In case you're wondering why this young man has a million subscribers on YouTube, the answer might be he reads... and he reads Camus. So get cracking away. Read your Camus. He's got a good writing style. And maybe you'll pick up some language that will enrich your conversational style and cause a million people to love you. Maybe those million people are playing video games, drifting along in a nonverbal visual world, getting hungrier and hungrier for somebody who can talk.
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"I've been thinking it over for years. While we loved each other we didn't need words to make ourselves understood. But people don't love forever. A time came when I should have found the words to keep her with me, only I couldn't." — Albert Camus, "The Plague."
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I've been told by someone I trust that the microbiology in The Plague is mostly accurate. I might try to read it again. It's been years. I think we read it in the original language back in High School French.
My recollection is it was a readable book. Unlike, say, Hemingway -- his sentence structure has always bugged me. Nothing is as bad as Tristram Shandy or course. That Is Not a Novel To Be Tossed Aside Lightly. It Should Be Thrown with Great Force
We had to read it in high school. A lot of complaining among the students, at least my friends. But everyone ultimately regarded it as interesting and worthwhile, as I recall.
I read "The Plague" in jr. high and it made an big impression on me, but now I can't recall exactly what that impression was. Probably just some stuff about death and suffering.
If you really want to hang around with French Existentialists, Camus is the go-to guy. He truly was, in essence, a cool guy. With Sartre, it was more like a pose......Although, when you stop to think about it, maybe posing is a more sincere form of existentialism than being who you truly are.
"I think we read it in the original language back in High School French."
I read it in French in high school. Read an English translation later, but a long time ago.
The weight of all the books I should be reading is enormous. I try to push it up the hill, but it keeps rolling back on me.
Getting sucked into the dark side by the innocent face of Reviewbrah, eh? He's been a favorite in certain highly deplorable online neighborhoods for a while.
Apropos of the previous thread, he recently fell under the Eye of Sauron - was temporarily unpersoned by YouTube, and had his innocuous videos de-monetized. Don't know if the reason was ever established, but "guilt by association" was mooted.
The weight of all the books I should be reading is enormous.
"Last August Seagate unveiled a 60TB SSD. Which would leave enough room to comfortably hold the lot [= all of the 129 million books ever published]. Literally everything. Every classic, ever textbook, even all of those awful ghostwritten celebrity autobiographies."
"I've been thinking it over for years. While we loved each other we didn't need words to make ourselves understood. But people don't love forever. A time came when I should have found the words to keep her with me, only I couldn't."
That rings with truth. It is incredibly sad. Even when there are words for a time, in the end they will remain elusive.
One thing about Althouse I've liked is she broadens my horizons. This guy, however, is more than I can handle. Maybe because I didn't read anything in French while in high school. I'm absolving Ann and blaming Meade, hoping he comes to his senses.
I think your vocabulary decreases after you lose your virginity.
I mean, I myself could conjugate hundreds of verbs before, but struggle with them now.
I blame the Phoenicians and their stupid alphabet... It just isn't adaptable enough for humans with a penis.
How much of Albert Camus' "writing style" was Camus and how much was his translator(s)?
While we loved each other we didn't need words to make ourselves understood.
The beauty of chicken nuggets.
Nothing is as bad as Tristram Shandy or course.
I began to read Tristam Shandy with great enthusiasm, because I had read summaries of the book.
After about 20 pages, I gave up.
I sampled the video. He seems decent, likable and sane. I guess the parts of him I don't get, I'm not supposed to get. I would trust him to extend western Civ for another generation.
Well, he says he reads Camus. He's playing a character who reads Camus.
The Plague read like a news report to me. Did something go over my head?
"The weight of all the books I should be reading is enormous."
Try Pierre Bayard therapy. Cherish your freedom as non-reader! Talk away to express your own creativity! Don't lose the vue d'ensemble you can only get from not-reading!
As an exercise in your 12-step program, to take an example from this thread, try talking about Tristram Shandy. This falls in the category of "books you have heard other people talk about," and "books about which you have an opinion" (--, in Bayard's scheme), books that you vaguely recall having some literary significance, about which you may talk at length, as you do not need to read in Bayard's book Paul Valery did with great finesse.
As another exercise, try The Plague, in the way commenters do here, for whom it fails into the category "books read but forgotten" or "books skimmed" or even (not in Bayard, I don't think) "books you think you may have read," and of course, "books you have heard other people talk about." For more advanced self-therapy, try the Althouse variation: books you think you remember having read and read in translation: fodder for endless comparison! I mean, before you know it, you are covering all of world literature.
Anyway, good luck turning the weight into inspiration.
It's been too long since I read Camus to recall anything about his 'great writing style'. But I've got a lot of books to read in my allotted time here and many of them are re-reads. I'll add that to the re-read list to see how it is today- at this point in life.
I do love a writer who can tell a story, or have a great thought, while being able to put it into prose that is so beautiful to read, you actually go back to re-read sentences. Writers like that are why I learned early on, I was not to be one of them. Writer's such as Amor Towles and his book, "A Gentleman in Moscow". (no- it's not the Paul Manafort biography).
"How much of Albert Camus' "writing style" was Camus and how much was his translator(s)?"
Maybe ReviewBrah is reading the French.
"In case you're wondering why this young man has a million subscribers on YouTube, the answer might be he reads... "
Or it might be he's odd looking.
A lot of people have YouTube channels where they review books.
However, people who spend a lot of time on YouTube are not people who read a lot of books.
Guy reminds me of Harold in "Harold and Maude".
I read “La Peste” in the original French and the only thing I remember from it was “Les rats, les rats!’ the joy at the rats returning as the plague subsided. So now I got one web comment out of reading that book.
Guy reminds me of Harold in "Harold and Maude".
