The Dudeism Forum

Admittedly I may have a bit too much time on my hands (shrink work slows down in August), but I'm always curious to spot if possible the books that the Dude has in his home. Kind of a hint into his influences, what's contributed to his mindset, what have you.

At 1:31:40, as Maude is doing her conception yoga, you can see a fat old paperback on Dude's table. Spinning my phone around (gotta love the 21st century), you can see that across the cover is SARTRE.

So, how does the dude reading the father of existentialism (who wasn't very dudely IMO) contribute, if at all, to how we think of the foundations of Dudeism?

Also, has anyone else spotted other books they recognize or can make out in Dude's pad, other than the Japanese cookbook?

No one else has any thoughts on this? Maybe ill post it over on the dudeist foundations section

I hadnt looked close enough but will keep an eye out in the next viewing :)
As an aside, I'm about the read zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance again

Brings to mind the old saying, "One must know the devil to fight him." I have many books for insight into others' thinking. Helps me learn how others think when they write or speak. Things like the Satanic Bible, Communist Manifesto, Bird by Bird, and My Life in Kenya.

Reading books with thoughts opposite of your thoughts (or just different) is enlightening, IMDO. 

Its quite possible that when making the set for the movie they just grabbed a bunch of philosophy books and through them on the shelf. Although that doesn't seem very Cohen-esque

Personally i don't see a lot in Dudeism that marries up with existentialism (I did it as part of my degree).

I was going with

Quote from: BrotherShamus on August 20, 2013, 11:10:06 PM
Its quite possible that when making the set for the movie they just grabbed a bunch of philosophy books and through them on the shelf. Although that doesn't seem very Cohen-esque

Do also remeber:

Quote from: PriorRestraint on August 13, 2013, 11:07:24 AM
...At 1:31:40, as Maude is doing her conception yoga, you can see a fat old paperback on Dude's table. Spinning my phone around (gotta love the 21st century), you can see that across the cover is SARTRE...

Particularly "Spinning my phone around", I don't think the film was made with that sort of level of analysis intended.

I know the Coen's can be pretty anal about a lot of things (for instance see the extras to "The Man Who Wasn't There" where they use a particular unusual film stock to film the thing in colour so the transfer to black and white is perfect.).

I would be reticent to run off after vague props in scenes you have to pause to even see properly.

All IMHDO of course.

I agree, Meekon, about not thinking existentialism meshes all that well with the Dude, superficially.

But it's not a random spilled book on the floor. It's alone on a shelf next to him throughout the scene, and you can make it out pretty clearly actually. And based on what the Coens have said about their exactitude in decorating the Dude's bungalow avoiding hippie tropes like black light posters, there may have been some meaning to it, even if small.

And in terms of reading too much into things, this is a forum attached to a religion/lifestyle derived from the movie right? We do this a ton with the film, parsing each line of dialogue and whether his shoes are proper tai chi or not, bear vs bar, etc etc especially when trying to figure out how the Dude got to be so dudely.

I get what you're saying though, just busting balls. I was just surprised to see of Sartre of all books when I happened to pause it to take a call. No biggie, it's just like my opinion man. Cheers!

Quote from: meekon5 on August 21, 2013, 09:27:26 AM
Personally i don't see a lot in Dudeism that marries up with existentialism (I did it as part of my degree).

I was going with

Quote from: BrotherShamus on August 20, 2013, 11:10:06 PM
Its quite possible that when making the set for the movie they just grabbed a bunch of philosophy books and through them on the shelf. Although that doesn't seem very Cohen-esque

Do also remeber:

Quote from: PriorRestraint on August 13, 2013, 11:07:24 AM
...At 1:31:40, as Maude is doing her conception yoga, you can see a fat old paperback on Dude's table. Spinning my phone around (gotta love the 21st century), you can see that across the cover is SARTRE...

Particularly "Spinning my phone around", I don't think the film was made with that sort of level of analysis intended.

I know the Coen's can be pretty anal about a lot of things (for instance see the extras to "The Man Who Wasn't There" where they use a particular unusual film stock to film the thing in colour so the transfer to black and white is perfect.).

I would be reticent to run off after vague props in scenes you have to pause to even see properly.

All IMHDO of course.

Just noticed that the Dudely lama points out this Sartre book in his essay - The big Lebowski experience - an overview, which is on the Dudespaper website.

Guess that shit had already come to light!

This poem I wrote using the Dao De Jing which expresses how I feel about existentialism.

I've always thought that there was an intent to both juxtapose and show the similarities of / between the Dude and the Nihilists.
"We believe in nossing" is not so very far from the Dude's "Fuck it".
Far as Sartre goes, I can see the Dude checking out "Nausea" or "Being and Nothingness".
I don't necessarily see Sartre as "UnDude" as much as "NonDude".
Certainly his characters are "Rolling along with the tumbling tumbleweeds" it's just that the rolling seems to take a real toll.

Very nice, Dude! I think you might've summed up the difference between a Dudeist and an Existentialist.

Quote from: BikerDude on September 13, 2013, 09:57:50 PM
Certainly his characters are "Rolling along with the tumbling tumbleweeds" it's just that the rolling seems to take a real toll.