Finished the first book of 2014 today, with the sound muted on the LSU Bowl game and the designated chef struggling in the kitchen to defrost a chicken to no avail. Thankfully, the grocery stores stay open on 1/1.
So I even read The Plague by Camus. The story is heavily philosophical, and the pestilence much more than a metaphor. Maybe Camus' existentialism is a bit preachy but not out of character with the narrator Rieux. I really liked those parts but was affronted when he used a conversation with another character to interject an off theme discourse against capital punishment. With that included, the novel seemed a bit too much a personal propaganda or diatribe.
I also didn't really like the sermons of the Jesuit priest, but I have my family-related biases of course. With Rieux defining his life by the service of work, the Catholic overlay, no more a biblical overlay of the purpose of suffering and the Eden curse of work, did not get adequately reconciled.
That said, I will still venture to read more by Camus. Cannot find a copy of Monod's Chance and Necessity in the library network and one of the books I ordered through Alibris has been cancelled. I was thinking the other night of St Exupery's biography that I read several years ago, yet another valiant Frenchman. Maybe I should stick with the French as a theme for this upcoming year.
One additional thought, like many others today not only figuring out new year's resolutions, I looked at my horoscope for the upcoming year. I am most interested in how upbeat my work and career is supposed to be at least through the first several months. Like Camus, I define myself by what I do, do day in day out, and am so much more grateful the past year, that my daily efforts and attempts are noticed and appreciated, unlike those years in my former job.
Well the TV is still on mute but the coverage has shifted to the Rose Bowl. Surprised to see some empty seats. Version two of dinner is being prepared and the dog is quiet. Nice beginning to '14. Now if the blizzard just doesn't materialize tonight.
So this will be the 2014 log of books read
January 1: The Plague by Albert Camus
January 5: Lillian and Dash by Sam Toperoff
January 22: Love and War by Mary Matalin and James Carville
February 5: Thankless in Death by J D Robb
February 5: The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammet
April 12: The Paris Wife by Paula McLain
April 12: Wild Things by Dave Eggers
April 12: Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
April 12: 12 Years a Slave by Solomon Northup
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