Editorial Review

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Reviews (466)

An interesting read
This book is rather strange. There is a very distinct writing style, and Camus paints a very vivid picture of everything that is going on.
a great read that makes you think.
this is the first piece of writing i have read from albert camus and i found it very interesting. the character meursault is a very indifferent character who seems to be very impartial when he hears of his mother's death and kind of continues to be static untill the the second half of the book. i do not want to give the book away as some of the others have, but i feel that no matter what one person does and no matter what ones perception is, it can never match the perception of others. one of my favorite lines in the story is when meursault is talking to the chaplain about seeking redemption through god because according th chaplain "it is not the human justice that matters but divine justice" and meursault's response was "it was the human justice that put me here". no matter what acts you commit, whether they be henous, incensitive or loving, one way or another you will be judged and upon that judgement will be your sentence. it was definitely an easy read that takes the readers on a ride into the thoughts of a man who accepts the one thing he can not change; his fate. "with this, i dont even have a chance to survive, not even a slim one".

Nobody Counts--Not Even Yourself
There are few opening lines in literature more famous than the ones that begin THE STRANGER: "Mamam died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don't know. I got a telegram from home: `Mother deceased. Funeral tomorrow. Faithfully yours.' That doesn't mean anything. Maybe it was yesterday."These lines are spoken by Meursault, who is the protagonist and narrator.Albert Camus uses Meursault as a symbol of the nihilism that was then sweeping a Europe that was engulfed in a conflict that promised only a continuation of the death and destruction that began with the Blitzkrieg in 1939.In such times of chaos, there was a tendency for Europeans to grow used to the thought that the next breath could be their last.A corollary of that was that if you bought into that philosophy, you also insisted in living in the here and now. Tomorrow existed only as an intellectual curiosity. Yesterday existed only as a prelude for today. Meursault is the embodiment of a generation of conquered French who learned to accept without a blink even the previously emotionally shattering loss of one's mother.
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Subjects:  1. Adventure stories    2. Algeria    3. Classics    4. Fiction    5. Literary    6. Literature - Classics / Criticism    7. Literature: Classics    8. Murder    9. Fiction / Literary    10. Modern fiction   

Editorial Review

The Nobel prize-winning Albert Camus, who died in 1960, could not have known how grimly current his existentialist novel of epidemic and death would remain. Set in Algeria, in northern Africa, Read more

Reviews (131)

Meaninglessness Exists Only Until You Impose Your Own
THE PLAGUE by Albert Camus is one of the most gripping, thought provoking novels to emerge from the aftermath of the Second World War.It tells of the bubonic plague breaking out in Oran, in Algeria, with thousands dying daily for months on end.Eventually, after heroic efforts by the city government, the plague begins to abate, and the survivors bury the dead and try to make sense out of what seems like an undirected thunderbolt from a vengeful god.On just this level, THE PLAGUE carries the reader along with its realistic depiction of first the fraying and then the snapping of the tenuous strands that bind a civilized society.But this is Camus writing, a man whose novels and plays always suggest more than they say.THE PLAGUE lends itself to allegory, in which the totality of the surface story covers a hidden one.In this case, given that western civilization had come THISCLOSE to annihilation by the German Nazis, the allegory could safely point to a world conflagration that had ended just two years prior to the book's publication.Just as the Nazis had hidden beneath the legitimate German government of the 1920s before emerging to overwhelm Europe with death and destruction one decade later, so do the rats wait in their lairs, secretly multiplying, waiting for the day to leave their lairs to spread their disease, announcing to a disbelieving world that the nightmare has already begun.
poor translation
I don't wish to comment on the story itself (I haven't even finished the book, in fact); merely on its style and wording. I know a bit of French, and understand the form of the language. As I read Gilbert's translation, I can see that form and style. Unfortunately, it makes it difficult to read in English. I get the impression that Gilbert tried to present the English version as close as possible to a verbatim translation of the French, and it really inhibits the flow. I find that I'm constantly caught up trying to disentangle sentences, and it makes it very hard to focus.
Read "Blindness" and Pass on The Plague...
Dr. Rieux, the main character of the novel, moves throughout the book in a detached surreal hopeless manner.He goes thru the motions of "doing his job" while death surrounds him from a wide spread and accelerating plague.
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Subjects:  1. Classics    2. Fiction    3. Literary    4. Literature - Classics / Criticism    5. Literature: Classics    6. Plague    7. Psychological fiction    8. Fiction / Literary    9. Modern fiction   

