i finished this book at 3am last night. i re-read the last 3 pages repeatedly, and there's still a lot there to figure out. i don't really know what to think. read the book and help. hopefullly phi will comment as well.
choice passages:
When Thomas Perez's turn came, a bailiff had to hold him up and help him get to the witness stand. Perez said it was really my mother he had known and that he had seen me only once, on the day of the funeral. He was asked how I had acted that day and he replied, "You understand, I was too sad. So I didn't see anything. My sadness made it impossible to see anything. Because for me it was a very great sadness. And I even fainted. So I wasn't able to see monsieur." The prosecutor asked him if he had at least seen me cry. Perez answered no. The prosecutor in turn said, "The gentlemen of the jury will take note." But my lawyer got angry. He asked Perez in what seemed to be an exaggerated tone of voice if he head seen me _not_ cry. Perez said, "No." The spectators laughed. And my lawyer, rolling up one of his sleeves, said with finality, "Here we have a perfect reflection of this entire trial: everything is true and nothing is true!"
He wasn't even sure he was even alive, because he was living like a dead man.
And I felt ready to live it all again, too. As if that blind rage had washed me clean, rid me of hope; for the first time, in that night alive with signs and stars, I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world. Finding it so much like myself--so like a brother, really--I felt that I had been happy and that I was happy again.
choice passages:
When Thomas Perez's turn came, a bailiff had to hold him up and help him get to the witness stand. Perez said it was really my mother he had known and that he had seen me only once, on the day of the funeral. He was asked how I had acted that day and he replied, "You understand, I was too sad. So I didn't see anything. My sadness made it impossible to see anything. Because for me it was a very great sadness. And I even fainted. So I wasn't able to see monsieur." The prosecutor asked him if he had at least seen me cry. Perez answered no. The prosecutor in turn said, "The gentlemen of the jury will take note." But my lawyer got angry. He asked Perez in what seemed to be an exaggerated tone of voice if he head seen me _not_ cry. Perez said, "No." The spectators laughed. And my lawyer, rolling up one of his sleeves, said with finality, "Here we have a perfect reflection of this entire trial: everything is true and nothing is true!"
He wasn't even sure he was even alive, because he was living like a dead man.
And I felt ready to live it all again, too. As if that blind rage had washed me clean, rid me of hope; for the first time, in that night alive with signs and stars, I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world. Finding it so much like myself--so like a brother, really--I felt that I had been happy and that I was happy again.
My favorite passage is still: "Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don't know." This really does some up the character Mersault: he's along for the ride. I believe it was Camus himself who said this book was about "a man faced with absurdity", but probably worded better and with greater meaning than my remembered quote. A great book, really. And true to the existialism Camus is known for.
On a side note, I'm re-drafting my screenplay for this. Should be done in a few weeks, unless work and school pile up as usual.
On a side note, I'm re-drafting my screenplay for this. Should be done in a few weeks, unless work and school pile up as usual.
cool. post up links to your work on here, if you don't mind.
Can do. I'll probably begin re-working on the screenplay to L'etranger tonight after work and dinner, so I'll post progress reporst if you want.
The novel is in first-person and HEAVILY laced with thoughts instead of actual dialog. I don't really want to include the thoughts unless I really can't find another way to communicate the message (this is what plagued the adaptation of the novel earlier), so I'm planning to omit them. Show, don't tell kinda thing. The original draft I have half-complete still has all the voice-over work in it... so I'll post two samples and see what's better.
The novel is in first-person and HEAVILY laced with thoughts instead of actual dialog. I don't really want to include the thoughts unless I really can't find another way to communicate the message (this is what plagued the adaptation of the novel earlier), so I'm planning to omit them. Show, don't tell kinda thing. The original draft I have half-complete still has all the voice-over work in it... so I'll post two samples and see what's better.
i look forward to seeing what you have. ;o
phi i love your screenplays, keep up the good work!
haha, I should just start a thread for them I guess.