sal Posted June 11, 2009 Report Share Posted June 11, 2009 "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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzmoose Posted June 11, 2009 Report Share Posted June 11, 2009 "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! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillF Posted June 11, 2009 Report Share Posted June 11, 2009 I forgot: "c'était le soleil qui lui poussait au crime" - or how does that great sentence go? No danger of that happening here, then! Seriously though, a great book! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdavenport Posted June 11, 2009 Report Share Posted June 11, 2009 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul secor Posted June 11, 2009 Report Share Posted June 11, 2009 Dan Baum's Nine Lives: Death and Life in New Orleans Nine lives - ten if you count the city of New Orleans - in the years between Hurricane Betsy in 1965 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and extending a couple of years beyond. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted June 12, 2009 Report Share Posted June 12, 2009 I can quite well imagine "L'etranger" still having a big impact, yes, but less so with Camus' others books... the one I'm thinking of mainly is "La chute", which I found the most impressive of the lot when I was reading them in my teen years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rostasi Posted June 12, 2009 Report Share Posted June 12, 2009 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Posted June 12, 2009 Report Share Posted June 12, 2009 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poetrylover3 Posted June 12, 2009 Report Share Posted June 12, 2009 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdavenport Posted June 12, 2009 Report Share Posted June 12, 2009 (edited) 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 June 12, 2009 by rdavenport Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Posted June 13, 2009 Report Share Posted June 13, 2009 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcy62 Posted June 13, 2009 Report Share Posted June 13, 2009 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sal Posted June 13, 2009 Report Share Posted June 13, 2009 "Less Than Zero" - Bret Easton Ellis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzmoose Posted June 13, 2009 Report Share Posted June 13, 2009 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!"... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdavenport Posted June 13, 2009 Report Share Posted June 13, 2009 (edited) 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). Edited June 13, 2009 by rdavenport Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niko Posted June 13, 2009 Report Share Posted June 13, 2009 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... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcy62 Posted June 13, 2009 Report Share Posted June 13, 2009 "Less Than Zero" - Bret Easton Ellis I think the title perfectly fits the content. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcy62 Posted June 13, 2009 Report Share Posted June 13, 2009 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'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted June 13, 2009 Report Share Posted June 13, 2009 Sometimes we read books before we should, sometimes we read books after we should. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcy62 Posted June 13, 2009 Report Share Posted June 13, 2009 Sometimes we read books before we should, sometimes we read books after we should. True. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Lark Ascending Posted June 14, 2009 Report Share Posted June 14, 2009 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: 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzmoose Posted June 14, 2009 Report Share Posted June 14, 2009 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillF Posted June 14, 2009 Report Share Posted June 14, 2009 Sometimes we read books before we should, sometimes we read books after we should. Very Confucian! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Son-of-a-Weizen Posted June 16, 2009 Report Share Posted June 16, 2009 Norway? Who knew??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted June 16, 2009 Report Share Posted June 16, 2009 I'm rereading "Nine Princes in Amber," Roger Zelazny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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