Reviews (44)

Life's the thing
The myth of Sisyphus is a model essay to comfort people in those moods of bleak, existential despair that assail us all from time to time. The moral to emerge from this fable is a simple one - life in the post Nietzsche age, with no god, is absurd, there is no overarching meaning outside life itself, but there is still great nobility in fighting the good fight right to the death.
A treatise on absurdism.
The Myth of Sisyphus is a treatise on absurdism, and while absurdism is an admittedly interesting topic in its own right, Camus never convincingly demonstrates a connection between the absurd and the impulse to suicide.
The question of suicide and its ethics
In his many theoretical books, Albert Camus tries to answer a question that has bothered him: Whether a human life is worth taking?
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Subjects:  1. Essays    2. Literature - Classics / Criticism    3. Literature: Classics    4. Movements - Existentialism    5. Philosophy / General   

Reviews (17)

Classique de la litterature francaise
Je fais mon debut comme instite a un lycee.Pour le cours de francais V, on va commencer la litterature avec L'ETRANGER de Camus.Je crois que c'est l'endroit ideal pour commencer, car le livre se presente simplement au lecture, mais le mene aux themes importants de la philosophie francaise/absurdiste.A mon avis personnel, la scene du meurtre sur la plage est exceptionnellement emouvante et vive.Ceux qui disent que c'est n'importe quoi comme livre completement ratent un chef-d'oeuvre.

Aujourd'hui, Maman est morte.
What a way to begin a story?! And what can one say about Camus that hasn't already been said? This is a great novel filled with observations, images and actions carefully stitched into words by a master narrator. If you're a novice to French literature, this is a perfect place to begin.

Tout simplement exquis!
Quel roman savoureux.Du pass� simple, j'en prendrais volontier.Un incontournable. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - General    3. Literary    4. Modern fiction   

Reviews (90)

Clearing the air
It is essential to note that Camus was raised in the Catholic tradition, however widely he distanced himself from it in later life; he was not Jewish as a previous reviewer states, perhaps confusing only in that regard Camus with Elie Wiesel.
Camuses Tour De Force?
For me I think that it is; the monologue style of the writing draws the reader in ever more progressively, it becomes a very personal read. The truth and objectivity of Camuses writing in 'The Fall' both suprises and enlightens, the mood of the book changes significantly from calm confident almost bravado like in the early stages to the complete opposite, the tearing apart though paradoxical is honest and endures on the readers feelings of past, present and future, certainly a book that you can go back to and read again and again.........at the end of the day we are all human and feel all those feelings that are rendered reading this book. I've got a soft spot for the French after reading this, I have a new respect for them...God bless translators

...it only hurts when I laugh...
This novel shows that you can fool all the people all the time.
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Subjects:  1. Classics    2. Literary    3. Literature - Classics / Criticism    4. Literature: Classics    5. Fiction / Literary    6. Modern fiction   

Reviews (21)

Camus eclipses nihilism and brings news of a new age!
I first became interested in Albert Camus after reading a quote from The Rebel online."I rebel, therefore we exist" was the quote, and I must admit that, after reading the book, there has never been anything truer written.When I was in a bookstore a few months ago I found a copy of The Rebel, which is apparently a rare sight these days, since The Rebel is often ignored.Camus is one of the most famous writers of the 20th century, so why would one of his masterpieces be ignored?
An inquiry into the ethics of rebellion
This book followed his 'The Myth of Sisyphus'. Camus explains in the beginning that while his previous work was about the question of suicide, this one is about the other aspect of taking human lives - other people's lives (murder). The book however is not so much about murder, as it is about the ethics of rebellion.
Realistic Goals
"The Rebel" is really an extended essay by Camus concerning the rejection of religion as a basis for political and social legitimacy in the West, and the consequences of that rejection.
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Subjects:  1. Free Will & Determinism    2. History & Surveys - Modern    3. Literature - Classics / Criticism    4. Philosophy Of The 20th Century    5. Revolutions    6. Social Conflict    7. Sociology    8. Violence in Society    9. Modern fiction    10. Philosophy / General   

