Life is Elsewhere

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Founded in 1112, previously named Imagine Sisyphus, focusing on reading books about philosophical exploration, existential topics, and complexity of human nature.

Life is Elsewhere

“What a life! True life is elsewhere. We are not in the world.”

Reference: Arthur Rimbaud. (1873). 

— Une Saison en Enfer: Nuit de L’Enfer. A Season in Hell: Night in Hell

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“One must imagine Sisyphus happy”

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Reference: Albert Camus. (1942). The Myth of Sisyphus.

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Bookclub objectives

Encourage Reading

Critical Thinking

Expand Perspective

How we operate

Preparation

Gathering members, choosing books, applying for the reading group

Weekly Meetings

Writing Reflection

Reading the book, discussing with the members, and writing meeting reports

Process and articulate our thoughts after reading and discussing the book in this bookclub

Our past reading

• Born (1883) in Prague – A German-speaking Jew in a Czech society

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• Complicated relationship with his father

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• Worked in an insurance office

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• Struggled with illness

A confrontation with the invisible forces that govern us

Franz Kafka

(1883 - 1924)

Book choices

The Trial (1925)

The Castle 1926

• Guilty
• Judicial system

• Alienation
• Bureaucracy

Metamorphosis (1915)

• Responsibility
• Family

The Castle by Franz Kafka explores themes of bureaucracy, alienation, and the futile search for meaning, following a protagonist who struggles against an opaque and indifferent system that remains forever out of reach.

Book review-The Castle (1926)

• Is the search for meaning futile or meaningful in itself?
• Does bureaucracy serve order or itself?
• Is free will an illusion under arbitrary systems?
• What makes authority legitimate?
• Is alienation inevitable or socially constructed?

Book review-

The Trial (1925)

Being the last work of Dostoevsky, the book epitomizes his perspectives on faith and sufferings, intertwined with his personal life ordeals

• What is K’s sin?
• What is the meaning of the trial?
• Did Joseph K. able to avoid The Trial?
• While life has value, is it more significant than the system?
• What is the significance of Josef K.’s name?

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Book review-

Metamorphosis (1915)

The Metamorphosis explores the dehumanizing effects of isolation, societal expectations, and the loss of identity.

• Why a beetle?
• What does it mean to be alive?
• How much are we defined by social roles?
• Is family obligation empowering or oppressive?

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Reflections

Loco: “Misunderstanding”

Sean: “Beneath the vast system, self-seeking becomes small and unattainable. To go with the flow or to struggle against it leaves us at a crossroads.”

Krishna: “Kafka raised the question of how the society shapes our value and purpose in life.”

Joanna: “A time that our surroundings fail to make sense anymore, perhaps the only answer lies in the nature of humanity”

Thank you for listening