/lit/ - Literature

It's pretty funny when he tells that ho he'll wife her but he ain't about to catch feelings like a bitch

I was also a precocious child and found the insights of a man whose contributions helped shape the fundamental perspectives my culture adhered to and therefore also my own woefully out of date and obvious until I aged a bit and realized the context and impact of his art.

>>4684316
Just, the image I have in my head of Meursault is something like this.

He's straight to the point, boring and funny at the same time. Just going through life not really caring.

That's kinda funny to me, the way he acts

I didn't really care for The Stranger.

Is there something wrong with me?

I don't like how there's such little detail.

Camus just kind of cuts to the thing.

It's like I'm reading the stream of consciousnesses of a semi-autistic man

>>4684353
read The Plague
Its more like a metaphor for and less an impersonation of his philosophy and I believe it works better for it. The prose is maybe not so affecting but the point is much clearer.

The ending of the Stranger is incredible though, there is an almost endless wealth in those last few pages.

I can't remember very clearly, was this the novel that had the scene where he married a whore who eventually left him for a taxi driver?

I remember finding it much funnier than it should've been. Particularly the first half.

>I went to the pictures twice with Emmanuel, who doesn't always understand what's happening on the screen and asks me to explain it.
I remember laughing at that

>>4684367
>The ending of the Stranger is incredible though, there is an almost endless wealth in those last few pages.
This. I read the book after high school and didn't really enjoy it until the last few pages, which have stuck with me ever since.

>>4684347
The stranger died today, or yesterday.

>>4684429
If you have the time and inclination I recommend rereading the book. That last bit acts as a light to view the rest of the novel in some ways. It is an intensely *constructed* work, everything is a part of a whole and refers to the grand idea.

But yes it is only the end that has that cutting beauty to it.

>>4684418
The funniest part was when the lawyer was stating the final defense and the main character ends the whole thing by reasoning that he had committed murder because of the weather.

>>4684442
That was the representation of his disconnection due to his entirely logical outlook and its irreconcilibility to the fundamental absurdity of the human drama, which is solved in his understanding that you have to keep fighting no matter what and that the hurt he inflicted he needed to die for.

>>4684437
Yeah I will. Just read The Myth of Sisyphus which will help I think. I just have a lot on my list to read and sadly also have a job which really hampers reading.

it's the only thing i've experienced in the past 2 years that made me feel a childlike sadness

it's either depression or tolerable static, but that book actually made me feel sad, like the sad you feel when you first have to accept that a pet died

if you don't like/didn't get the book, then you're dense or psychopathic. if you don't relate to mersault at all, then you're stuck as a child

i don't care what people think of this, but really, that book made me want to cry

>>4684472
Yeah I know the feeling. The Plague is also essential reading for Camus and La Chute is close

>>4684486
It cuts very deep. I believe it to be one of the chief works of fiction of the entire century. It seems to have become unfashionable recently due to its popularity, which is ridiculous.

>>4684490
>La Chute
>The Fall
Yeah I've read that one and liked it more than The Stranger.

I was also laughing at the part after the funeral when Perez kept taking shortcuts but still fell behind

>>4684503
Oh my bad yeah the Fall, its more modern isn't it? Although it also reminds of that short Dostoevsky memoir thing about the sick man which would imply the opposite. Still I think there's something very relevant about it to us

>>4684510
He's just so...socially inept.

He observes all these things, fucked up and sad, and he's just like "lol" and goes to the beach with his gf.

Any normal person would know the age of his own mother.

>>4684501
Not really. You see that shit all the time. On /lit/, on reddit, everywhere. A good work will be made and immediately attract a fanbase, right?

Well, fucking ALWAYS there's people who play the social game. I call it that, "The Social Game". The game where people choose not to like certain works simply because they are popular, and it's a trend that disliking popular things means your opinion is MORE valuable, or that you're more cultured, etc, it's a social game of superiority complexes and no true analyses. Because 90% of people don't have the ability to analyze any medium anyhow

So fuck those who don't like it. It's a great book. It cuts deep because Camus understood depression perfectly, and anyone who's been in that place can instantly relate to Mersault, and connect with emotions that usually remain suppressed in memory

>>4684532
Also, I fucking love the big bang theory, even though it hits close to home when it makes fun of nerds like me.

the only reason people don't like it is because it mocks sensitive introverts, but sensitive introverts can't handle criticism and act passive aggressive about it. So they don't like the show because of it's "laughing tracks". Yeah, sure, whatever.

