A Happy Death (Book of the Month)

[lovejuice]

may is my own selection. if it's not by some dead european, it's probably not lovejuice. so our book is albert camus's a happy death.



an ultra-classic, so any decent library should have a copy.

from wiki:
"A Happy Death (original title La mort heureuse) was the first novel by French writer-philosopher Albert Camus. The existentialist topic of the book is the "will to happiness," the conscious creation of one's happiness, and the need of time (and money) to do so. It draws on memories of the author including his job at the maritime commission in Algiers, his suffering from tuberculosis, and his travels in Europe."

[Benny Profane]

Camus.

I'm on it.

[lovejuice]

Camus.

I'm on it.

yes. the book is, i think, a vast inspiration for bechdel's fun home which if i remember correctly you dig.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Definitely. I'll check my library today.

[Benny Profane]

yes. the book is, i think, a vast inspiration for bechdel's fun home which if i remember correctly you dig.

Never heard of it.

[lovejuice]

Never heard of it.

and memory fails me yet again. :frustrated: :lol:

[Kurosawa Fan]

Picked up a copy at the library this afternoon. It'll be the next book I read.

[ledfloyd]

I'm a huge fan of Fun Home and Camus so I'll be picking this up next trip to the library.

[lovejuice]

i'm starting this today.

[Kurosawa Fan]

i'm starting this today.

As am I.

[Benny Profane]

Soon, soon.

I figured since Torture Garden was 125 pages I'd have it done in a few days. Was not to be the case. It's possibly the most dense novella in history.

[lovejuice]

like it a lot. almost as much as the plague or the stranger. nothing really happens, but the book is courteously not that long and thus never boring. the contemplative tone is hypnotic, and i enjoy its philosphizing. quite illuminating and existential -- perhaps among a few times this word is suitably employed -- that camus's quest for happiness does not exclude a possibility of murder. kinda like a reverse crime and punishment.

i have to write an essay regarding this book, so surely i have more to say about it.

[Kurosawa Fan]

I actually didn't start this until last night. Read part one and am really excited to finish.

[Kurosawa Fan]

It's losing me lovejuice. Really losing me.

[lovejuice]

It's losing me lovejuice. Really losing me.

then brother, bear your soul and tell me how much and why you dislike it.

[Kurosawa Fan]

then brother, bear your soul and tell me how much and why you dislike it.

I'll hold off until I finish. I have about 40 pages left.

[Benny Profane]

Yeah, it was kinda up and down for me. I was OK with the equation that (happiness = money + time + effort + patience) but Mersault's trajectory from his European travels to living with three women to his eventual isolation near the coast, and Camus' non-stop descriptions of nature, though thematically apt, were just rambling. I liked the fact that Mersault was difficult to get to know. I was reminded of Morvern Callar in a way; an introverted, grayish character who uses the death of a loved one to get money and go on a quest for happiness. I was just frustrated at times with Camus' style. I'd say it is fairly incoherent.

I'm glad I read it, though.

[lovejuice]

I was just frustrated at times with Camus' style. I'd say it is fairly incoherent.

to me what's most incoherent is not style but philosophy. a book out of which it's very hard to get something substantial. i'm not even sure camus understands his philosophy that well upon writing it. the landscape description doesn't bother me much. and i really like its guilt-free stance, very bold i must say.

a lot has been made out of "the house above the world" section, but i agree with you, i can't get a freak out of it either, except it reminds me of contempt.

[Benny Profane]

a lot has been made out of "the house above the world" section, but i agree with you, i can't get a freak out of it either, except it reminds me of contempt.

Yeah, was Mersault nailing those chicks or what? I couldn't figure it out. Anyway, it sounded like a pretty great house to live in. If anything the novel made me want to visit the Algerian coast.

I agree with you about the philosophy being incoherent, by the way.

[Kurosawa Fan]

I'm disappointed. It started off so promising. Part One was compelling and enthralling and everything that Part Two wasn't. My biggest problem with the book was the rambling philosophies, which weren't much more enlightening that those in Death in the Family. Instead of a group of people, it was just one guy, but it wasn't much more tolerable. Also, much of the second part was just a snooze. I counted six times in the fourth chapter of Part Two where Camus mentioned that Mersault could hear the insects humming around him. The highlights were Mersault's interactions with the people around him, especially his women. Those scenes were wonderfully written, especially when Mersault was first recognizing his growing infatuation with Lucienne. It made me wish Camus had written a romantic novel. I don't know, the book felt almost like it was incomplete, like Camus had a beginning and an end but just couldn't figure out how to connect the two, and never did sort that problem out. Oh, and I agree that the relationship between Mersault and the three women in the house above the world was baffling. He seemed to have a connection with Catherine, but romance wasn't necessarily implied. I was confused.

This is another book of the month that failed for me. Benny is the lone winner thus far. Sorry lovejuice.

[Benny Profane]

This is another book of the month that failed for me. Benny is the lone winner thus far. Sorry lovejuice.

All these great recommendations I give you and you STILL won't read The Devil in the White City.

[Kurosawa Fan]

All these great recommendations I give you and you STILL won't read The Devil in the White City.

:lol:

It's on the shelf! I would have probably read it had I not read A Happy Death. Soon my good man. Soon.