#French L’Été
- Author: A. Camus
- Title: L’Été (essay)
- Published 1939
Conclusion:
- I must channel my thoughts into a French book.
- It is the only way I can stay focused during Corona lockdown.
- Reading a third language (…Dutch is my second)
- will make reading interactive
- …the words on the page vs the words I have to look up!
- The book wasn’t difficult but I should have read an
- ..ol’ fashioned crime fiction to kick-start my French reading.
- Oran Algeria is nice….but I wouldn’t want to live there.
- My last French book was in July 2019
- …so my vocabulary was a little rusty.
- #NeverGiveUp
L’Été by Albert Camus
- Albert Camus compares Oran Algeria to a labyrinth in this essay.
- It is a closed space in which people go around in circles.
- Their lives are filled with boredom and futility.
- All beauty (man-made or natural) has been eliminated.
- Oran is a a place “sans âme et sans recours”. (no soul, no refuge…just stone)
- The Minotaur in this labyrinth is boredom,
- “Le Miontaur dévoure les Oranais: c’est l’ennui.”
Notes:
- Oran: the streets – descriptions of the men/women of Oran
- …having shoes shined, flirting and their nicknames Clarques (men) -Marlènes (women)
- Clark Gable-Marilyn Monroe….les voluptés (sensual pleasures)
- Oran: the desert of Oran..…compares Oran to Florence, Athene and other cities.
- Oran: the games – description favorite sport in Oran….boxing.
- BEST CHAPTER: This boxing section was wonderful
- …no deep philosophical thoughts…just a great sportscast!
- Oran: the monuments….about Maison de Colon municipal building opened in Oran 1930
- Oran: the monuments….about Hôtel de Ville with 2 bronze lions by Auguste Cain in 1889
- Oran: Ariane’s stone (mythology)
- …Oran is made of stone and Camus uses a stone in his essay
- … instead of the string. Ariane used a string to help her
- …lover retrace his way out of the labyrinth of the Minotaur.
- Camus will use a stone …to show the people that
- …they too can escape boredom (Minotaur) in Oran.
- If the Oranais find a balance between
- …their suffering and what nature can give them
- …they will be spared a life of futility.
- “Il faut dire “ oui” au Minotaur.”
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Reblogged this on penwithlit and commented:
Camus clearly in vogue at the moment! Thanks for this!
Thank you for the reblog! Trying to get back to reading in French….many classics are so much better in the original language.