>>4684532
I agree with you
We call it by various names - hipster, edgy, whatever

Its a consequence of the splintering eye of post-modernism and we won't be rid of it until something powerful comes and sweeps us away again

>>4684543
>the only reason people don't like it is
Cute rephrasing of "stop liking what I don't like", but not even close to reality. The show's writing is awful and has three jokes maximum ("LOL WHAT A NERD RIGHT!?"). Learn to deal with other people not liking a show because it has a style they don't like and the humor isn't the style they like.

>>4684548
We live in a culture of hyper-sensitivity, where criticism is absolutely feared even in the most ridiculous ways I have been that way before. I've been afraid of people disagreeing with me on 4chan, of downvotes on Reddit, of whatever. You shouldn't be afraid of life judging you, or anything judging you, it's part of the absurd, it's inescapable. It's not even people, people have to judge because it's in our nature, but even more deeply, nature is judging you. Life is judgment. You can't escape it, in the end, when you die, all there will be is judgment, and you will always be convicted. If you can't escape it, there's no reason to be nervous about it and certainly you shouldn't care how you're judged.

One theme in The Stranger is criticism - Mersault receives the ultimate criticism, because he's implicitly ruled to be subhuman - society deemed that no one couldn't love their mother, so he deserved death

The absurdity of the trial is the criticism - the entire case is based on the crucifixion of Mersault as a human being, and in the end, none of it mattered because he died. You can spend your whole life trying to escape criticism - but you will never succeed. In the end, you will be judged. In the end, life judges you. And in reality it didn't matter whether you loved your mother.

In this sense I find The Stranger inspiring - what it should teach you is how little criticism SHOULD matter and yet, criticism is the biggest enforcer of ideas on all the media we consume. But what is there to be afraid of? Why is reality so terrifying to our generation? Why do people fight so hard to escape even the slightest introspection?

It's food for thought.

>>4684543
I don't like it because it isn't funny. To see this in action, go search for it without the laugh track on youtube (no seriously do this).

>>4684580
You haven't said anything I haven't read before. Maybe you're just sensitive because you can't accept your own shallowness, which the show pins to the wall?

>>4684601
Im with you. I find Camus to be the single most inspiring and empowering writer Ive ever encountered. I am truly thankful that he contributed what he did. Especially his idea of rebellion against absurdity, its an indomitable force for what we think of as good.

>>4684610
I'm not going to do that.

>>4684616
Or maybe I just don't like the show because it's a cookie-cutter sitcom and especially since it isn't an insightful impetus for self-recognition of personal flaws.

>>4684627
Your criticism of the show is yet another rehashed, meaningless statement. There's no valid reason to dislike the show, other than you playing "The Social Game" or because you're avoiding introspection.

Your judgment of the show says nothing about you other than you're so shallow that you spend time to articulate judgments on a show that are shallow. You don't seem to understand the tautology of caring so much. The show is funny. I like it. You may not like it. This detail is irrelevant, the fact that you're working hard to justify it says everything about how shallow you are. The Big Bang theory is irrelevant to life almost entirely. And yet, seemingly every person on the internet has a prou

And so I took the time to suspend my disbelief, I let down my ego, and I let the show mock me. And I laughed. And then I realized that my ego is a worthless piece of shit and I don't want it back.

You've lost this game by even participating in the "I dislike BBT because XYZ".

>>4684649
>prou

proud opinion on the matter.*

>>4684649
>You don't seem to understand the tautology of caring so much
I wrote four sentences explaining why I don't like it, it doesn't keep me up at night and apart from /tv/ I never hear about the show.

The rest of your post is surprisingly incoherent, which I guess is unexpected.

>>4684677
You're missing the point. I posed the initial sentence about TBBT not because I really care about the show or want to express my opinion, but because every single time someone brings up that show, there's a person who openly criticizes the show for the exact same reasons you criticized it. It's unoriginal, petty, and stupid, and you're only participating in "The Social Game" which I define merely as the time spent criticizing culture for the purpose of creating an ego.

You view yourself as a person who is too high brow to find TBBT funny, and I'm saying you're inferior because you don't have the ability to let go of your ego and laugh at low brow material.

Just a side note, Shakespeare's humor is probably more low brow than TBBT.

Does this make more sense?

It's weird that the film version is forgotten. Well-known director (Luchino Visconti) and star (Marcello Mastroianni) but it's never mentioned anywhere.

