spriteluver's reviews
76 reviews

I picked up this book after reading Brothers Karamazov because I wanted to explore its themes in a more political sense. I went in already knowing a lot of the fundamental concepts of communism and I consider myself a communist, but this was the first time I'd read essays devoted to the belief. Of course, Camus covers so much more than just communism here; the entire book encompasses so many facets of life and belief, it's rather overwhelming to put into words. But I like that it can be so enriched with different lines of thought because it's so challenging. Everything is complex! I don't need to be coddled.

I adore Camus as an essayist compared to a fictional writer (I've only read The Stranger but it was just okay), and this book reminds me of every reason why the man is just EXCELLENT. The way the essays progress to define historical events, movements, figures, and philosophers, that then accumulate to later points is perfectly constructed. Every page and part within the book contributes to the larger themes that he drives home in the last few pages. I learned so much while reading and actively utilized his examples to keep up with his material. Rather than having to read all the foundational philosophers that political activists throw at each other for the past century, Camus condenses some of their major points with his own themes that he thinks defines political progress. Of course I still want to read the major people, but I know so much more now!! I really appreciate the way he developed his thoughts as the book progressed.

I agree with other reviews that he greatly challenges Marxism with plenty of points to support him, but I don't think he ever outright denies its cause. The time that he wrote is PIVOTAL to understanding why he wrote the book to begin with and just how important it was and continues to be. Rebellion and revolution are questions that still haunt us today in America. It's very important to consider past attempts at revolution and how that affected people, especially with the moral issue of totalitarian communism. Considering how it all went with Lenin and Stalin, criticism is greatly deserved. I don't have much to say about it than that, because opinions aren't always needed. Either way, I learned a lot from that section of the book alone, aside from everything else he writes about. 

All in all an amazing read. Very informative and thoughtful, made my brain hurt as I continued but I liked that I was challenging myself so much in reading it. Dichotomies are everywhere and history is very complicated, yada yada. I luv Camus!! <3

 Of course this book can be incredibly hard and uncomfortable to read, what with the incest and weird thing about breasts and big penises. But the author has so much psychoanalysis in his characters—mainly the men, but sometimes the women get some insight into themselves—that makes it worth it (and I think psychoanalysis specifically, Freud vibes). War, capitalism, and colonialism, with their effects, perpetrators, and victims are all explored, as well as people who lose themselves to their vices (I do think “the cardinal sins” play a huge role in the metaphors within the text)...Marquez creates such a rich tapestry of the world’s truths and horrors hidden within a singular character to the whole town. Layers upon layers of symbolism seep in every letter and space of this book, which I always love.

 It’s just amazing to see both the degradation of the Buendias family and the perpetual cycle they all go through, even when they can act so differently from one another. To see what moves each Jose Arcadio or Aureliano to action and how that relates to the world’s progression and its regression. Each chapter is sooo dense with meaning, it’s hard to really write a review that doesn’t discuss what tidbits I gathered from the whole thing. I have to say, I REALLY loved that each chapter was about 20 pages long because it made it a lot easier to digest. There are obvious flaws within the book regarding prejudices and gratuitous scenes, but I think it all takes part in the punch in the mouth the ending gives us all. 

books with themes of duality and elusiveness will ALWAYS enamor me, okay!!! this was SUCH an excellent book, it was so funny and introspective and just WHIMSICAL. this is the product of virginia woolf's lifetime, and she fully knew it as she wrote, which is why we see literature nearly reminiscent of flesh, of human livelihood, and human livelihood basically OUTSIDE of flesh; that constant grapple to confine human existence and put it on the page an impossible task fully recognized within orlando's narrative. society is nothing, but it is everything, as well as our souls and our bodies; it all changes with time, and that makes sense enough given the world's rapid changes between 1880 to 1928. so many subtle insights into human existence with truths that still stand today (woolf had to know it was timeless indeed), just proving how much literature is a testament to existence. that's easy enough to say, but we readers are left to FEEL it, ok!? the sort of rambling, roundabout, magical metaphors and writing style is meant to embody the mind of orlando as much as the biography itself--because, really, what is the difference between writer and character, if all existence felt and observed remains confined in one mind (the writer) but recognized by all (the reader)!? AHHHHH!

more to analyze because i have thoughts thoughts thoughts (so scroll past if you're sick of me already):
 So let’s continue the comparison between author and work, right? Because words on the page translate the soul as much as human existence. A book with its duality and elusiveness FULLY gains such themes from the expression of queerness, which always exists outside of the realm of society with recognition and defiance. Only when understanding society through the looking glass can one so easily defy it, single out its contradictions, and ironically paint a perfect picture of the changing times. it just makes SO MUCH SENSE that this came out in the 1920s, which we all know for the notorious lifestyles and gender ambiguity (even woolf singles out the change in makeup and dress across the centuries as orlando saw it). Art cannot be separated from artist or time; orlando is a testament to the life woolf lived herself, and there are so many glimpses into who she was. SHE PUT PICTURES OF HER GAY LOVER AS THE FACE OF HER TRANS PROTAGONIST!  Vita sackville-west will be commemorated forever in dedication, photo, and in the spirit of orlando. The “biography” itself is a love story that has persevered a century by now. Is that not one of the most powerful expressions of Love, so hardly defined but always looming over us!? Queerness has ALWAYS existed and will ALWAYS exist, and to have an author put that so eloquently on the page to be read FOREVER is just too meaningful to bear. 

A QUEER ESSENTIAL!!!! READ THIS, DIGEST ITS WORDS, FALL INTO ITS MAGIC!!!! 

turgenev has such an understanding of human emotion, it really warms my heart every time. so much compassion in his writings and the characters he creates. of course this book hits home in some ways because I'M the college kid with big ideas coming to a home with sentimental parents, always feeling a bit out of place...just a really lovely read. 

it took me four months to finish this, and i'm glad i took my time. EVERY time i picked up this book to read linearly, camus had something to say that made me feel recognized or in awe, be it months or weeks or hours apart. having read the stranger a year ago, i much prefer him as an essayist; but what a delight it is to SEE him and his curations of knowledge, insight, and passions that lead to such works!!!! i am genuinely sad to put this book down after so long. i have a parasocial relationship with this man, i dare say. and i have such a new outlook on what i crave to see because of it. just genuinely EXCELLENT, the man and the collection!!!!

brat girl summerrrr let's go hedonism & indulgence  

in prose, it's excellent...in any other sense, thoughtless and harsh for the sake of perversion. the afterword revealed all, which was NOTHING!!!! 

MAGICAL!!!! tender and sad and beautiful. a true romance, even outside of master and margarita's relationship ....i absorbed so much of this story straight into my skin and heart, so it's hard to put it into words, but i get it ...i get it, and thats what makes it sadder and more beautiful. art is magic beyond time and corporeal nature...AGHHH

there are a million words i could utter about this book, and none would suffice????? it has so many themes i've been OBSESSED with in films, and to read it is so intoxicating OMFG.