Stranger Than Fiction

Bush has headed off on his 10-day vacation to his home in Crawford, TX, during which time the press often likes to ask "so what is the President reading?" It's generally presumed that it'll be somehow enlightening to know which books are most strongly calling to our Commander in Chief's attention during these rare moments of personal time. The traditional answers given are a well-scripted list of titles regarding the lives of great past-Presidents, the lessons of ancient history and diplomacy, and with often a nod or two to something of more popular contemporary relevance.

Bush reads Camus's 'The Stranger' on ranch vacation

"US President George W. Bush quoted French existential writer Albert Camus to European leaders a year and a half ago, and now he's read one of his most famous works: "The Stranger."

White House spokesman Tony Snow said Friday that Bush, here on his Texas ranch enjoying a 10-day vacation from Washington, had made quick work of the Algerian-born writer's 1946 novel..."

Alright. So does anyone else find the possibility that Camus might be one of Bush's favorite writers deeply, deeply alarming?

Now if this is just an ill-conceived feint toward literary erudition, then the best we might say is...well, that it's very ill-conceived. But the hint from this little press blurb is that Bush likes Camus, that he wanted to read The Stranger before all other books, that he's stimulated by and appreciates what Camus has to offer him during rare moments when he can be truly alone with himself. That leads me to believe he feels a genuine identification with Camus' classic tale...

The Stranger, if you haven't read it, is about a man who kills an Arab. But to be a little more precise, he kills an Arab for no reason. Absolutely no reason at all. Indeed that's the whole point of Camus' story. The protaganist--a rather formless individual by the name of Meursault--has become so completely disconnected from any sensation of reality that he is literally drawn as sleepwalking through his days. While others pretend and pantomime to having heartfelt feelings and relationships, the "truth" through Meursault's eyes is that he's little more than the shell of a human being "going through the motions" of living.

Ultimately the grindingly oppressive and detached atmosphere Camus draws-out for us leads Meursault with a calm fatalism to the moment where he shoots the nameless Arab. But don't let my own third-rate critical analysis mislead you; let me turn instead to the popular GradeSaver.com, which provides free online study guides for popular literary works, all written and edited by Harvard University students:

"[Meursault] is as removed from reality and social context at this moment as every moment. He squeezes the trigger without intent. Each small act is singular. He realizes that he has shattered his happy harmonious life -- so why fire four more times? What kind of monster can this be? He will later stress to the reader that he is really like everyone else. What does this say about man and our struggle in the world? Is there another solution to living than blame or indifference? The shots are the peak of Meursault's physical life. In order to transcend this blurred dazed drunkenness he consumes, he must knock "on the door of unhappiness."

So I'll put the question again...what does it mean to you that "The Decider"--a leader residing at the fulcrum of an era seemingly defined by incessant crisis and catastrophe--should "make quick work" of The Stranger on his first days of vacation? I mean is it just me? Am I simply being a literary bigot? Conjuring up a tempest in a teapot? Or am I justified in having a dark foreboding that perhaps this doesn't speak well to our President's maintaining the mental fortitude needed to determine the beneficent course of world events?

"Sir can you tell us what the President is reading during his vacation?

Of course Jim. I noted Mr. President thumbing through a small selection of books on the drive to the ranch...Goodwin's new whopper on the political genius of Abraham Lincoln, Kissenger's "Diplomacy" of course...and as the President has long been a fan of poetry I noticed he was most eagerly devouring "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath..."

If it is indeed true that Bush turns straight to Camus for solace during his down-time, then for myself I can only heed it as a warning sign. I don't say this as a political statement or criticism--I take every opportunity to remind readers that I've never felt it's prudent to identify oneself with any particular political party. Rather I see this as a distinctly personal concern, because it may well signal that there's danger at the helm. It might even be a cry for help.

The existentialist writers like Camus and Sartre, for all their expressive talents, were really only an anomaly on the philosophic scene. They came out of a Europe that had directly perceived the frailty of human civilization, a shattered realization that "Armageddon" wasn't merely a figure of speech. On both a spiritual and intellectual level these people wrestled with devils using pen and paper as weapons, striving to make sense of the psychically humiliating possibility that individual life might very well be devoid of any purpose or meaning. And The Stranger, let's suffice it to say, wasn't a particularly glorious battle in that war.

So for a grown man in a position of inestimable daily stress, a man who must recognize underneath it all that he was born on third-base never having hit a triple, a young man whose family life was less than nurturing, and whose lifelong struggle with alcoholism and drug abuse is common knowledge...it would only be prudent to take this as a sign.

Certainly a lot could be made of the opening scenes in The Stranger, which show the protaganist dozing-off repeatedly at his mother's funeral, unable to recall even on what day she had died--and seeing as we're talking about G. W. Bush here a lot could be made of it. But it's those final closing passages that leap to my mind right now:

"For the first time, in that night alive with signs and stars, I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world...For everything to be consummated, for me to feel less alone, I had only to wish that there be a large crowd of spectators the day of my execution and that they greet me with cries of hate."

