#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!
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Thank you for the reblog! Trying to get back to reading in French….many classics are so much better in the original language.
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