>>4684705
Is it good? I don't see a film adaptation adding to the story much

>>4684686
I can't speak for everyone else you've ever met but I when I watch the show I don't laugh. I don't find it funny. I don't like the characters. I don't think it's witty or creative. That's it. I'd be surprised if you liked all the things I liked. Sorry.

There's nothing subversive, and I understand you think no one can ever dislike anything for any reason besides just to be different (as if only every single one of the 7 billion people on the planet could just get over itself, 100% of them would think TBBT is hilarious), but no, your assumptions are completely wrong. Everyone knows Shakespeare's jokes are dirty, and I'll laugh at Shakespeare's jokes about cunts in Twelfth Night, but at some point you're going to have to grow up and realize you don't have every other person in the world who disagrees with you figured out.

>>4684429
Seconded

>>4684726
Again, you've missed the point. It's not about the content of your criticisms, it's the fact that you even bothered to express them at all.

>>4684734
So you can express your opinions, but if anyone says they disagree with you they're automatically wrong because they expressed their opinion. Brilliant. Good luck with that.

>>4684734
Actually, the content of the criticisms is relevant, since you said above ( >>4684543 ) that the only reason someone would dislike the show is because it "mocks sensitive introverts", and that you went on to say the only reason someone would criticize it is for the social capital gained. You're wrong with the first point, and he presented his own criticisms of the show - a different criticism from the one you claimed to be the only one - to challenge your statement there. And you're wrong about the second point - that it's only because of social capital - because he's taking the time to voice his criticism here, despite the fact that he obviously has nothing to gain by doing it.

>>4684467
I agree, yet that didn't stop me from lolling hard.

>>4684745
I'm not even saying you're wrong, I'm saying you're a shallow idiot for expressing opinions at all about TBBT instead of moving on with your life.

>>4684755
I'm not going to read to understand your post because I'm busy

>>4684762
>I'm saying you're a shallow idiot for expressing opinions at all about TBBT instead of moving on with your life.
And you aren't for arguing about a fucking sitcom on /lit/?

>>4684763
I've been talking meta about the argument about the sitcom the whole time. Have you not been paying any attention? I'm talking about discussion, not about TBBT

>>4684764
Then why did you choose not to respond to me ( >>4684755 ) when I tried to engage in a meta-discussion around the discussion of the show?

>>4684766
Because I'm not going to read a paragraph from an anon online. I don't have the willpower or the concentration to do it.

>>4684770
That isn't any more than you've written in some of your responses. If you don't have the willpower to read that, I don't know what the fuck you're doing on the literature board. I get the point you've been trying to make here, you just let it get away from you by making your argument depend on whether or not someone criticizes a bad show. They aren't criticizing it because it was brought up, they're criticizing it because you're saying there's not valid criticism.

>>4684774
The very first post I made was criticizing our culture for having a ridiculous need to criticize media, and that this obsession with criticism has a basis in ego and the need to be right. Your frustration is palpable and all you have to do to win is to stop getting frustrated over this difficult argument, stop thinking about useless topics like TBBT, and move on with your life.

>>4684782
Alright, that's fair enough. And nice job not responding to my ad hominems.
But still, you're criticizing us for criticizing the show, aren't you? You're trying to fulfill your own ego's need to be right by calling us out on this in the first place. Of course, now that I'm calling you out for that I'm doing the same thing, so nobody can really win here, right?

>>4684798
Of course not, no one can win. But we should take the time to analyze why we're all sitting here doing nothing but criticizing, what the purpose is, and why we feel the need to criticize at all.

It made a big impression on me.

I always remembered the old man at the funeral and the guy with the dog, and the part where celeste testifies for meursault

It's a good entry level book

>>4684289
Dude I was very stoned and the part where he argues with the priest had me thinking camus was a comedic genius. I just laughed and laughed at how silly the priest acted over shit that didnt matter. Not sure if that was intentionally humorous on camus's part of if it was only the cannabis

>>4684518
Thats not social ineptness really. Its his fucking mothers death its his personal business nothing social about it. Maybe you could learn something from meursalt about not giving a fuck about what others think of you

>>4684824
what this guy said

pretty funny when he turns down salvation as he doesn't wan't to owe anything for to god.

>>4684518
>Any normal person would know the age of his own mother.

Shut up.

>>4685010
About 48, 49 or 50. I'll be damned if I can give you a clearer answer.

