In short, it's a reimagination of Orpheus and Eurydice, but sapphic. I found the story to be really engaging and it might be a good addition here! Edit: Just want to clarify that the overall story is sapphic! Technically, "Orpheus" and "Eurydice" in this case are siblings, but "Orpheus" and "Charon", however...👀

Being French, I've obviously always heard a lot about this book and have a base knowledge of how it and its famous quotes fit into philosophical and literary discussions, as well as of people's general feelings about it and Meursault independently of said discussions. Which is why I have to say I'm a bit surprised at what I'm actually reading, and I fear this might be a bit of an upsetting read..... I've always heard about how strange and off-putting Meursault's cold and uncaring behaviour during his mother's funeral is, and how he's just a sort of misanthropic asshole... but that's just not what the actual text says at all???? I very much feel like a lot of readers are ascribing ill-intent and projecting their own negative feelings associated with the thought-processes, observations, and behaviour he's describing, when that information is just not present in the text. At least in this chapter, he is only ever observing and stating material details without ascribing them a value judgment, and the only part that comes even close to negative feedback is him wondering if these people actually cared about his mother... an assumption for which he immediately apologises.

He also doesn't feel at all uncaring about his mother's death like I just don't know where people are possibly getting this from. He's uncomfortable, lost, unsure how to properly react to the event and to the new people he finds himself interacting with. Sorry but have you ever been to a funeral? It's weird. It's an event and a performance and an organisational task and completely for the benefit of the living and it'll start and be over at set times and you have to juggle how to appropriately perform at each stage to satisfy people that might not even be in your actual life, and also hope the right feelings will manifest in you from the aether at the right time bc it's not like you can turn them on yourself.

Also what do you mean he doesn't care about people he's literally constantly attempting to explain himself to them so they don't get the wrong idea, and he's always trying to pay attention to what people say to him and to valiantly keep up the script and the conversation, even when he realises he's forgotten an information they'd already given him. He literally reassures and prompts the caretaker to go on when his wife tells him he shouldn't say these things to Meursault, bc he's genuinely interested in what he has to say.

anyway. I unfortunately suspect that trying to explain a behaviour to people to whom it feels fundamentally Other never really works no matter how much you think you can perfectly clear up any misunderstanding if you can find the right words 🥲

Hi, boundlings. I guess this is similar to a reading slump, but the opposite...?

Recently, I read a book and loved it so thoroughly (as I'm sure most of us will understand). I don't normally listen to audio books but I enjoyed reading this so much and I wanted more of it, so I downloaded that as well. I instantly went out, and searched for the hard cover. For the past weeks, I haven't been able to pick up something new. I have a physical tbr shelf with titles I'm genuinely excited for. However, I find myself constantly going back to the audio book or flipping through the pages of my favorite parts, and am just unable to get invested in new characters.

Do you fully lean into this? This is a part of me now, other books be damned.

The book itself isn't revolutionary by any means. It's not ground breaking and can be corny and has many flaws... but once I finished it, I didn't want to put it down and just move on to a new story and characters.

How long does it take you to want to be interested in something else? I usually like to give myself a couple of days and sit with my thoughts before my next read, but its been ages now. I know I want to read something new, its just not sticking.

If you read this far, drop your favorite fandoms so I can drown in something new.