tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1948420587779787298.post7006179438994294626..comments2023-06-16T05:25:55.741-07:00Comments on Elliptica: Nonbelieving Literati: The PlagueLynethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06357023675142716573noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1948420587779787298.post-21130003909283478132008-02-16T15:16:00.000-08:002008-02-16T15:16:00.000-08:00Ah, I had never followed the links to the Nonbelie...Ah, I had never followed the links to the Nonbelieving Literati, so I missed that part. :-)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1948420587779787298.post-7855461753191385572008-02-06T20:04:00.000-08:002008-02-06T20:04:00.000-08:00Hi Mathew,You may want to check out the Spanish In...Hi Mathew,<BR/><BR/>You may want to check out the Spanish Inquisitor's roundup of posts on <I>The Plague</I> <A HREF="http://spaninquis.wordpress.com/2008/02/01/a-plague-of-carnivals-no-wait-a-carnival-of-plagues/" REL="nofollow">here</A>. We've been reading it for the Exterminator's book club -- the "Nonbelieving Literati". You'd be welcome to join us for the next book, if you like. Not all the books we choose are so philosophical, mind, but it's good fun.Lynethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06357023675142716573noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1948420587779787298.post-71669024330501754992008-02-06T11:46:00.000-08:002008-02-06T11:46:00.000-08:00Cool - the second post on The Plague I've come acr...Cool - the second post on <I>The Plague</I> I've come across in as many days. It is my all-time favorite book, and the single-most influential factor in my becoming an atheist. His moving portrayal of the Problem of Evil, when the small child dies of the plague, virtually decided the matter for me.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1948420587779787298.post-75005693283544464162008-02-05T07:45:00.000-08:002008-02-05T07:45:00.000-08:00Terrific post, Lynet. Very insightful. I'm espec...Terrific post, Lynet. Very insightful. I'm especially interested in how you distinguished between Tarrou and Rieux moral visions, which I hadn't even attempted to untangle. I'll have to start stopping by here more often!Alejandrohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08578877429793660591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1948420587779787298.post-28103451939369585792008-02-04T01:29:00.000-08:002008-02-04T01:29:00.000-08:00Well, I think we all found different ways to shine...Well, I think we all found different ways to shine a light on <I>The Plague</I>. And I don't dispute Evo's assessment that the Nonbelieving Literati are an intelligent group of bloggers. <BR/><BR/>However, I do think some credit has to be give to the quality of the book, itself. Because it's packed with so many ideas, and elicits so many different responses, it was a perfect kind of novel for us. I think we should bear that in mind for the future.The Exterminatorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14452054124550486048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1948420587779787298.post-29035012348513294642008-02-03T23:32:00.000-08:002008-02-03T23:32:00.000-08:00Yeah right, SI. Listen, that self-effacing modest...Yeah right, SI. Listen, that self-effacing modesty crap is MY gig. Find your own signature move.<BR/><BR/>Anyway, I think you are looking at the combined wisdom of the atheoshpere and are impressed (as well you should be). But, it's not the wisdom of any one person. Unless your comment is mainly directed at Lynet, who did seem to extract a lot more from it than many of us.<BR/><BR/>We all know by now that this is a pretty intelligent group of bloggers. I'm not so self-effacing as to deny that. <BR/><BR/>If anything, I probably bring down the collective IQ. (Note to SI: Learn from the master).John Evohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10868904051881865159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1948420587779787298.post-68065628510469257532008-02-03T12:13:00.000-08:002008-02-03T12:13:00.000-08:00I alluded to this over at the Carnival, but I real...I alluded to this over at the <A HREF="http://spaninquis.wordpress.com/2008/02/01/a-plague-of-carnivals-no-wait-a-carnival-of-plagues/" REL="nofollow">Carnival</A>, but I really feel like I've read the book, even though I haven't. Everyone's different take on it, combined, gives the ignorant non-reader (i.e. me) a very good sense of and feel for the book. In fact, the way I read books, I would never have gleaned from it what most of you did. So thank you all for that.Spanish Inquisitorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05261181794832002207noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1948420587779787298.post-33769582714716516332008-02-03T08:13:00.000-08:002008-02-03T08:13:00.000-08:00Great post, Lynet! This was the explanation I was...Great post, Lynet! This was the explanation I was looking for as I was reading the book. I knew there had to be more to the book than just the plague.<BR/><BR/>Ex, I read that twice before I realized what you were saying. Of course, it makes a lot of sense. But at first I didn't associate the trains and camps with France, so it didn't get through.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09429263099197981481noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1948420587779787298.post-62771788921127328212008-02-03T06:19:00.000-08:002008-02-03T06:19:00.000-08:00To be honest, even though I knew Camus had been in...To be honest, even though I knew Camus had been in France during WWII, I didn't read this as a specific allegory to that war as his part in it - just a more general one. But now I'm slapping my forehead and saying "d'oh!"<BR/><BR/>And so I find myself in complete agreement with your assessment of Camus's downplaying of the Resistance/sanitary groups. <BR/><BR/>Thanks for the very thoughtful - and thought-provoking - post.The Ridger, FCDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01538111197270563075noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1948420587779787298.post-70612912215182409422008-02-02T22:06:00.000-08:002008-02-02T22:06:00.000-08:00Lynet, like Chappy, I was unable to relate it to C...Lynet, like Chappy, I was unable to relate it to Camus personal war time experiences (I didn't even know who Camus was until I started looking for "great atheist fiction" - some atheist I AM, huh?) but I certainly caught the war/pestilence analogies that popped up repeatedly through the book (and, specifically, World War 2). I knew my post would be somehow war related by half-way through the book. I just wasn't sure where exactly I would take it until the end. Anyway, I really enjoyed your in-depth analysis. And expected it!John Evohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10868904051881865159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1948420587779787298.post-31659964107807917582008-02-02T21:59:00.000-08:002008-02-02T21:59:00.000-08:00Lynet, very well done. I hadn't thought about the ...Lynet, very well done. I hadn't thought about the relationship of this book's message to Camus' own war experiences. His humility and nuanced views are admirable.<BR/><BR/>Ex - I noticed the train passage and caught the parallel too. I think you're right that his casual, just made in passing comment was more chilling than a detailed analysis. It probably was something he observed repeatedly throughout the war. Regarding the train traffic as normal (hardly worth mentioning, really) may have been an avoidance strategy/coping mechanism for people who couldn't bear to come to grips with their obvious meaning.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1948420587779787298.post-48508850587125046742008-02-02T21:36:00.000-08:002008-02-02T21:36:00.000-08:00Very nice post, Lynet, as I knew it would be. Spea...Very nice post, Lynet, as I knew it would be. <BR/><BR/>Speaking of this book as Camus' reaction to years of Nazi atrocities: Do you remember the description in Part III of the trains taking the victims of the plague to the crematoria outside the town? That was a very chilling moment in the book for me, more so because it was mentioned so casually.The Exterminatorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14452054124550486048noreply@blogger.com