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/lit/ - Literature

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880688 No.880688 [Reply] [Original]

>Mum asks to borrow a book
>I give her the closest thing to me; The Outsider by Albert Camus
>Comes back later: "huh, is that guy simple or something"
>My face

>> No.880689

Lol, oh moms.

>> No.880695

Your mom does not appreciate fine literature.

>> No.880699

Well, she's right.

>> No.880713
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880713

>>880699

>> No.880719
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880719

>>880695

>> No.880734
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880734

>>880688

>> No.882671

Gotta say I agree with her. Nobody in their right mind acts like The Stranger, only idealist tw*ts who fail to distinguish fact from fiction.

>> No.882753

Well, you have to be a simpleton if the sun forces you to kill some arab.

>> No.882771

>>882753
lame. He didn't kill the arab because of the sun, he was just expressing his apathy at an act that is seen as so dramatic usually. He killed him, really, out of revenge.

>> No.882772

>>880713

Are you a ROAD scholar? Good pun, good pun.

>> No.882786
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882786

>Extremely religious mother walks in while I'm reading.
>"Is that The Outsider?"
>Get praised for reading existentialist literature.
>My face

>> No.882886

>>882771
>He killed him, really, out of revenge.

No, I think he really killed him because the sun was in his eyes, but it's more complicated than that. At the beginning of the novel, he's so emotionally numb that he's driven only by basic sensory impulses. Although he is unaffected by his mother's death, Marie's love, and any of the more advanced human emotions (in a sense, he is a simpleton), he is, however, strongly affected by the sun shining in his eyes. I think that, along with his disregard for human life, is why he shot the Arab.

>> No.882901

>>882900
tl;dr Mersault is not just a Nihilist BAMF.

>> No.882900

>>882886
I don't agree at all, I think he claims in bad faith that he was only bothered by the sun, even though his apathy was totally affected. I think Camus was making a mockery of the protagonist, and characters like him. Disaffected, insouciant bourgeois who will commit acts of destruction with little consideration for what it means (this makes sense because much of Camus' work allegorizes the period of Nazi occupation). It is shown, only at the end, when Mersault's life is actually threatened, does he gain a modicum of self-awareness, and even then it is grandiose and rather petty. OP's mom is totally right, but that doesn't mean the book isn't one of the best. It's like the Catcher in the Rye debate, sometimes protagonists are someone you really don't care for, but there is some genius in capturing such a character.

>> No.882905

The sun made him shot the arab.

Is it that hard?

>> No.882967 [DELETED] 

>>882900
>I think he claims in bad faith that he was only bothered by the sun

I agree with everything you've said expect this. Although, as I've said, it's been awhile since I've read it, I distinctly recall the way in which Camus described the character, and I thought it seemed clear that he wanted to establish that at the beginning of the novel Meursault was only affected by the most rudimentary sensory impulses, and as such, the sun, not revenge or existentialist angst (both of which would require greater emotional sophistication), was largely what drove him to kill. As you yourself said, it's only after the trial that he begins to reflect on his situation in a meaningful way.

>> No.882970

>>882900
>I think he claims in bad faith that he was only bothered by the sun

I agree with everything you've said expect this. Although, as I've said, it's been awhile since I've read it, I distinctly recall the way Camus described the character, and I thought it seemed clear that he wanted to establish that at the beginning of the novel Meursault was only affected by the most rudimentary sensory impulses, and as such, the sun, not revenge or existentialist angst (both of which would require greater emotional sophistication), was largely what drove him to kill. As you yourself said, it's only after the trial that he begins to reflect on his situation in a meaningful way.

>> No.882974

your mom is cool

>> No.882986

>>882970
Actually, you've made me reconsider that bit as well, because as you say by my own thinking he would have lacked the self-awareness for an act of deeper consequence. It is interesting, because if he really does only shoot the arab for the sun in his eyes, he must be a radically blunt human, infact subhuman. This brings up a keystone existentialist concept which is that you must acquire your humanity through choices and reflection. Wow, good discussion.

>> No.882989

He wasn't merely affected by the sun though, if he was, then he wouldn't have fired multiple shots after a pause. That's the intervention of indifference to life, as well as a lack of control down to the sun/external atmosphere.

>> No.883008

>>882989
I agree, but I don't see how that contradicts what I'm saying. I acknowledged that his indifference/disregard for life was a contributing factor as well.