>>4684800
Because it generally makes for good dialogue. Life would be undeniably tedious if everyone either agreed about everything, or no one voiced any differing opinions. You're right though, there are people out there who have an unconquerable desire to always be right, which is certainly not where criticism should stem from

>>4685027
>I'll be damned if I etc...
I never understood this expression. Why would you be damned if you etc...?

>>4685107
I use it to mean that the information or the feat is so beyond my capabilities that something equally supernatural or impossible would happen the moment I achieve it.

>>4684649
>likes TBBT
>talks like he has autism
nothing to see here folks

Nah I laughed my ass off. Meursault giving zero fucks about anything.

>Do you love me?
>It doesn't really make any difference, but I suppose not.

How on earth did a thread about The Stranger turn into an argument about fucking Big Bang Theory? Camus would weep.

Absurdist literature is often funny.
I laughed right at the beginning of the Metamorphosis.
The part where he tries to get up from bed knowing that he just became a bug and not freaking out or even caring about it.

I liked the part when the judge asked Mersault why he killed the Arab and he told him: "Because of the sun"

Mersault gives zero fucks, it's amazing

>>4684326
jesus, use some punctuation

>>4684289
>Yfw the pages describing the Dog and the old man's antics together

>>4685237
Yeah, him not freaking out about being turned into a Bug is the whole point
The only thing he finds Absurd is his Boss showing up at his house at such an early time in the morning when he has been going to work on time for years before him being turned into a Bug

I did laugh at the descriptions of the way Gregor moved about and jumped to the door knob and done hsi actions
It's very humanist and it always seems to be funny describing how anything acts in day to day life, it's weird

>>4684434
I borrowed a copy of The Stranger from my library and the edition I got was filled with copious scrawlings that were highly critical of the author/narrator. The very first note was the notemaker being outraged over the weird first line.
I ended up being so mad at the dumbass notes this person left all over the first 40 pages that I didn't even read the book.
top kek i guess.

>>4685154

>>4684326
Is English your first language?

I don't see what the big deal is.
I read this in high school and I remember it being short, poorly written, and based around a shitty philosophy with terrible and unrealistic characters.

>>4685560
>>4687510
there is nothing wrong with the sentence

>>4684532
i think you just made me gay

its also so painfully obvious, funny how even supposed "intellectuals" do this

>>4686284
I bought a used copy of The Stranger and it wasn't until I got home that I realized some girl had heavily annotated it with similarly idiotic notes. I guess this is what normal people think of Camus.

Luckily in my case the previous owner gave up (on either the annotations or the book altogether) after the first few chapters.

I enjoyed the part where he sat on his hand until it fell asleep and then jerked off.

>>4684336
Until he commits suicide...

>>4684620
Why not? Because you can't admit how bad this show really is?

it's time you learned how truly special you are, OP

>>4684762
10/10 master troll
outright admits self as troll and tells person they're being trolled yet still keeps the discussion going

>>4684649
lol what a fag

>>4687517
Except it runs on and reads like shit written by a 14 year old who thinks opening a thesaurus and using as needlessly verbose words as possible makes his point any stronger.

>>4689810
slightly complex sentence /= run-on sentence
and the diction is fine

>>4689833
Okay sure you can keep pressing that its "grammatically correct" but it doesn't mean it isnt retarded.

No one talks like that normally. I don't give a shit if you've got fifteen doctorates in the English language, no one uses that much fluff on an online board naturally.

You're just trying too hard, man.

>>4689885
'fluff'
each clause deals with a distinct element of the idea and uses a small amount of words to define it

>>4684543
The Big Bang Theory makes fun of nerds as ungracefully as nerds are stereotyped to be.
I mean "The universe started as a big explosion" is far too simple for anybody but turbonerds to believe.

>>4689909
You are absolutely retarded.

>>4684601
You seem to be making some vaguely paradoxical/statements, if we fear criticism then it should matter.

>>4689909

Yeah but you should separate those clauses with commas so we don't have to read twice or guess to get where you're going.

>>4684326
>I was also a precocious child and found the insights of a man whose contributions helped shape the fundamental perspectives my culture adhered to, and therefore also my own, woefully out of date and obvious, until I aged a bit and realized the context and impact of his art.

It's that easy, dipshits.

>>4684326
This is seriously the dumbest post. It takes him 48 words to say something as stupid as "When I was young I thought this book was bad but now im old and I think its important".

It saying absolutely nothing.

I hope none of you do this in real life.

>>4689069
I think you read the wrong book

>>4684326