Exile and the Kingdom
Guys, Viggo Mortensen has gray hair now. While I’m still under the distinct impression that all celebrities drink a youthly elixir, I have witnessed with my own eyes the aging of Viggo since LOTR. Why was I checking out Viggo’s silver fox locks and how is this remotely relevant to my blog? This past Monday, Viggo kicked off a month-long event in NYC—Camus: A Stranger in the City— to honor Camus’ first and only trip to America 70 years ago. Camus graced us with his presence in order to promote the English translation of his French novel, The Stranger.
Viggo gave a *dramatic reading* of Camus’ speech in the Miller Theatre at Columbia University. The lecture was wonderful and considering the theatre was on the shabby side, not much has changed between 3/28/1946 and now. Somebody make a donation or something.
In honor of the event, I read Exile and the Kingdom—a collection of six short stories that epitomize Camus’ own sense of exile at the time. It was published in 1957, right in the middle of the Algerian War that ultimately granted Algeria independence from France. Camus, born in French Algeria, was deeply affected by the war, evidenced in his correspondence with Jean-Paul Sartre. He felt conflicted between his fellow Frenchmen and the natives of the land he was born and raised in. This struggle, compounded by his grappling with absurdist philosophy, left him confusedly searching for meaning and identity in a meaningless world.
The characters in his short stories also attempt to find their place in a world that is so indifferent to their sufferings.
“The Adulterous Woman” portrays a frustrated woman frustrated who seeks to expand her existence beyond that of “wife to her husband”. I love how Camus respects women as thinking entities. I mean, no duh, but this was the 50’s after all.
“The Renegade” focuses on a missionary who has lost hope in the ability for good to triumph over evil. He learns this in such a brutal way. The perspective was a tad disorienting, and I think that it takes a few reads to fully appreciate this one.
"The Silent Man” reiterates that the world is full of inequalities but we all end up in the same place: the ground. What better way to spend your day than read about how your life is largely outside of your control and you try to make the most of it but then you die?!
“The Guest” depicts a choice that humans have: we can find freedom in imprisonment by recognizing our absurd fate and trudging onward nevertheless.
“The Artist at Work” gives us a kind man who grows weary under the pressures of his community. Creating art gives meaning to his life, but is his focus on art mutually exclusive with his obligations to his friends and family? This is my favorite of the bunch, as the main character, Jonas, is quite likable and relatable.
“The Growing Stone” reminds me of Heart of Darkness. An educated man rethinks Christian traditions after witnessing poverty in Africa.
Each story describes characters who feel like outsiders as they come to terms with truths that redefine their existence. They remain in their struggles rather than rise above them—and that’s a difficult pill to swallow. They must find meaning and identity on an individual basis. This is what they’re stuck with, now how are they going to deal with it?
I’m a sucker for philosophical fiction and a big fan of Camus himself, but I don’t think it’s his very, very best, so I award it 4 out of 5 flames. Camus’ prose is rarely too wordy, but I wasn’t crazy about the parallels he made through landscape descriptions. Still, it’s excellent for book club discussions because there’s always another hidden layer and a deeper meaning—and I’m still just scratching at the surface.
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