>> No.883030
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883030

>>880688
> My face when my mom is a Russian major and gets pissed off when i read a book written in Russian but translated to English.
At least we have similar tastes and reading habits.

>> No.883039

>>883008

Didn't say it did. Just making a general comment without reading the whole thread. :(

>> No.883040
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883040

>The Outsider
>never heard of it

>> No.883043

The sun is just him trying to find a reason.
There isn't a reason, that the hole point. The killing was absurd.

>> No.883163
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883163

>Mom asks me to borrow short books to read in the summer
>Give her The Stranger, some theater pieces, and Alessandro Baricco's Novecento.

>4 months later, she's 1 and a half pages into Novecento.
>My face

>> No.885550
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885550

>>883040

>> No.885552
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885552

>mfw both my parents are extremly well read and introduced all the classics to me.

>> No.885657

I discovered, the day after doing my A-Level on The Outsider, that my mom had done it in French for her degree. FML.

>> No.885669
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885669

>Mom asks to borrow a book
>I give her the closest thing to me; The Outsider by Albert Camus
>Comes back later: "That book was depressing"
>My face

I know how you feel op

>> No.885686

>give mum Snow Crash
>She likes it
>I knew she would

>> No.885746

At least she wanted to read a book.

I'm the only one in my family who reads. I don't live with them though, so it doesn't really matter.

>> No.885755
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885755

>Mom sees the new books I just bought
>Dostoevsky, Nabokov, Nietzsche
>"You read weird stuff lol"

>> No.885758

HA HA most of your parents suck!

>> No.885775

>>885746
OP here. For context, the last two things she read were Twilight and the Anthony Kiedis autobiography.

>> No.885779

>Mum asks to borrow a book
>I give her the closest thing to me; Flowers for Alganon
>Comes back later: "huh, is that guy simple or something"
>My face

>> No.885784
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885784

>>885775
Anthony Kiedis wrote an autobiography?

>> No.885789
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885789

>"Hey anon, could you lend me a book to read over the summer?"
>lend mom The Road
>She gives it back two days later
>"I don't want to finish it, I know the ending is going to be bad."

>> No.885790
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885790

>My face when my mother has original print run copies of LotR.

>> No.885793

>>885789

Suddenly, McCarthy selling out everywhere!

Even your mom is better than that faggot.

>> No.885798

>>880688
Well, I don't get it OP.
Verbalize your opinion wont you?

>> No.885799

>>885784

Yeah, and it's really not that bad. Co-written with some guy I can't remember and can't be bothered to look up. Pretty much all about drugs and sex and a little bit about the band.

>> No.885802

>>880688
>Reading lolita
>friend asks what it's about
>oh fuck the gigs up face

>> No.885808

My mum's a cultist and my dad's an doctor of engineering. my brother is a physician.

I'm an unemployed and uneducated
at least i'm not a cultist

>> No.885826

>>885808

>my mum's a cultist

Elaborate, please.

>> No.885856

>reading Atlas Shrugged
>mom walks in and asks me to clean my room
>my mother does not appreciate fine literature

>> No.885875

>family is working class, poort
>read Don Quixote
>dad asks what I've been doing, tell him I read it
>dad says 'Oh, I read that'
>have a discussion about literature

everythingwentbetterthanexpected.jpg

>> No.885879

>>885875
That's actually really nice

>> No.885883

>>885856
I think you skipped one.

>> No.885887
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885887

>>885856
>read rand
>claim dear mother doesn't understand literature
>my face

>> No.885927

>>885784
Yep. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scar_Tissue_%28book%29

Enjoy.

>> No.885954

>>885798
He wasn't "simple." He was aloof, complacent and imperturbable, but he wasn't "simple."

Also, for context, I should point out my mum is rather old-fashioned. So when she says "simple" she means retarded.

>> No.885959
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885959

>reading The Fountainhead
>my economics professor asks me which class I'm reading it for
>I tell him I'm an Objectivist
>he fails me
>I go on to make millions, he dies in a gutter

>> No.885961

to the OP>

the point of the book is:
i did it cuz i could ... is that simple? personally i disagree ... but you really didnt define simple did you?

>> No.885982

>>885959
HAHHAHAHAHHAHAHA

HAHAHAHA

>> No.885986

>>885954
your mom is still right

>> No.885987

>>885959
then you woke up with your face covered in cum by that same professor.

