Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
I think that no review could ever do justice to the greatness of this essay and to the effect it had on me, so I'll just limit myself to quote the climax of the book (which, if you consider everything that precedes it, contains some of the most beautiful words I have ever read):
"I leave Sisyphus at the foot of the mountain! One always finds one's burden again. But Sisyphus teaches the higher fidelity that negates the gods and raises rocks. He too concludes that all is well. This universe henceforth without a master seems to him neither sterile nor futile. Each atom of that stone, each mineral flake of that night-filled mountain, in itself, forms a world. The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy."
"I leave Sisyphus at the foot of the mountain! One always finds one's burden again. But Sisyphus teaches the higher fidelity that negates the gods and raises rocks. He too concludes that all is well. This universe henceforth without a master seems to him neither sterile nor futile. Each atom of that stone, each mineral flake of that night-filled mountain, in itself, forms a world. The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy."
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
informative
slow-paced
informative
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
What is called a reason for living is also an excellent reason for dying
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
Knowing that this was a collection of philosophical essays, I chose to read this not expecting the pieces to be as beautifully and poetically written as they truly were. I wanted to highlight and ruminate over almost every single line of the book. There are a lot of striking sentences here that would make one pause and reflect.
I loved the core ideas presented in the essays, but especially about the futility and absurdity of living one's life (but not in a depressing way - in fact, I found the overall tone to be quite hopeful). Before reading, I thought it was preposterous to think that Sisyphus would have been happy with his predicament, but I've been convinced.
That being said though, this was definitely a challenging read! I found myself rereading lines a few times because I didn't understand them the first time. I'm probably just stupid though.
I loved the core ideas presented in the essays, but especially about the futility and absurdity of living one's life (but not in a depressing way - in fact, I found the overall tone to be quite hopeful). Before reading, I thought it was preposterous to think that Sisyphus would have been happy with his predicament, but I've been convinced.
That being said though, this was definitely a challenging read! I found myself rereading lines a few times because I didn't understand them the first time. I'm probably just stupid though.
reflective
slow-paced
Camus is a literary power few can even compete with, much less match. The Myth of Sisyphus suffers as a result. In laying out his "absurdist" philosophy Camus' prose are so overwhelming that it can be difficult to understand his point. I found myself so taken in by the power and and sweep of the words I would miss the point.
Whether explaining absudism or the weather in Algiers Camus' ability as a wordsmith is well deserved. If you haven't read any of his work I would suggest starting with one of his novels. His essays are a bit harder to grasp. I'm sure I missed a lot in this set of essays and I'll be back to try to pull more of what I know to be in there out.
Whether explaining absudism or the weather in Algiers Camus' ability as a wordsmith is well deserved. If you haven't read any of his work I would suggest starting with one of his novels. His essays are a bit harder to grasp. I'm sure I missed a lot in this set of essays and I'll be back to try to pull more of what I know to be in there out.
challenging
inspiring
reflective