Our great leader
The government of North Korea frequently makes outrageous claims about their great leader Kim Jong Il. My favorite one is that he made 11 holes in one the first time he played golf and scored 38 under par.
Now, President Bush has followed suit. He claims he has read over 60 books this year. Ten more than Karl Rove. My favorite on the list is Albert Camus' The Stranger. Existent...what? Well, I do feel he is well-versed in the theory of the absurd.
A spokesman for the President is reported to have said, " (he)found it interesting. I don’t want to go too deep into it, but we discussed the origins of existentialism."
This list is ridiculous. I know he likes to vacation for up to six weeks, but to claim he read sixty books is well...absurd. Perhaps he was in Toronto and saw this ad.
As for the claims of our great leader, I expect to see Kim Jong Il at Augusta before I'd see George Bush at Borders.
Now, President Bush has followed suit. He claims he has read over 60 books this year. Ten more than Karl Rove. My favorite on the list is Albert Camus' The Stranger. Existent...what? Well, I do feel he is well-versed in the theory of the absurd.
A spokesman for the President is reported to have said, " (he)found it interesting. I don’t want to go too deep into it, but we discussed the origins of existentialism."
This list is ridiculous. I know he likes to vacation for up to six weeks, but to claim he read sixty books is well...absurd. Perhaps he was in Toronto and saw this ad.
As for the claims of our great leader, I expect to see Kim Jong Il at Augusta before I'd see George Bush at Borders.
posted by torporindy at 8/26/2006
9 Comments:
maybe he was referring to picture books and comic books.
Camus my arse. What a bunch of bullshit.
I imagine the Kim Jong Il rumor list looks a lot like Chuck Norris'.
i bet he has footnotes on all the books that he supposedly read.
He probably watched the movie and said he read the book. All the nerds at the mall say that about those damn hobbit movies.
I don't doubt that he read Camus. According to that great conservative bastion, NPR, it's commonly assigned to high school students in New England.
One need not understand Exestentialism to discuss it - heck, I'm not even sure I understand it.
As for the other 59 books.... Well, he did tell Oprah that "The Hungry Caterpillar" is one of his favorite books.
Yes, I would say it is more absurdist than existential anyway.
It's probably one of my favorite books.
Plus it is short. Maybe it is not too far off.
Plus, he wrote in that Hemingway inspired style of short, choppy sentences so maybe this was able to hold Dubya's attention span.
60 books in a year is not at all out of range for some people.
I have a friend that can read a 1,000 page book in a day. What's more, quiz him about it six months later and he can recall substantial details about it.
It's entirely possible that the President can easily read at the claimed rate. Considering the intellectual level of the people around him - he probably does.
Post a Comment
<< Home