PDF The Myth of Sisyphus Audible Audio Edition Albert Camus Edoardo Ballerini Recorded Books Books

Product details Audible Audiobook Listening Length 5 hours and 39 minutes Program Type Audiobook Version Unabridged Publisher Recorded Books Audible.com Release Date February 20, 2019 Language English, English ASIN B07NWXGJSJ

The Myth of Sisyphus Audible Audio Edition Albert Camus Edoardo Ballerini Recorded Books Books Reviews

• Love this book. I know that it isnt technically a philosophical work and Camus always had a desire to avoid the minutae and nitpicking that runs rampant among philosophers, but it is applicable to life, and close to philosophy. When I turned the last page of this book I felt a great sense of freedom at life and a newfound vigor and joy in it as well. Here is a short breakdown of the philosophy.
  1. The only true question in philosophy is suicide (Since if one should kill oneself the rest is meaningless)
  2. If there is no way to know anything absolutely (as Camus will prove) if man can not reconcile his desire to find a meaning in life with his complete inability to find one is life still worth living?
  The answer is yes.
  3. Absurd man has 3 things that enrich life. My revolt My freedom, my passion.
  My revolt is that I am aware of my own desire for meaning and inability to find it (absurdity) and rather than solve this by taking on belief systems or commiting suicide, i stay with it and live in full awareness of it, not running from the concomitant pain.
  My freedom, since all beliefs are ultimately untenable, everything is permitted, I am free to do whatever I want but at the same time no action can have an ultimate meaning
  My passion, I live life full of passion even though life is meaningless
• The writings of Camus are always insightful and interesting. This collection of essays is no exception. I thought I’d provide some pertinent information that one might consider when purchasing a used copy of a book such as this. Many books by Camus are required reading in Philosophy college courses. According to the standards followed by sellers and sanctioned by , a used item sold by a used book seller that is listed as being in “Good” condition “may not include companion materials, some shelf wear, may contain highlighting/notes, may not include cd-rom or access codes.” I have purchased four books of collections of essays listed as being in “Good condition “ written by Camus in the last month and all but one of them has had underlining throughout the book. The copy of this book I received that was listed in “Good” condition had this issue. If people are not aware that this is a possibility, then should allow customers to point this possibility out to others. People have a right to make informed decisions before they purchase an item on the Marketplace.
• I consider myself fairly well read; I am an attorney and I read a lot for work, pleasure and for self-development. This book is pretty challenging. Since I started it, I have read more than a few lines, scratched my head, reread and still wasn't sure if I understood the intended meaning.
  
  I'm not sure if the difficulty is due to a poor translation, or maybe Camus just had an unconventional writing style. I've never read Camus before so I cannot say which is the case. Camus does seem to emphasize making long logical deductive arguments in a fairly verbose style. The book does cause me to contemplate the serious issue of suicide and the meaning of life. and I have has some "aha" moments while reading this.
  
  I could imagine that the book could grow on me, it's not the type of book you read straight though, I think you have to take your time with it. Maybe this book would be good in a class or book club, where people could help each other interpret the meaning.
  
  You may want to start off with a different translation first, then try this one.
• Can we be free in the alienation and tedium that defines modern life? Is modern existence so soul crushing that, like Kierkegaard and Walker Percy, everyone walking around is "dead dead dead"? Is there hope for the individual tasked with the absurd. Camus imagines that Sisyphus is happy - concludes that we MUST imagine Sisyphus happy. Camus is wrong of course. Sisyphus is the paradigm of the utterly alienated individual, devoid of community, of life, of meaning. But Camus' Sisyphus is the answer to the post WWII view of the absurdity of life. Life having decayed into loathsome total war, elitism, and genocide - became absurd. Can absurd life retain meaning; can the individual retain freedom? Camus's answer is Sisyphus. One must imagine one understands that answer to move past it.
• Camus is good for fiction. Or probably during the war when he was writing underground articles for the resistance. But I Don't recommend Camus for actual philosophical treatises or arguments as he negates his own points quite often. He takes liberties with the works of other artists to make his own inferences which could easily be argued against. His position on absurdism is mutable; one can easily argue that suicide - if considered absurd - then easily falls into place with the philosophical concept. I did like the other essays included as they sort of helped me to prove my point in this. You can't say Kafka screwed up writing about absurdism because he included the concept of hope in The Castle, while talking about how essential hope is yourself as an artist in the last essay in the book, for example.
• Must have addition to a philosophy library. Perhaps not as well known by most, Camus is a very important philosopher that everyone should be at least familiar with. This work should be required reading.