ABSURDITY

“Absurdity is king, but love saves us from it.”

Camus

I first read Albert Camus while taking a course at the University of Colorado called French Writers and God.

Professor Richard Chadbourne taught this course.

It was then that I also met Montaigne and Pascal.

My soul was opened up, and my consciousness was raised by these  writers.

I recently re-read NOTEBOOKS 1935-1942 by Camus.

It is from this book that I have found a few examples of absurdity.

I'm also reading NOTEBOOKS 1951-1959.

Not too much is funny or absurd in this work, nor does it have as much poetic description as NOTEBOOKS 1935-1942.

Here are selections from NOTEBOOKS 1935-1942:

At the hospital. The tubercular patient who is told by the doctor that he has five days to live. He anticipates and cuts his throat with a razor. Obviously, he can't wait five days.

One of the male nurses tells the journalists:

“Don't mention it in your papers. He's suffered enough already.”

The other reservist, whose stomach has been X-rayed:

“They made me drink about six pints of chalk. Before I shat black. Now, I shit white. That's war.”

The little old man who throws scraps of paper from the balcony to attract the cats. Then spits on them. When he hits one, the old man laughs.

Death of Flaubert's friend, Le Poittevin:

“Close the window. It's too beautiful.”

Laxatives are only a temporary remedy. The roots of constipation remain untouched.

An artist who goes to Port-Cros in order to paint. And everything is so beautiful that he buys a house, puts his paintings away, and never touches them again.

On a door: “Come in. I have hanged myself.” They go in and find it is true. (He says “I”, but there isn't an “I” any more.)

IT'S ABOUT RENEWABLE RESOURCES AND ABSURDITY