Was happily exposed to Camus (The Rebel) & Solzhenitsyn (The Gulag) as a teen growing up in hippy-dippy Madison WI. I had found a counterpoint to all the hideous and dangerous marxist claptrap falling from the skies and growing up thru the cracks in the sidewalk of this University city. I had ample ammunition to argue against the snobby marxist professors that frequented a once famous watering hole here. I always felt the truth was on my side, never lost my spirit and never lost my humanity. The other side often started as so sure of themselves, smarter than I - but without fail the emptiness of their positions left them backed into their own hypocrisy and unable to free themselves. It was always - gee, sorry to hear you were so wrong...After awhile they learned not to have so much self assurance - they knew I’d needle them and force them to admit they were wrong...over a drink.
+1 to Camus! Also a great romantic.
Good on you, Februus, for wading into it with the leftists and earning their respect!
I too read Camus and Solzhenitsyn as a teen, in fact they are partly responsible for who I am today, ideologically speaking. The Plague is a masterpiece, as is Gulag. But unlike you, I never had the verbal ability to spar with bullying leftists (they just talk over timid me).
If only we could get more young people exposed to such literature...