The Myth of Sisyphus
Ratings166
Average rating4.2
At this point I perceive, therefore, that hope cannot be eluded forever and that it can beset even those who wanted to be free of it.
Such an enchanting way of expressing ideas and a deeply interesting read from a philosophical perspective. Camus tackles the existential question from quite a dramatic but cohesive form.
read this while high and slowmaxxing
best decision ive ever made
“forever i shall be a stranger to myself”
crl nunca pensei que me custasse tanto para chegar à famosa frase do “One must imagine Sisyphus happy”
Uma autêntica bíblia para todo o existencialista/absurdista. Camus propoem-se, no ínicio do livro, a explicar que uma vida sem sentido não significa uma vida que não vale a pena ser vivida. A partir desta hipótese, e analisando Nietzsche, Kierkegaard e outros grandes nomes da filosofia, Camus consegue provar o seu ponto.
Camus discusses the ideas of several philosophers including Heidegger, Chestov, and Kirilov on the human condition and the meaning of existence. Heidegger sees existence as humiliating and the only reality is anxiety and it is described as coldly examining the human condition and concluding that existence is characterized by “anxiety” and “anguish.” , He digs deeper into the existentialism with Chestov's as he said to have discovered the “fundamental absurdity of all existence” and to have concluded that God is the only solution, even if he is “incomprehensible and contradictory.” The character Kirilov is described as seeking the attribute of his divinity, which he finds to be independence, and he believes that if God does not exist, everything depends on humans.
These essays overall touches on themes of hopelessness, freedom, and the choice to live or die, with a focus on the need for greater understanding and the dangers of blind hope. The author also reflects on the implications of these ideas and raises questions about the meaning of existence and the role of suicide in resolving the “absurd”. Camus acknowledges that they can only understand the meaning of things in human terms, and they are faced with two conflicting realities: their desire for absolute understanding and unity, and the impossibility of reducing the world to a rational principle. Suicide, as an acceptance of everything being over, can settle the absurdity of existence, but the he knows that the absurdity must remain unsettled in order for life to continue. The absurdity of life is the shoelace that prevents the condemned man from falling into death, even in their last moments.
Throughout this philosophical essay, Camus explores the implications of living in a world without meaning and purpose, and his perspective on the absurd. As the central image of the essay, the Greek mythological figure Sisyphus is depicted, who was punished by the gods with rolling boulders up hills, only to roll them back down, and repeat this cycle for eternity. In this image, Camus illustrates the absurdity and struggle of the human quest for meaning in a meaningless world as a result of experience with the absurd.
I really did not get the point Camus was making, and why he cared so much to show us that life is absurd. Two hundred pages to speak of the meaning of life I'd understand that, but hundreds of pages to speak of its meaningless kinda defeats the point. The lady doth protest too much.
The 3 stars is for the sentence “il faut imaginer Sisyphe heureux”.
“This world has a higher meaning that transcends its worries, or nothing is true but those worries.”
Not a full review but I just wanted to talk about this sentence that really stuck with me. I guess because it's a little scary. I am agnostic (or an atheist since people don't like the label of agnostic), so to believe in a higher power/meaning doesn't come as naturally or comfortably to me. At the same time, the alternative, that my worries are the most real thing in the world, is frightening and somewhat disheartening.
I definitely don't believe this sentence to be the ultimate axiom of life but I do believe that there's some truth to it. so the question holds: do I want my worries to be real and indispensable, or do I want to believe that there's a meaning far greater?
I've heard the echo of an age when a person cannot conciliate with God/gods anymore. No amount of metaphysics or theology won't help. No afterlife, and not even apparent justice is available. An uncompromising nihilism will strike:
At any streetcorner the feeling of absurdity can strike any man in the face. As it is, in its distressing nudity, in its light without effulgence, it is elusive.
I'm unable to give a rating to this book - partly because I find myself unable to judge a work of philosophy which is unanimously considered to be brilliant, and partly because there were a lot of things that went way over my head. Especially in the middle of the book where Camus goes heavy handed into explaining what the Absurd is and his critics of the contemporary philosophers. I was unable to follow because it requires at least a general understanding of the works of people that he criticises.
This will require at least one, and possibly multiple, re-reads for me to finally be able to say that yes, I read The Myth of Sisyphus and I “understood” it. Until then, this essay will remain an enigma to me.
a Big minus was that i have not read kafka, kierkegaard or dostoyevsky enough to fully absorb the references. However there were some great notions and remarks about life, the meaning and meaninglessness of it and a postmodern view into Eurpean (western) culture.