Posts Tagged ‘reflections’
reflections on the first man August 8th, 2009
I just finished reading ‘The First Man’, Camus’ last, and unfinished work.
I’ve always related most to Camus, of all the authors – with the rest, be they philosophers or linguists like Nietzsche, Baudrillard, Derrida and Sartre, or Novelists like Murakami, Mailer and Marquez, or the fantasy writers like Tolkien, Herbert and Jordan – being a little lesser in influence.
It is something of his detached yet engaged approach, coming from the understanding that beyond Good or Evil, humanity just IS; and the paradoxical (or maybe perfectly logical) love and sorrow for life itself that has always appealed to me, that I found most of all in Camus’ writings.
Like Nietzsche before or Sartre alongside him, he moved from the understandings of anarchism and nihilism that are the foundation for free thought, to the humanist approach to life — only, unlike the other two, he probably got a whole lot closer to achieving it. While Sartre may have burned a little brighter in the eyes of many, Camus’ flame and its relevance will linger on for much longer because of this.
Anyways, I found it a deeply moving book, and put up this review on its Shelfari page:
Awareness of one’s intellectual ability, and the fulfillment of that promise in understanding the universe often makes us forget where we came from, where it all started. It is when that grounding goes that our systems of thought amount to zero; for it is that grounding which best tells us how we need to use those thoughts and engage with the world around.
Perhaps the most reflective of his works. I went through the books remembering my own childhood. I loved every bit of the book, and am glad it was published. As fate would have it, Camus never finished his book, and the notes reveal some of the grandness his vision would have reached if accomplished.
Nonetheless, It has it’s own charm for that very reason. We only know Jacques Cormery as a child then, and maybe that’s the best part, the innocent part of us we need to recall in ourselves. The rest of our lives, while maybe filled with success, can never quite match up to the promise of childhood.
He lays out a lot of the thinking that shaped his beliefs, which eventually led to his alienation from Sartre and the left bank of that period. It takes courage to be reasonable; especially in times of war and crises — and it is that courage that elevates you to being human. That’s something his contemporaries learned much later, if they learned at all.
The shelfari review page is here. Other writings on the book can be found on the NYTimes (Boyhood’s dark fire, Camus’s Last Work, a First Draft, Shows His Life and His Style, Albert Camus: Being Right about the Left, and (on his notebooks) Uncomfortable in His Skin, Thriving in His Mind)
The first review ends saying
The tragic humanism of Camus is not to be confused with pessimism. Camus knew that war, not peace, is normal; that Cain will always murder Abel — just as Dr. Rieux in “The Plague” knows that the deadly bacillus will not disappear. Hence the need for permanent vigilance. There can be no armistice in our struggle against suffering. The lesson Camus teaches is that we must learn to love that which is imperfect. This love must extend to loving that which is inevitable. Camus’s allegiance to life, the life he lost so suddenly and so early, was from the start joyful and desperate.
“One must love life before loving its meaning, and when the love of life disappears, no meaning can console us.” – Fyodor Dostoevsky.
Tags: Camus, existentialism, humanism, philosophy, reflections
Posted in Books, reflections | Comments (0)
reflections of a bored post-modernist
May 26th, 2009
confessions of a bored post modernist, originally uploaded by s t e r n f a h r e r.
the band is on stage. sound check is over with. the lights fade out. a spotlight illuminates a little, where all was once light. the drummer starts a marching beat. the bass kicks in. half the concert is actually over. the lead guitarist and vocalist stepped out for a smoke half-way through the performance. the bassist steps out now. it’s just the drums.
the audience is listening, the audience is watching. this wasn’t part of the script, but it is. there’s an IPL game going on at the other end of the room. well, it was. this was weeks ago. i’m sitting three tables down from the stage. i’m sipping a Long Island Iced Tea. not really my drink of choice, but then again, i’m a little phlegmatic towards drink selection today, and i’m focused on the music anyways.
the drum solo continues. someone shouts out for Rock On (by the drummer, are you kidding me?) someone else shouts out for Moby Dick (the Led Zeppelin track, not the whale. probably). people are shouting for the rest of the band to get back into the venue and on stage, the drummer’s shouting, too! the Rajasthan Royals are back in the game. against Mumbai. pity, really, i like both teams.
‘guys, get back in here’ shouts the drummer. they’re outside. they can’t hear him. ‘keep going’ shouts the audience. they’re loving it. they were here for a performance. they’re getting one. scripted, or maybe unscripted. who knows? the band comes back on stage. they’ve got to play another hour. they invite friends on stage to perform.
this is not quite a rockshow. it’s not quite a performance. it’s not quite a cricket match. it’s not quite a dinner. it’s not quite an evening out. it’s not quite a rockshow. it just is. definable, undefinable.
there are no questions, but one, no answers but one.
are you entertained?
yes.
confessions of a bored post modernist, originally uploaded by s t e r n f a h r e r.
the band is on stage. sound check is over with. the lights fade out. a spotlight illuminates a little, where all was once light. the drummer starts a marching beat. the bass kicks in. half the concert is actually over. the lead guitarist and vocalist stepped out for a smoke half-way through the performance. the bassist steps out now. it’s just the drums.
the audience is listening, the audience is watching. this wasn’t part of the script, but it is. there’s an IPL game going on at the other end of the room. well, it was. this was weeks ago. i’m sitting three tables down from the stage. i’m sipping a Long Island Iced Tea. not really my drink of choice, but then again, i’m a little phlegmatic towards drink selection today, and i’m focused on the music anyways.
the drum solo continues. someone shouts out for Rock On (by the drummer, are you kidding me?) someone else shouts out for Moby Dick (the Led Zeppelin track, not the whale. probably). people are shouting for the rest of the band to get back into the venue and on stage, the drummer’s shouting, too! the Rajasthan Royals are back in the game. against Mumbai. pity, really, i like both teams.
‘guys, get back in here’ shouts the drummer. they’re outside. they can’t hear him. ‘keep going’ shouts the audience. they’re loving it. they were here for a performance. they’re getting one. scripted, or maybe unscripted. who knows? the band comes back on stage. they’ve got to play another hour. they invite friends on stage to perform.
this is not quite a rockshow. it’s not quite a performance. it’s not quite a cricket match. it’s not quite a dinner. it’s not quite an evening out. it’s not quite a rockshow. it just is. definable, undefinable.
there are no questions, but one, no answers but one.
are you entertained?
yes.
Tags: Dinner, Friends, Not Just Jazz By The Bay, philosophy, reflections, Rock, theater of the absurd, Workshop
Posted in Photography, random musings, reflections | Comments (1)
six phases of an advertising project May 26th, 2009
got this off Hey Whipple, Squeeze This. Hilarious.
1. Enthusiasm
2. Disillusionment
3. Panic
4. Search for the guilty
5. Punishment of the innocent
6. Praise and honors for non-participants
I like how the actual creative process is just one-sixth of it all. ^_^
Tags: advertising, funny, reflections
Posted in random musings | Comments (1)
