Slog - Comments on President Bush Reads The Stranger...

Comment by Jude

Jude — Sat, 12 Aug 2006 18:21:53 -0800

I guess he is just reading up on how to kill arabs. Anyone find it funny that GWB reading a book is news?

Comment by COMTE

COMTE — Sat, 12 Aug 2006 19:27:01 -0800

I'm guessing it was either the Cliff Notes edition, or a book-on-tape.

What's even funnier Jude, is they had to STRESS that he WASN'T reading it in the original French; like they wouldn't want to give anyone the impression that shrub COULD read French.

And what's even funnier still is the idea that some speech writer snuck a Camus quote into one of shrub's speeches OVER A YEAR AGO - but NOW they come out with a press release that he's "reading" the novel. Which sort of points up the fact that shrub most likely never read it before the speech, and therefore probably had no idea where the quote came from in the first place.

"It's hard being a Preznit these days..."

Comment by Matt from Denver

Matt from Denver — Sat, 12 Aug 2006 21:40:02 -0800

I hope he pronounced "Camus" correctly... I once read that a speechwriter carelessly placed the word "paradigm" in a speech for Reagan (the word was just starting to become a big buzzword then, it wasn't in the general vocabulary before) and yes, he pronounced it "paradijum."

Comment by seattle98104

seattle98104 — Sat, 12 Aug 2006 23:29:12 -0800

hopefully he pronounced it like Amos...

Comment by BAG

BAG — Sun, 13 Aug 2006 02:22:24 -0800

"As if that blind rage had washed me clean, rid me of hope; for the first time, in that night alive with signs and stars, I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world. Finding it so much like myself—so like a brother, really—I felt that I had been happy and that I was happy again. 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."

Comment by The Rebel

The Rebel — Sun, 13 Aug 2006 09:29:37 -0800

Wow, so he made "short work" of a 100 page book, huh? That's really impressive. Before you know it, ol' Bush will be as well read as your average middle schooler.

Comment by kinaidos

kinaidos — Sun, 13 Aug 2006 11:20:10 -0800

I wonder what the odds are that W realizes Meursault is a white wine.

Comment by trevor

trevor — Sun, 13 Aug 2006 12:31:51 -0800

Next book he reads will be Sartre's No Exit?

Comment by George W Bush

George W Bush — Sun, 13 Aug 2006 14:08:29 -0800

Yep. I really read that there Camus book. Mr. Snow said it'd give me grabbitass. I don't know what that means, but I like the sound of it.

The book didn't make much sense to me, but I guess you can't expect a killer whale to make a lot of sense, especially one that can't even spell his own name right.

Still, it's amazing that he was able to write it at all. It must be hard to write with flippers, especially under water. I bet a lot of the pages just fell apart before he finished writing them.

Comment by Will in Seattle

Will in Seattle — Mon, 14 Aug 2006 10:36:27 -0800

So that's why he left for vacation a week early, after he and Blair found out about the air attack, so he could have Homeland Insecurity overreact?

To read a book?

I thought the incompetent fool only worked from 8 to 5 pm M-F anyway?

Talk about slack ...

Comment by charles

charles — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 12:48:32 -0800

In slate

Bush's aides "will not tell us what he made of the story of a remorseless killer of Arabs. White House spokesman Tony Snow said Bush 'found it an interesting book and a quick read' and talked about it with aides. 'I don't want to go too deep into it, but we discussed the origins of existentialism,' said Snow. . . .

"Surely someone is going to think that Bush read the book because he identifies with [the protagonist]. There's got to be another explanation. Does his experience in Iraq push him to read works replete with themes of angst, anxiety, and dread? Was the president trying to gain insight into the thinking of Europeans who are skeptical of his plan for democracy in the Middle East, founded as it is on the idea of a universal rational essence that existentialists reject? Did he just want to read something short for his truncated vacation? This may be the first time that national security demands an official version of literary criticism. We want a book report!"