Bush: no stranger to French lit

It seems Bush has acquired a taste for existentialism.

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.”

It’s been one of my favourite books ever since I first read it — at age eighteen. I even tormented my patient bow-tied French professor with that Cure song, as we all do.

What would Bush be getting out of this book, besides killing Arabs? I imagine Mr Bush, with his approval ratings stuck at 40 and under for months, must be feeling sad and misunderstood. A bit like a morose Mersault. The world seems absurd — after all he’s done for world peace and safety, how could his own countrymen and party turn against him?

And the bit about Mersault not feeling sad when his mother dies — perhaps that resonated.

And compare Camus:

Since we’re all going to die, it’s obvious that when and how don’t matter.

with Bush:

Asked by Woodward how history would judge the war, Bush replied: “History. We don’t know. We’ll all be dead.”

There’s a faint whiff of existentialist angst. Very faint.

Or maybe I’m reading too much in, and it’s more like wilbur envisions.

Anyhow, he’s now finished ‘L’etranger’. Next he can read ‘The Plague’.