[ 3 / biz / cgl / ck / diy / fa / ic / jp / lit / sci / vr / vt ] [ index / top / reports ] [ become a patron ] [ status ]
2023-11: Warosu is now out of extended maintenance.

/lit/ - Literature

View post   
File: 59 KB, 450x400, the-stranger.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
1767188 No.1767188 [Reply] [Original]

Why do people love this book?

I am having a difficult time understanding what existentialism represents. If it represents the notion that humans merely exist but nothing really matters, then Mersault is definitely an existentialist.

s existentialism then merely having low blood sugar?
What is the difference between this man and a common animal such as a dog?
Nothing really matters to the dog except physical sustenance.
How can there be an entire literary movement based on something so inconsequential?
And if nothing really matters, then why does Camus spend energy writing a novel about an idea that doesn't really matter?

I apologize for the sour tone, but this philosophy seems to go against everything I think normal people believe in. It opposses the foundations of human life.

>> No.1767197

I wanted to read this, but it's very short. Is it worth it?

>> No.1767202

>>1767197
YES YOU MOTHERFUCKER
READ IT NOW

>> No.1767203

"No, I am not an existentialist. Sartre and I are always surprised to see our names linked." -- Albert Camus

>> No.1767204

>>1767197
I hope that question only stems from not wanting to spend money on something that you'll finish too quickly, because otherwise you are a right tit, sir!

>> No.1767206

The Outsider isn't about existentialism. Camus rejected existentialism in The Myth of Sisyphus which is a bit of a mess of a book but if you really care about what he was getting at you'd be better off reading that than asking odd questions about blood sugar.

>>1767197
Yeah, it's enjoyable enough.

>> No.1767209

>>1767188
>And if nothing really matters, then why does Camus spend energy writing a novel about an idea that doesn't really matter?

>I apologize for the sour tone, but this philosophy seems to go against everything I think normal people believe in. It opposses the foundations of human life.

Who said nothing really matters?

There may be no objective meaning to anything, no reason for existence - doesn't mean that you're not allowed to make one.

Did you finish the book?

[Spoilers]
What do you think Mersault's final outburst, and final wish, mean?

>> No.1767211

existentialism is such boring teenage entry level shit

from my recent reading I'm realising SITUATIONISM was the greatest of ism of them all

>> No.1767212

Read the monologue at the end.

>> No.1767216

>>1767212
Don't just skip to it. It won't have the impact it usually does if you don't go through the book first.

>> No.1767220

>>1767197
It is worth a read IMO. You'll get through it in no time.

>> No.1767222

Existentialism has become an umbrella term for all philosophies dealing which deal with the irrational nature of the universe.

You have taken the interpretation of my old English teacher who believed Meursault was a sad and anhedonic individual.

I see him as being one of the only people in the book who felt anything real at all.

Just because you accept that everything is absurd doesn't mean you cannot live and be free. In fact it is near impossible to do so otherwise.

>> No.1767231

>>1767222
>I see him as being one of the only people in the book who felt anything real at all.

Word. It might help to take Mersault in comparison with some other characters, like I had to.

I had to read these books as part of my IB English World Lit sequence: (in order)

Kafka's Metamorphosis
Mann's Death in Venice
Camus' The Outsider

The theme was imprisonment/freedom blah blah.>>1767222

Mersault, though the only one actually physically incarcerated, is the 'most free' of all three.

Good stuff, read it I advise.

>> No.1767233

>>1767222
go to bed, truman

>> No.1767235

>>1767222
What this guy said is basically the key to understand the book.

>> No.1767246

fuckyeahexistentialism.tumblr.com

>> No.1767261
File: 11 KB, 215x226, okay.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
1767261

>>1767233

>> No.1767265

Existentialism explained very shortly: Life doesn't have any objective meaning, there are no objective moral values, but instead of becoming an empty nihilist who doesn't care about anything, you have to take responsibility for your own life and make your own choices.

By the way, do you guys see any connection between a writer like Marquis de Sade and Existentialism and Nietzscheanism?