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10 Years Ago: The Anarchist Cookbook
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"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one."
In the last chapter, Camus outlines the legend of Sisyphus who...
this is wallpaper! like for your wall, not your computer screen.
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Posted: 15 Sep 2010 09:24 AM PDT

10 Years Ago: The Anarchist Cookbook

Posted: 15 Sep 2010 09:12 AM PDT

10 Years Ago: The Anarchist Cookbook:

Mark Frauenfelder at 8:19 AM Wednesday, Sep 15, 2010

Ten years ago on Boing Boing I wrote about how the author of The Anarchist Cookbookrenounced his book on Amazon.com

The Anarchist Cookbook was written during 1968 and part of 1969 soon after I graduated from high school. At the time, I was 19 years old and the Vietnam War and the so-called "counter culture movement" were at their height. I was involved in the anti-war movement and attended numerous peace rallies and demonstrations. The book, in many respects, was a misguided product of my adolescent anger at the prospect of being drafted and sent to Vietnam to fight in a war that I did not believe in.
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The central idea to the book was that violence is an acceptable means to bring about political change. I no longer agree with this.

During the years that followed its publication, I went to university, married, became a father and a teacher of adolescents. These developments had a profound moral and spiritual effect on me. I found that I no longer agreed with what I had written earlier and I was becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the ideas that I had put my name to. In 1976 I became a confirmed Anglican Christian and shortly thereafter I wrote to Lyle Stuart Inc. explaining that I no longer held the views that were expressed in the book and requested that The Anarchist Cookbook be taken out of print. The response from the publisher was that the copyright was in his name and therefore such a decision was his to make - not the author's. In the early 1980's, the rights for the book were sold to another publisher. I have had no contact with that publisher (other than to request that the book be taken out of print) and I receive no royalties.

Unfortunately, the book continues to be in print and with the advent of the Internet several websites dealing with it have emerged. I want to state categorically that I am not in agreement with the contents of The Anarchist Cookbook and I would be very pleased (and relieved) to see its publication discontinued. I consider it to be a misguided and potentially dangerous publication which should be taken out of print.

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Posted: 15 Sep 2010 09:07 AM PDT

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Posted: 15 Sep 2010 12:46 AM PDT

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Posted: 14 Sep 2010 11:33 PM PDT

"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one."

Posted: 14 Sep 2010 11:15 PM PDT

"Reality is merely an illusion,
albeit a very persistent one."

- Albert Einstein (via samuelaaron)

In the last chapter, Camus outlines the legend of Sisyphus who...

Posted: 14 Sep 2010 11:09 PM PDT

In the last chapter, Camus outlines the legend of Sisyphus who defied the gods and put Death in chains so that no human needed to die. When Death was eventually liberated and it came time for Sisyphus himself to die, he concocted a deceit which let him escape from the underworld. Finally captured, the gods decided on his punishment: for all eternity, he would have to push a rock up a mountain; on the top, the rock rolls down again and Sisyphus has to start over. Camus sees Sisyphus as the absurd hero who lives life to the fullest, hates death and is condemned to a meaningless task.

Camus presents Sisyphus's ceaseless and pointless toil as a metaphor for modern lives spent working at futile jobs in factories and offices. "The workman of today works every day in his life at the same tasks, and this fate is no less absurd. But it is tragic only at the rare moments when it becomes conscious."

Camus is interested in Sisyphus' thoughts when marching down the mountain, to start anew. This is the truly tragic moment, when the hero becomes conscious of his wretched condition. He does not have hope, but "[t]here is no fate that cannot be surmounted by scorn." Acknowledging the truth will conquer it; Sisyphus, just like the absurd man, keeps pushing. Camus claims that when Sisyphus acknowledges the futility of his task and the certainty of his fate, he is freed to realize the absurdity of his situation and to reach a state of contented acceptance. With a nod to the similarly cursed Greek hero Oedipus, Camus concludes that "all is well," indeed, that "One must imagine Sisyphus happy."

(via Wikipedia. duh.)