"Thereupon G. W. slowly, almost lingeringly, closed the book and stared toward the window and out at the night sky. "...to feel less alone, I had only to wish that...they greet me with cries of hate." Before long however this pensive mood was captured by the gentle chirping of Texas crickets on the lawn outside the ranch..."

Of course there's also a third theory we should probably entertain as well. It's rather far-fetched to be sure--and I'm bringing it up only for the sake of completeness. Only because...well, we're dealing with NeoCons here after all....

Perhaps the President's reported reading material was not simply a bungled PR bullet-point.

And perhaps it was in fact a signal--but not actually an indicator of his personal mental state.

Perhaps Camus' The Stranger was intended to be a kind of sick joke. A subtle message if you will--to those who follow these types of things--that the plan is still in place and that it's still proceding more or less according to schedule. A publicly expressed wink-and-a-nod to the counter-counter-intelligences of the world. A brief but sharply whispered "We know that you know...and we want you to know that we know that you know". You know?

But I'm not saying that that's it at all. Indeed, like Camus' Meursault himself, I sometimes feel that I'm at a loss to know what is real about anything this administration says or does anymore. I'm just saying that sometimes real-life can seem much stranger to our senses than even the most classic literary works of fiction.

Comments

[Shep]

Very interesting analysis. I remember being more than slightly disturbed when I first read "The Stranger" back in junior high school.

I suppose this revelation would be significant if Bush was actually running the government -- but he isn't. If we could find out what Cheney or Rumsfeld are reading -- or the unseen puppet-masters behind them -- then we might gain some real insight into this misadministration. Focusing on Bush is a waste of time.

[Sonsa]

Yes, The Stranger is an "interesting" choice, but what if he were devouring the bloodvomit novels of Stephen King?

Many people of all political stripes devour the body-fluid-drenched works of Mr. King. I think that says something about American people. We also love CSI with its slurping travels through the human body on the back of a bullet.

I think American people are trying to have a virtual war through increasingly graphic and grisly television shows in the MSM. We hear about those IEDs all the time--what does a blown-up body REALLY look like? Find out in your favorite corpse-exhuming TV show--and it'll all be fake, so don't worry. We wouldn't show you REAL dead bodies. That would upset you.

(Frankly, I think the idea that Bush is reading is a canard. Tony Snow probably picked the title out of his head.)

[UNO Guy Gax]

Great...thanks for freaking me out. Up until now I assumed Bush was just your run of the mill rich sociopath. But now I'm worried that he might really be your more apocalyptic "WTF I'll take you all with me" style psychopath...

I read the Stranger a few years ago in school, and even at 16 I knew it was complete BS. At least the Catcher in the Rye had an interesting plot and characters. But even that left me feeling more sad for Salinger than happy I had read it. With The Stranger I remember thinking "what the hell, does this teacher really think this is healthy and appropriate reading material to shove on high schoolers?"

I'll sleep soundly tonight knowing my president actually likes this shit....

[Gary Buell]

I would rather Bush read Camus than the Book of Revelations. I recall that Robert Kennedy was deeply influenced by Camus after the death of his brother. After "The Stranger" I would suggest Bush read "The Plague."

[P-Tar]

"On both a spiritual and intellectual level these people wrestled with devils using pen and paper as weapons, striving to make sense of the psychically humiliating possibility that individual life might very well be devoid of any purpose or meaning."

I hate to break it to you folks, but this is precisely what the Zen Masters and their ilk have been saying all along to those who have ears to hear. To most people (wrapped up in the Ego and seeing everything through its filters) this "meaninglessness" of life is depressing: no purpose! So what have I been doing all this time?

Simple. You've been creating purpose through action all the time. Just because it doesn't necessarily mean anything to anyone other than you doesn't make it wrong: in fact, it's precisely what makes it RIGHT. Most of our disappointment comes from expecting things to fall into a "right" or "wrong" pattern, easily understood: I think we get this fed to us by "Teacher knows the answers" in school. Of course, reality has a disturbing habit of leaking through whatever boxes you try to cram it into. I was one of the kids who thought that Teacher isn't all that smart: without the answers in her book, she's as screwed up and confused as everyone else. But don't point that out to your teachers: they've got just as much invested in their Egos as you do. And taking responsibility for deciding for oneself what is right and wrong is as scary to them as it is to you. Freedom is wonderful, but if it ain't terrifying, too, it ain't Freedom.

Love me. Hate me. Ignore me, laugh at me, fight me (and then I win). What's the same in all these actions? ME. And that "me" is just as empty and meaningless (and thus ENTIRE and FULFILLING) as every other piece of decaying matter in this Cosmos connected by the deeper levels of reality. Get over yourself, and to quote the recent Hitchhiker's Guide movie: "Just hang the sense of it all and try to keep yourself busy. I'd rather be happy than right any day."

Be careful when you fight demons. They're you, too, after all. The demon that you see in others you recognize because he lives in the shadow of your own heart. Embrace your shadow and individuate, or keep on going like a confused robot that is inexplicable even unto itself. If you love something without recognizing how you hate it, trust me, you'll figure it out in time.

