Jason
This essay very effectively articulates the condition and ramifications of “the absurd.” In doing so, Camus clearly describes what is the root, I think, of all creative works.
I found Camus' prescriptions about how to deal with the absurd a good start, but I think other writers like David Foster Wallace make a stronger argument about how the “leap of faith” fits into contemporary culture and quotidian life.
“The Stranger” made a whole lot more sense after reading “The Myth of Sisyphus.” For me, “the absurd” articulates something very important from which most (all?) works of art stem - an attempt to find or impose human meaning and order in a world that rejects both. In the end, Meursault finds comfort by submitting to the absurd. But the extent to which this can be extrapolated as prescriptive is flushed out a bit more in the essay. Thus, these works should really be read together.
Upon immersing myself in Wikipedia pages on 19th century Russian culture and philosophy, I found this book to be an interesting and relevant treatise on finding meaning in the Absurd.
I enjoyed reading secondary sources almost as much as the primary, most notably “Nihilism and ‘Notes from Underground'” by Joseph Frank (http://www.jstor.org.silk.library.umass.edu/stable/27540632), “The Case against Rational Egoism in Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground” by James P. Scanlan (http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/journal_of_the_history_of_ideas/v060/60.3scanlan.html -can provide PDFs upon requests if I know you) and David Foster Wallace's “Joseph Frank's Dostoevsky (http://www.amazon.com/Consider-Lobster-David-Foster-Wallace/dp/0316156116). Each essay helped frame this piece against Dostoevsky's life, culture and politics, without which the reader will be missing out on this little ditty.
As a huge DFW fan, I think “Broom of the Systems” is both a great look at the early work of a prolific author and a fun little novel by itself. As in”Girl with Curious Hair,” it's fun to see Wallace's early approach to interweaving character, story, philosophy, cultural commentary and the postmodern aesthetic that he would later master in “Infinite Jest.”
This brilliant series beautifully weaves together various spiritual myths, popular culture, science fiction and contemporary metafictional literary structure into a wild, dense, strange narrative jambalaya. It takes a lot of energy and focus to read but it's well worth the effort.
Morrison packs a LOT of ideas into each issue– perhaps, sometimes, too many ideas– and as a result, they aren't quite as tightly written as Moore's “Watchmen.” But, you know, I'd imagine alien abductions in Kathmandu are pretty complicated experiences...
The Barbelith website is an essential companion guide, and it might be helpful to watch Morrison speak about his experience writing the series after you've finished to help you parse it all out.
“Less Than Zero” is a relatively interesting portrait of a generation searching for something (Palm Springs?) on such a deep level and so mired by drugs and pop culture that they can't even comprehend their need to search at all. Playing with the edge between critiquing LA youth culture and glorifying it, Ellis paints characters as thinly as their personalities and aspirations, making the read enjoyable only in that laughing-at-the-skinny-girl-behind-her-back-because-she's-probably-anorexic-and-nobody-cares kind of way. I couldn't identify with any of these characters, and I'm not sure I'm supposed to. But it gets complicated when people try to, and find themselves sucked into the simulacrum of how it's “supposed” to feel as a 21st century teenager.
Overall, I'm glad I read to it to get a sense of its cultural significance, but I can't help but think that Wallace just did it so much better with Hal in “Infinite Jest,” a much more interesting and surreal character dealing with the rampant apathy or anhedonia of post-industrial society.
After numerous tries getting stuck around page 30, I finally finished this book. After you get used to the aesthetic, the horrific imagery, and catch on the the cast of recurring characters, it's a very interesting story (or story-ish thing) about a dystopian future dominated by addiction and power.
Beware if you are uncomfortable with the following: human mutilation, insertion of various body parts into other body parts in a sexual nature, graphic depictions of drugs entering the blood stream through various entry points, bugs/aliens, or non-traditional narrative structures.
This books makes a whole lot more sense when you read it as an adult and have some context. I really loved it this time around. It's a great look into post-WWII counterculture during a generation defined by cookie-cutter suburbs and American hegemony. Sal and Dean create a brilliant yet flawed portrait of youth searching for purpose in an elusive “American dream.”
A very interesting style of biography about a road trip with one of my favs, David Foster Wallace. Reminds me of vérité-style documentaries which tells a small story that acts as a microcosm for a person's larger essence, involving the storyteller in the act of storytelling.
Provides a lot of context to DFW's literature up until Infinite Jest.
This is another important book for people interested in the Internet or Web culture.
Spanning cultural ownership, mass amateurization, crowdsourcing, and other Web phenomena, this book paints an important portrait of how the world is changing as a result of low transaction costs and group-formation.
A dense but pleasant read.
This book provides an in-depth qualitative data analysis about Wenger's research with “communities of practice,” or groups of people that form around collective, sustained tasks.
This is an important book for anyone interested in group-formation or identity co-constituted from within the self and as a member of different groups.
