Poetry Forum

Ha Ha,

Great question, I'd have to opt for Orwell, he was a have a go hero, Lived as a Tramp, Fought in a Civil War, nearly broke his back going mining, definitely one to have on your team.

Wheras Camus was by definition far too ponderous, wouldn't have his mind on the job. Try reading The Myth of Sisyphus, that's some heavy thinking.

Well, I know both would be better than Homer.

Anybody ever seen the Monty Python sketch 'The Philosopher's Football Match'? Not sure if it's a radio-sketch or tv actually, because I've never seen it myself. Sounds like a great idea though.

'And Sartre receives the ball from the full-back, he is hovering about the centre circle, Rousseau is back-tracking swiftly. Suddenly, Jean-paul decides there's no point and sits on the ball...'

Can't remember the football match but I do remember this cracker:

Philosophers song

Immanual Kant was a real pissant
Who was very rarely stable

Heidegger, Heidegger was a boozy beggar
Who could think you under the table

David Hume could out consume
Schopenhauer and Hegel

And Wittgenstein was a beery swine
Who was just as schloshed as Schlegel

There's nothing Nietzche couldn't teach ya
'Bout the raising of the wrist
Socrates, himself, was permanently pissed

John Stuart Mill, of his own free will
On half a pint of shandy was particularly ill

Plato they say, could stick it away
Half a crate of whiskey every day

Aristotle, Aristotle was a bugger for the bottle
Hobbes was fond of his dram

And Rene' Descartes was a drunken fart
"I drink, therefore I am"

Yes, Socrates, himself, is particularly missed
A lovely little thinker
But a bugger when he's pissed

God I love it

And Rene' Descartes was a drunken fart
"I drink, therefore I am"

Camus would be better than Orwell; as a goalie. Orwell was better at everything else, except writing French.

Wasn't Camus the goalkeeper for the french national side???

I don't remember hearing of any footballing escapades for Orwell but maybe I am just poorly researched on the matter.

Seeks.

Orwell wasn't the best shot either. Anyone ever read Shooting an Elephant?

Camus never played for France. There's a rumour that he represented Algeria while at university in Algiers, but my sources (Google) tell me that isn't true either. Niels Bohr kept goal for AB in the Danish league, but he wsn't a writer, so if I'm going to mention Bohr I suppose I might as well mention everyone who's ever stood haplessly between the sticks for any team, regardless of day-job. So I won't mention the Bohr.

Aha
I get it, the moderator aint the same camus as the one he's talkin about.
Who's he then?
Don't mean to sound dumb just wanna know.

Hi Dario, this won't be the best answer you'll get but, as I understand it, he was a French philosopher just after the Second World War. He wrote novels as well as his philosophisin' stuff, and I think The Outsider is the famous one.

One interesting (I think) piece of trivia: The Cure's song (first single?), Killing an Arab, was supposed to be based on The Outsider.

If I'd ever read it I could give you an opinion on that.

David

Indeed the Cure's Killing an Arab was about "The Stranger" or the translated version often known as "The Outsider"

"I can turn
And walk away
Or I can fire the gun
Staring at the sky
Staring at the sun
Whichever I chose
It amounts to the same
Absolutely nothing"

These lyrics pretty much capture the essence of the novel.

Basically, the protanonist - Meursault, doesn't care much about anything, does not feel much for anyone - Yet his objective/cold hearted views tend to strike a chord within the reader, well they did me anyway. Similar to Raskolnikoff, from Crime and Punishment, or Grenouille from Perfume - All outsiders railing against the confines of society. Oh, and all cold bloodied Killers.

For such a small novel, the depth of this book is immense, requires reading and re-reading. Reminded me a little of the Trial by Kafka - which I never finished, the absurd element anyway.

I guess I'm a sucker for Cold bloodied Killers.

The Stranger.

I prefer Georg Orwell, but i read from Camus just The Stranger and from Orwell 1984, one of my favorite novels, and Animalfarm.