Bud Cort. That's a great take.
This is possibly my favorite 20 seconds of the movie.
I can't take anyone seriously who wear a clown suit 18 sizes too large.
Go peddle your own Camus!
This guy, however, is more than I can handle. Maybe because I didn't read anything in French while in high school.
My high school French reader was just atrocious. There wasn't anything Rabelaisian in the passages from Rabelais, and the snippets from Molière were just insipid. In the editor's defense reworking anything originally in pre-Académie French for novice readers must be a challenge, as must be the effort needed to de-emphasize the Gallic fascination with the non-eating end of the alimentary tract.
Needless to say, we didn't read the whole book. Our teacher made the reading assignments. She also had us perform scenes from Le Barbier de Séville par coeur. On my own, I read an English translation written in 1776 (allegedly with the aid of William Brinsley Sheridan) for comparison. Better. Lots. The English are far funnier than the French, which explains the popularity of Monty Python over here and the popularity of "le oeuvres de Jerry" over there.
We also read Le Passe-muraille by Marcel Aymé, a pedestrian little tale about a man who can walk through walls yet cab think of nothing better to do with his strange talent than play silly jokes, steal some jewelry, and dally with a married woman... sad, adultery just isn't written for adults in French. Aymé gives no explanation for M. Dutilleul's odd ability, not even some bullshit technobabble à la Star Trek, which is odd given that France in the 1940's was a hotbed of quantum mechanical theorizing, he just does, and after taking a pill he just doesn't. This story is incredibly popular in France even today, everybody knows it even if they haven't read it, which explains the famous sculpture of M. Dutilleul up in Montmontre. Inexplicable.
Sorry, couldn't resist that pun.
Never got Camus.
Maybe he's more impressive in French.
“It’s sad to watch some of these people but at the same time it’s entertaining” he says as he sums up his appeal. I wonder if he also dresses in a suit for each episode. Also the haircut and selection of pictures on the wall and the granny square throw seem to be an intentional effort to draw attention to his strangeness. I’m going to watch more.
I like the afghan on his sofa.
Oops. Bad grammar. That should be les oeuvres de Jerry.
I'll say one thing for ReviewBrah, at least he's not trying to explain why the Earth is flat.
All of Camus's hero's were beheaded at the end of the French Revolution.
Those hero's killed King Louis. Today they would be members of Antifa.
A comment on one of his videos asks “what is it like to be created by David Lynch?” He’s an interesting character and he looks like across between T.S. Eliot and an alien. I love his confidence in his taste. Thanks for this Althouse!
Quaestor said...Oops. Bad grammar. That should be les oeuvres de Jerry.
My wife still has two oeuvres, but she ran out of eggs 10 years ago, and now has to get her hormones from a bottle.
Wide lapels are like long knives.
On the other hand, ReviewBrah may be instrumental in reviving American interest in Camus, which is a mixed bag of a prospect if there ever was one.
My wife still has two oeuvres, but she ran out of eggs 10 years ago...
Le oeuf de Jerry
dustbunny said...
I wonder if he also dresses in a suit for each episode. Also the haircut and selection of pictures on the wall and the granny square throw seem to be an intentional effort to draw attention to his strangeness.
He actually has a long episode on Why I wear suits all the time, another on Styling my hair through the years, and I React To Cruel Comments About My Fingernails.
He is nothing if not self-aware.
Terrific excerpt from Camus. Just lovely.
Ann: as a visual artist, you might be interested in ReviewBrah's video featuring the best fan art - some of them are quite good:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzOWkdVgL1A
Camus felt like the world controls us 100% ; hence his belief that the only free action a human can ever take is suicide. That is definitely not an America thought. Americans simply kill the world before it kills us, or we die trying.
I got fascinated by ReviewBrah and watched a few of his videos: on shortwave radio, his wardrobe, his skin care, the length of his fingernails, and a food review of Burger King Whopper Dog. He's kind of a cross between Mr. Rogers and Sheldon Cooper with a subtle dash of Howard Stern humor, cleaned up of course. On one segment a commenter asked him, "Are you a fox?" to which ReviewBrah chuckled and replied, "Of course I am."
"He's kind of a cross between Mr. Rogers and Sheldon Cooper with a subtle dash of Howard Stern humor, cleaned up of course."
He also reminds me of Bob Ross. I enjoy watching him eat and review food that I doubt very much I'll ever want to eat, but it's soothing and nice. With Bob Ross, most viewers are not going to paint, they're just hanging out with him for the vibe. It's human companionship... with someone who isn't really with you, who does all the talking, and who seems very weird, but once you're accustomed to him, you like him filling the void of your existence.
"Ann: as a visual artist, you might be interested in ReviewBrah's video featuring the best fan art - some of them are quite good..."
Yes, I have seen that one and wanted to recommend it. There's some very funny stuff in there, and it's lovely to see the effort people have put into showing love for him and his gentle (but humorous) appreciation for it.
I especially remember how well he played it straight when he said how accurate the likeness was in the one that gave him an idealized physique..
"He actually has a long episode on Why I wear suits all the time, another on Styling my hair through the years, and I React To Cruel Comments About My Fingernails."
I've seen the fingernails one. Just great how he extends the incredibly narrow topic for like 15 minutes.
So, the ones that are not about food are great, but the food ones are great too.
The young man reminds me a lot of the movie "Harold and Maude". He's got that same sense of a character who is outwardly methodical and sober and yet is screaming inside at the irony and awkwardness of life and acting out in highly unusual ways. Very entertaining.
A writer named Albert Camus
Found a proctoscope in a canus.
He muttered, "My word!"
As he spied on a turd,
"I'm beginning to see things anus!"
Oh, so you're serious about this guy. Noted. Still looks like a special effect.
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