some of you guys can help me.

I definitely saw the Absurdist themes coming through in this book. What I'm a little confused about is Meursault's assertion that life is essentially meaningless, and how other people will try to look for some rationality and meaning in life. I can see the Existential part here, where we carve our own path (free will), but it seems awfully Nihilistic to me. So, what's confusing me is, just how closely are Existentialism and Nihilism related? Am I wrong in seeing Meursault's final narrative as being very Nihilistic in the first place?
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It seems to me like you're trying to fit the book in with your pre-conceived notions of what it's supposed to be like. Good literature isn't necessarily reducable to "isms," and you have to also understand that everyone's take on existentialism is quite different. I mean, compare Kierkegaard and Camus and you'll see what I'm talking about.
 
#16
I read l'Etranger a year or so ago. Good book, but I can't stand that it's translated as 'The Stranger' in English. If you've read it, you would know that he's not at all a stranger (assuming that means someone who no one knows), but he's really more of an outsider. Damn translations.
 
#17
Eric Cioe said:
It seems to me like you're trying to fit the book in with your pre-conceived notions of what it's supposed to be like. Good literature isn't necessarily reducable to "isms," and you have to also understand that everyone's take on existentialism is quite different. I mean, compare Kierkegaard and Camus and you'll see what I'm talking about.
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Yeah, I had definitely expected this to be a highly Existential book, so I was trying to see where that fit in. I guess I just interpreted it a bit differently than some of the people I spoke to about it.

Coincidentally, by doing that, I think I did exactly what the people in The Stranger were trying to do. My bad.
 

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