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wil- thanks for the explanation - took the words out of my mouth! (or perhaps Camus' mouth. . .)
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You're welcome, and it should be noted that you did that to me earlier in this thread. You did a fine job explaining what the absurd is which saved me the effort of typing it out.
Yeah, as for Camus, I love his mind. I've been reading through his notebooks a lot lately. Life can have a way of slipping away, but when you read Camus and keep the absurd and concept of revolt and rebellion in mind it helps a lot. What I have been impressed with specifically (since I just had a hard break-up) is the focus on solitude in his notebooks.
<small>"How can it be that, linked to such suffering, her face is still the face of happiness for me?" August, 1942
"Four months of ascetic and solitary life. The will, the mind profit form it. But the heart?" - February, 1943
"The great problem to be solved "practically": can one be happy and solitary?" - February, 1943
"<i>Misunderstanding.</i> The wife, after the husband's death: 'How I love him.' " - June, 1943
"One writes in moments of despair. But what is despair?" - November, 1943
</small>Ha, see, defining what you are talking about is an important step in any situation... and surprisingly difficult often.
<small>"A love can be preserved only for reasons external to love. Moral reasons, for instance" - November, 1943
"Unbearable solitude - I cannot believe it or resign myself to it." October, 1946
"You begin by loving no one. Then you love all men as a group. Later on you love only a few, then a single woman, and finally one man alone." September, 1948
"How to live without a few good reasons for despairing!" September, 1948</small>
In any event, as great as Camus is with the absurd, solitude, revolt, etc... I do suggest branching out well beyond him in regards to these things and all else. I tend to start any reading with a consideration of the absurd and how the author or thinker addresses it; it gives me a sense of how ultimate (or irrelevent)the meaning will be for me.