Revel in the purposelessness of things: it's your tabula rasa. While it's not EXACTLY a blank canvas to populate as you see fit (there are others painting too), nobody cares whether you go over other works, incorporate them into your own, or work with others to create something greater. Just try not to worry too much about what other people think, accept that there will always be energies beyond your control that influence your actions, and just dance with it, suckah! It's the wallflowers that never have any fun.

"He who fights monsters should take care that he does not become a monster himself"

[Steven Lagavulin]

P-Tar,

I might very well be misinterpreting your message here, but I'd have to say that it sounds to me like you're confusing Zen with Nihilism. Zen does not serve to help people come to a place where they might "revel in the purposelessness of things", and emptyness does not equal meaninglessness.

The two are more likely polar-opposites, and polar-opposites oftentimes appear similar but exist on completely different scales.

That's my thought on (mis?)reading your post...

Cheers,
Steven

[403]

Nihilism and Zen seem to have a number of shared tenets - the relevant one right now is something along the lines of 'all meanings are assigned; they don't have independant existance'. Both philosophies seem to be trying to get at a way for one to observe the universe and respond to it without the observers' own biases (assigned meanings) coloring their perception.

A student came to Joshu and said, "Master, how do we free ourselves of the need to shelter and feed our mortal bodies?" Joshu said, "Put on your clothes and eat your breakfast."

Cheers,
- 403

[technofreak]

interesting and spooky post Steve.
hmm...??
we'll see i guess..

[dima]

An amusing read, Steve, but you are making some assumptions, such as:

1. That Bush reads

2. That Bush reads the things they say he reads

3. That Bush exists (sorry to get existentialist on you, but you started it)

There is the hollow shell of a man named Bush, who faints from fear when choking on a pretzel, the political robot Bush who presses the flesh and gives everyone nicknames, and the actor who plays a fictional character named Bush in front of audiences and cameras.

But, of course, the real reason why a French novel got inserted into his fake reading list is... because it's French, and France is cool. The memo said no more Freedom Fries, and talk up everything French, because the French are good at diplomacy, and we apparently suck at diplomacy, and so we need the French to negotiate cease fires and our terms of surrender and so forth.

[A philosophy student]

I can't believe you are censoring someone just because he's reading Camus. I believe that The Stranger is a well thought out analysis of a dark area of human nature, and a good part of the analysis was... how to say it? It reeked of the faulty logic behind the "videogames lead to violent crime" argument. If you think that "the stranger" was unhealthy and disturbing, go read Baudelaire, Bukowski, Kafka, Beckett... Maybe Bush is not a good president, maybe not a good guy... I would alarmingly comment on the conclusions he would draw after reading that book rather than on the mere fact that he read it. Really, I shake my head in disbelief at the "that shit is not healthy" comments here.... anyway, I half expected Bush's comment about the book to be something like "huh, there's a guy there who... killed a terrist mmm errr an Arab sorry".

[Corrie]

That is so freaky and depressing. But, considering that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has started his own blog with his daily thoughts on the coming apocolypse, maybe this IS a subtle message from Bush to the world to "bring it"!

I'm heading to the bomb shelter...,

[dima]

Steve,

Your interpretation of The Stranger misses the point completely. It is the story of a man who is sentenced for a crime for which no Frenchman of that time would be sentenced. The crime would have been overlooked, were it not for the fact that the man refused to justify himself to society. He was killed because he did not cry at his mother's funeral. His tragedy is that he is a simple man, unable to play the hypocrite as society demands, to defend himself, to justify himself, to anyone. As such, he is a hero for all people, who should have the right to live in freedom, without having to justify themselves to society. The hilarious element is that it is a work deeply opposed to capital punishment; so why would Bush want to read it? Answer: he wouldn't. Looks like the White House lackey who compiles these meaningless lists had a bit of fun.

[Damien]

Dan Simmons has a very nice article about the current compulsion that a president should appear to be a happy, ever-smiling man.
http://dansimmons.com/news/message/2005_10.htm
It's a long article, scroll down to the middle of the page and the references to Lincoln.

I find your analysis quite concerning, all the more so because its pattern is widespread. It's like saying that people who dress in black must be drawn towards death. By such standards, considering all the things I've enjoyed reading, I should qualify as a complete psychopath.

Because he does not have a very good record on intellectual brightness, I very much doubt whether Mr. Bush can draw anything worth of interest from a complex read, but in this case I feel obliged to point out that your analysis owes much more to the weakness of its target than to the strength of its reasonning.

[juno jones]

To paraphrase "Fish Called Wanda":
'Apes DO read Camus, Otto, they just don't understand it...'
Ooh, boy, and he whipped right thru it, not bad for a dyslexic. Of course I wouldn't cry if Babs died either, no crime there, ciao, J

[Carrie]

He's on third base without having even hit a single.

As for him reading Camus, he's just using the book jacket to cover L'Amour.

[Amos Keppler]

You become what you read. I just wonder what GW had read in all the lonely years before this one. Mein Kampf?

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