tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454161596094447448.post5424997412682125881..comments2024-02-20T12:26:24.682-05:00Comments on language goes on holiday: Thoughts from CamusDuncan Richterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15708344766825805406noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454161596094447448.post-28352731058712079812020-07-20T17:41:39.296-04:002020-07-20T17:41:39.296-04:00Oh yes, it shouldn't be read as nothing but a ...Oh yes, it shouldn't be read as nothing but a metaphor. One thing I like about it is how realistic it seems about an actual plague. <br /><br />And as for its relative value compared with his other books, I think the only other novel of his I've read is The Stranger. That was too long ago for me to remember what I thought of it. Duncan Richterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15708344766825805406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454161596094447448.post-2973407394909949552020-07-20T13:55:58.426-04:002020-07-20T13:55:58.426-04:00I think your point about "not knowing" i...I think your point about "not knowing" is captured well in the final pages of the novel. This might be depressing, but it can also be stimulating: the boulder, in this case, is worth rolling (it is not merely absurd), because of the impact we can have on specific other people around us. That could be sentimental, so I think one has to be careful with the idea. I avoided reading the book all as a metaphor for fascism, which is a way to read it, and it's interesting that Camus seems in other places to want people not to read it MERELY as a metaphor for what they went through in WWII. (Refusing the metaphorical add-on reminds me of a very frustrating lesson I learned from a poetry professor, who politely refused to accept the students' various metaphorical interpretations of Frost's "The Road Not Taken." It took me about 15 years to appreciate fully why he did that.)Matthew Pianaltohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16380038537888895216noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454161596094447448.post-40074928970852775902020-07-18T16:17:57.161-04:002020-07-18T16:17:57.161-04:00Hi! I hope you do re-start. I liked The Plague qui...Hi! I hope you do re-start. I liked The Plague quite a bit, although I feel as though how good it is depends on how true it is, and I'm not sure about that. Supposedly the plague is a metaphor for fascism, and the message seems to be that common decency (of an active kind) is the solution. To that I want to say: I hope it's true; we'll see. But then I think: No, we won't. We can't ever know whether fascism is here for good or gone for good. Still, it's an encouraging message. Duncan Richterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15708344766825805406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454161596094447448.post-21307698975837122942020-07-18T14:00:37.062-04:002020-07-18T14:00:37.062-04:00Hi--long time. I've been so out of the blog lo...Hi--long time. I've been so out of the blog loop the last few years, but have been writing more and thinking about a re-start. Was just scrolling through your blog because it's always interesting. This caught my eye--I've been on a huge Camus kick. How did you end up liking The Plague overall? (For me, it's his best novel--but that could just be the pandemic talking...)Matthew Pianaltohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16380038537888895216noreply@blogger.com