>> No.886001
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886001

>Dad was in the Hell's angels
>Sees me reading Hunter S. Thompson's book on the subject
>proceeds to tell me that Thompson was a homosexual and the book is full of shit

>> No.886008

oh and if simple=retarded then wtf is your mom thinking?

retarded? mersault? srsly? he is the most general picture of the common person of the 20th century
(goes to work, screws a girl, helps a neighbour)

now on the beach a retard would let get cut, a smart man might run away, and mersault kills the fuck ... cuz he could and nobody could stop him ... how is that retarded ... and he feels no remorse for killing the man ... so how is he retarded? tell your mum that its nice she can read but to stfu if she cant really see the point of the story

>> No.886031
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886031

>My reaction when my mom tells me about downloading Tolstoy's complete collected works in Russian to read on her e-reader

She even has an e-reader, how about that.

>> No.886033

>>885961
That was not the point of the book at all.]

>>885986
How so?

>> No.886034

>My mom reads shit books
>She asks me for a suggestion
>I suggest Breakfast of Champions
>She gets it as a book on tape
>No illustrations

>> No.886038

>>886034
I bet she gets you birthday presents that are similar to what you wanted but totally wrong. How's that Zune?

>> No.886037
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886037

>>885779
lol'd.

>> No.886048

>>886038
haha. Not really, but she's never gotten me a book that I liked that I didn't specifically ask for. God fucking dammit I hate mystery novels

>> No.886068

>>886048
LIKE USoh goddamnit wrong Hardy Boys

>> No.886071
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886071

>>886068
(forgot picture herp durp)

>> No.886083
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886083

>the only books my mom reads are by Nora Roberts
>my dad reads autobiographies of pro-wrestlers

>> No.886086

>>886048
Better than the Christian books on morality my parents get me in a thinly-veiled attempt to save my soul.

>> No.886094

>>886083
>my dad reads autobiographies of pro-wrestlers
Your dad sounds like a bro. I should like to hang with him some time.

>> No.886108

The sun is representative for his unwillingness to accept responsibility for his actions (one of the biggest existential themes). Mersault always explains how hot the sun was and how the sweat dripped into his eyes, as if he couldn't see what was going on but really hes just trying to shift blame onto the circumstance

>> No.886113
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886113

>Reading Sagan's Cosmos.
>Dad sees me reading it.
>"Can I take a look at that," he asks.
>I hand him the book and he reads a few pages.
>mfw he yells, "FUCKING MAGNETS, HOW DO THEY WORK?"

>> No.886117 [DELETED] 

>>886108
Exactly! At one point in the trial he even says something along the lines of: "at that point, I realised I was guilty."

>> No.886123 [DELETED] 

he also said the gun knocked back against his hand, and never says that HE pulled the trigger, as if it just fired.

>> No.886126

>>886086

Did you end up with anything by Strobel?
Or Ralph Muncaster?

"How to Talk About Jesus with the Skeptics in Your Life" was terrible...

>> No.886132

My grandmother has no education past a few years of elementary school in rural Ireland. Yet she continues to surprise me. I don't know how much of the books she takes in, she only really describes books as 'nice' or 'bad'.

>Reading Joyce's Portrait...
>Mention it whilst talking to family
>Grandmother has read every Joyce book

>Assigned Blake for school
>Mention it whilst talking to family
>Grandmother has read a tonne of Blake

>L'etranger is my favourite book
>Mention it whilst talking to family
>Grandmother didn't read it because Camus is French
>She hates French people

>> No.886136

My favorite part of this book was the conflict between the preacher and mersault at the end. I think it was representative of why the church had lied for so long about everything including morality because they were afraid about what these nihilistic ideas would do to society. Not that Camus was a nihilist but with the idea of freedom one sort of has to reject the notion that there is a morality defined by the universe.

>> No.886159

>>886132
>L'etranger

oh-no-you-didn't.jpg

>> No.886178

>>886132
>L'etranger

I bet you're the guy I saw sucking dicks in the alley the other night.

>> No.887516

>>886132
Your grandmother is awesome.

>> No.887560

>>885802
i-hate-it-when-this-happens.jpg

i pick books with fairly ambiguous titles for a reason- i can read them on public transport.

>> No.887569

>>886159
>oh-no-you-le-didn't.jpg
Fixed.

Unrelated note: "omelette du fromage" means "omelet from the cheese", which doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

>> No.887573

888888 GET

>> No.887647

>>887573
Premature getting. It doesn't happen to all men but it happened to you.