While the old adage may say, “You are what you eat,” an often more telling factor into someone’s truest self is what he or she reads. As the summer dwindles and we return to assigned reading, among the forsaken summer activities is leisure reading. While in grade school most of us had the dreaded mandatory “Summer Reading List,” with Tom Sawyer and Pip keeping us occupied, now as mature college students, we are free to choose what, if anything, we read during our treasured time away from school.
The idea that “you are what you read” doesn’t just apply to college students, but government officials as well, and President Bush’s new summer reading may be a very insightful, yet unsurprising glimpse at a part of our president we seldom see. According to a recent column in the New Yorker, among the heavy literature our president is tackling while at his ranch in Texas is Albert Camus’ chilling book, “The Stranger.”
The book details a short period of the life of a Frenchman, Meursault, beginning with the death of his mother and ending with his execution, and while filled with debatable philosophical underpinnings, the implications of a plot entailing an unmotivated act of violence against an unknown Arab, a “stranger,” are all too familiar for those living in the United States.
Until his death at the end of the book, Meursault defends his unprovoked outburst against the Arab, proudly proclaiming he regrets nothing. Although Camus’ book lacks the terms “wrong,” “axis of evil” and “weapons of mass destruction,” the relentless stubbornness and righteous indignation of the protagonist are not only reminiscent of our commander in chief, but are so eerily similar that had he been a living human being, Meursault may have been the intellectual equivalent of our president’s doppelganger.
Aside from the strange similarities between the character and Bush’s actions, the fact that the president has enough time and energy to address such a challenging, mentally consuming piece of literature begs the question: Aren’t there other, more pertinent books he should be reading? Maybe read something about Iraq, its history or the culture of the Iraqi people. Or even read a current affairs book by a prominent political theorist that could be immensely useful.
While a diversion from the fatiguing job of leading a nation is a necessary indulgence for any president, the idea that he may be devoting any excessive amount of time excruciating over something outside his job is slightly unsettling and even a bit surprising.
His fervent, unforgiving proclamations are reliably filled with fire and brimstone, yet while at his Texas ranch his passion seems to subside, leaving the impression that his constant severity and seriousness about the impending doom the United States is facing may not be entirely genuine.
Regardless of Bush’s off time activities, he is setting an important precedent all Americans should follow, and that is to read and be intellectually stimulated. This action is incredibly noteworthy and honorable, especially considering the source.