One of the themes of the novel is that Oran, quarantined from the outside world, becomes an absurd prison, with, as the Jesuit priest Father Paneloux puts it, God “striking at random, swinging up again in a shower of drops of blood, and spreading carnage and suffering” with no sense of justice. In this situation,… Read more »
Posts Tagged: books
Camus’ The Plague: Escape
But then the sound of hurried footsteps came again. Rieux was already halfway down the stairs, and when he stepped out into the street two men brushed past him. They seemed to be on their way to one of the town gates. In fact, what with the heat and the plague, some of our fellow… Read more »
Camus’ The Plague: Abstraction
“Oh, I know it’s an absurd situation, but we’re all involved in it, and we’ve got to accept it as it is.” “But I don’t belong here.” “Unfortunately, from now on you’ll belong here, like everybody else.” [...] “You’re using the language of reason, not of the heart; you live in a world of abstractions.”… Read more »
Camus’ The Plague: Exile
Under other circumstances our townsfolk would probably have found an outlet in increased activity, a more sociable life. But the plague forced inactivity on them, limiting their movements to the same dull round inside the town, and throwing them, day after day, on the illusive solace of their memories. For in their aimless walks they… Read more »
Book Signings
When you are an author at a book signing, it is a sin to talk at the people whose books you are signing, without listening to them – i.e., not having an exchange. They have, after all, paid you in several ways: financially, by paying to attend the event and thereby paying your speaker fees;… Read more »
Current Reading – The September/October Stack
The following is the first in a series of three articles describing the stacks of books sitting around my house. The Preface I am afflicted with a strange malady. Wherever I go, be it a stranger’s house, a best friend’s apartment, a coworker’s office, or even my parents’ home, I am drawn to bookshelves like… Read more »
Sorry, No Schadenfreude Here, Just Deus Ex Machina: Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God
Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time. This is the life of men. Now,… Read more »