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Albert Camus - Blog Posts
albert camus
those who prefer their principles over their happiness; they refuse to be happy outside of the conditions they seem to have attached to their happiness
Aeneas taken by the Sibyl to the Underworld (Detail), 17th century. By Jacob Isaacsz. van Swanenburg
hi again! back here pretending i didn't say i'd be posting more and then disappeared. i hope there's someone here still, if there's not it's ok, let it be just me and my own tumblr shadow.
BUT if there is, i hope you're ok. been a long time, alot happened, it always does.
i went to the movies to watch one of my favorite movies of the year: 'ainda estou aqui' (i'm still here) by walter salles. it's really nice to see a brazilian film doing so well internationally.
there's a promo going on and i bought these books over ☝🏼 there. as always, camus, clarice and byung-chul han; then, ivan turgueniev, woolf (i've been wanting to buy for a long time), and today i received a dostoievski book too 👇🏼!
unfortunately 2 weeks (maybe?) ago, i got hurt on my left foot. i tried to get better but it didn't work; so yesterday during our very first game in the competition, it got worse. i had to go to the hospital. the result is me not allowed to put my left foot on the ground and jumping around the house on one leg only.
and to wrap it up, i literally just started 'the substance'. don't have anything to say yet cause i'm 10 minutes in - but the photography is insane! really really good. i hope the hype is well deserved.
to all of you, the ones reading or not, i wish you peace of mind. have a real nice december! 🤲🏼🩶
so, i came back to tumblr, after all! weird to be here, i've disappeared almost everywhere, the queen of ghosting. it was for a good reason. i've been dealing with a long period of crisis, gave up 2 semesters at uni, been stuck in my bed 23h/day (not a hyperbole). finally, i feel like coming back here.
in this whole period, i haven't done too much. couldn't read, watched not so many movies/tv shows, but i did listen to a bunch of music. that kept me a bit less depressed.
i feel like i have something inside of me that is trying too hard to get out, but i don't know how to do it; it's a feeling of creation. only a few people actually feel this, like they need to create something, to put it out, but haven't found a way yet. it's stuck, and it's a whole interwork.
AND altho i know that not many people follow me, neither know who i am or whatever, but to anybody reading this and going through something bad, i hope you get better. focus on your health. it'll pass, doesn't matter when, just be strong and keep fighting. this isn't a coaching shit or self-help bad book, but for experience of someone who's dealing with way too much. everyday is a new day to begin again, until you get it.
have a really muthafuckin great day, guys. much love to you. (that's for the 2 people maybe reading this lmfao thank you for being here) 🌧🤍
these are some books that i've bought recently. expecting lispector and camus of me should be common sense by now. and of course, literary theory. 🤍
Hi!!
I bought 4 books recently, 2 of them arrived today:
• o mito de sísifo - camus;
• exílios e poemas - james joyce.
As you know, I already read the myth of sysifus, but it was on kindle and i wanted to have the physical one. And the Joyce's, I never even had heard about it, but found it online and it sounds interesting.
Be kind to yourselves, fellas! 🤍🌧
oieee! i had to go to college to return some books because my classes are finished (thank god) and i'm officially on vacation.
i'm still reading 'a peste' by camus. it's good but i was too busy getting crazy with the finals.
next book i'm gonna read is another byung-chul han (i know, i'm a stan) - 'hiperculturalidade'.
hope everything is good with you all. 🤍🌧
i'm still on lolita, damn this book is hard to read. every page i literally have a discomfort on the way he speaks about lolita. it's so sickening! but the writing is so good, i don't even know what to say. *Fiodora thinks so too!
on the other hand i'm gonna start 'pop song' and 'a peste' today! it's gonna be i guess my forth or fifth camus. i love him sm. also, i need to finish it soon cause my uni library doesn't accept us to keep the books on vacation and semester is ending. soooo... 🤸🏻♀️
it's nice day today, very cloudy. i love it, it puts me in a great mood! 🤍🌧
camus was so gorgeous, wasn't him? and had such a strong personality. innocent tho, an idealistic. you can easily fall in love with him just by reading about his history.
(yes, it's one of my inspirations if you couldn't tell already!) 🤍🌧
oh my fucking god we have to just keep washing dishes and putting them away and putting more food on them and washing them again over and over untill we die
On Sisyphus (And why Camus imagines him happy)
The story of Sisyphus is one that hits particularly close to home, and I'm sure I don't need to explain what it's about.
Similarly, Albert Camus' interpritation of the story, the one that ends with "One must imagine Sisyphus happy" has become pretty famous too, albiet more of a meme. There's a lot to unpack here, but I litterally have nothing better to do, so let's find out why Sisyphus is one lucky guy.
Sisyphus attempts to outsmart the gods, and as punishment, he must roll a boulder up a hill, knowing that it will roll back down once he reaches the top. Not only is that pretty funny, it also seems disgustingly similar to how modern life works. Doing laundry, waiting for the weekend, you name it.
It is a common thought that these things are tedious and eat up our limited time on earth, thus making us miserable. With that mindset, you would imagine Sisyphus as the most miserable human on earth. After all, he has been condemned to spending the rest of his life only working a menial task without any reward or meaning with the task at hand.
This was undoubtedly what the gods had in mind when they handed out this punishment, but Camus claims that it isn't all that bad. Personally, the line in "The Myth of Sisyphus" (which is the essay Camus wrote on the matter) that sticks with me the most is: "One always finds [their] burden", which I try to remember before I make a decision that supposedly will make my life easier.
After all, the people wealth large enough to never have to partake in work or laundry or any of these things do not enjoy a perpetual state of bliss and unconcern (unconcern is apperently a word). Their burdens simply lie elsewhere.
What am I getting at with all this? Well, I'm saying that, provided he was given enough time to accept his situation, Sisyphus wouldn't actually be happier if he was one day let back into the world and relieved of his boulder hauling duties. He would probably be happy for a while, but he would eventually find his burden, and go back to hauling a now metaphorical boulder.
So far we've established why Sisyphus would be equally miserable with or without his boulder, but why then is Sisyphus supposed to be happy?
Well, it basically boils down to a misleading segway. See, Sisyphus doesn't have to be miserable when he hauls that shitty boulder. It sounds insane, and Camus even states the absurdity of it. But if Sisyphus wanted to defy the gods one last time, could he? Could he end up happier than before he even got his punishment and end up with the last laugh? Yes, he could, and here's how.
The key is not to recognise the abusrdity of the situation. Instead of thinking about what a waste of time and how meaningless this task is, Sisyphus must instead do the opposite: Attempt to do the task to his absoloute best ability, without yielding to the idea that this task is, inherently, meaningless.
Should he succeed in this fundemental rework of his way of thinking, he will start enjoying the work. See, humans have a deep need to do a good job. When you procrastinate, or cut corners, or whatever, you will feel a tiny hit of misery (probably shame). That's just how we work. But the opposite applies too. If you truly commit to your task, no matter how meaningless or ineffecient it is, you will get a tiny reward.
If Sisyphus decides to push that boulder with all his might, every day, knowing damn well it will roll down again, he will be happy. He has defied his own misery, and found meaning in the most meaningless of tasks. And when the boulder rolls down, he will breathe a satisfied sigh, and walk back down to start pushing again.
Sounds pretty absurd, huh? One must imagine the people that are free to do menial tasks everyday happy? Well, you are free to imagine anyone any way you like. But I certainly imagine Sisyphus happy, along with any garbage worker and bus driver that find joy in their work.
"Don't walk in front of me; I will not follow. Don't walk behind me; I will not lead. Just walk beside me and be my friend."
Albert Camus (French Nobel Prize Winner/Philosopher)
“Always go too far, because that's where you'll find the truth.” — Albert Camus
"The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion." – Albert Camus
i think it’s safe to say that this one completely ruined me.
Reading Le Myth de Sisyphe and going “what the hell my guy” every line.
Have you ever been so annoyed by the sun you understood the entire plot of The Stranger?
The narrator in The Stranger be like “why does the prosecutor hate me so much?” my brother in Christ you murder a guy because of the sun.
… in that night alive with signs and stars, I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world
So many people disregard Camus as cold, detached, cynical.
But I ask you, what is a cynic, if not a broken romantic?
“Find meaning. Distinguish melancholy from sadness. Go out for a walk. It doesn't have to be a romantic walk in the park, spring at its most spectacular moment, flowers and smells and outstanding poetical imagery smoothly transferring you into another world. It doesn't have to be a walk during which you'll have multiple life epiphanies and discover meanings no other brain ever managed to encounter. Do not be afraid of spending quality time by yourself. Find meaning or don't find meaning but "steal" some time and give it freely and exclusively to your own self. Opt for privacy and solitude. That doesn't make you antisocial or cause you to reject the rest of the world. But you need to breathe. And you need to be.”
// Albert Camus, from “Notebooks, 1951-1959”
Review: L‘Étranger (Albert Camus)
Too bad I could not read it in French. I wish I could.
I really liked HOW it was written. The first half of the story is just cis men being cis men in a nutshell (ignoring, supporting each others in the violence they do, pretending like nothing happens, even helping each other while being like oh yeah he is a good guy you know). The other half is more philosophical. It hit differently also because I had an Ex who was pretty much like the main character: not interested in anything (except YouTube videos), not having opinions, not experiencing emotions very much (not expressing them is one thing but feeling bored by literally everything is different), not being able to have deep connections and be vulnerable with himself or others. On the other hand, the main character is wildly autistic coded for his inability to cope with physical stimuli (I feel that a lot) and remembering things others would not remember while reacting „inappropriately“ to stuff. So I don’t think I liked the story, but it’s on me. I liked how it is written though, Italien watching a film, so many details but it’s not too much. It’s like a strange diary of someone, who does not need people and actually doesn’t mind to die because people are too boring and everything is useles anyway. Something like that. But I would need to read some interpretations for sure, especially since I have bel reading in German.