Reviews (4)

Moving, Thought-Provoking, and Genius
I had read Camus's "The Stranger" and was taken aback by the wonderful understanding he had of the human mind. I needed to read more, and in this handsome book was a great feast for the mind. It is not meant to be read all at once, I found it helpful to read another book inbetween the full-length novels within the collection.
Excellent
Albert Camus is one of my favorite authors. His stories are some of the greatest of the past century.

The Ultimate Albert Camus Anthology
If you're a fan of existentialism or just great literature then this is the book for you.Just by buying this set you're already saving money and the hardcover makes it great for book shelf eye candy.If you want to read what each section is about then just read the next review but if you're reading this, take into consideration that Camus wasn't awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for nothing.He was deeply involved in the struggles for Algerian freedom and you can tell from his novels that he is consciensly involved with the questions of the absurd and the freedom of man in a messed up world.These books and essays will make you think and start to ask yourself questions. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - General    3. Literary    4. Fiction / Literary   

Reviews (1)

Truly powerful collection
For those who only know the novels of Camus, here is what I found to be an invaluable collection of his writings on key issues of the mid 1940's.It made me want to keep reading more about this major intellectual figure. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Essays    3. European - French    4. France    5. General    6. History    7. Literary Criticism    8. Literature - Classics / Criticism    9. Politics and literature    10. Underground literature    11. Underground movements    12. World War, 1939-1945    13. European History    14. French    15. Literary Criticism & Collections / French    16. Novels, other prose & writers: from c 1900 -    17. Philosophy    18. Political Science and International Relations    19. World History/Comparative History   

Reviews (6)

The agony of a humanist
This collection of essays is the most brilliant one of Camus' diverse smaller non-fiction writings. The bulk of this book concerns his journalistic writings on the Algerian Revolution, Soviet Union etc. Through these essays, you understand the pain of Camus. Camus' ethics doesn't agree to mindless violence for the sake of power. He makes an impassioned plea for tolerance and humanitarian solutions to the problems of war and peace.
Bracing clarity
I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It has provided me with the strongest, most clear-headed confidence in the face of unrelenting hypocrisy and struggle. Camus was on the side of the angels for all of the conflicts of his time, a time that saw the darkest face of humanity. His arguments for compassion and justice are utterly transfixing and revelatory, and written with a clarity and insight that are simply breath-taking.
An essential to the library called your mind
For nearly 30 years I have carried this book with me virtually everywhere. No, it's not "an easy read" - but it is worth buying (owning)and treasuring - if only for the FOURTH LETTER (to a German Friend)- it is the most moving argument/declaration for humanity and choosing it that I have ever seen anywhere.Read more

Subjects:  1. Europe    2. French Prose    3. Good and evil    4. Literary    5. Literary Criticism    6. Literature - Classics / Criticism    7. Politics and government    8. Fiction / Literary    9. French    10. Modern fiction   

Reviews (18)

Purpose Imposes Meaning
Those who come to A HAPPY DEATH after THE STRANGER tend to note the similarities in plot and theme that relegate they believe the former to the latter as a juvenile attempt--not bad maybe, but not the real thing either. Such a judgment is overhasty. The Mersault of A HAPPY DEATH may or may not be the Mersault of THE STRANGER. Both live in Algiers and both wander aimlesslessly in life, seeking a philosophical underpinning.Both kill a man, and both suffer for it.But such a facile comparison omits a great deal that suggests when Camus took up the pen again a decade later, he has more in mind than a handy earlier book from which he could self-[...].
beautiful translation
I am a Camus fan. I've read everything of his, starting with The Stranger and ending with A Happy Death. I must say that A Happy Death is my favorite. I (re-)read it several times a year.
Read his other works first.
If you haven't read Camus yet, read "The Stranger" or one of his other works. "Happy Death" does not really hold its own as well as a stand-alone novel; and The Stranger is a much better read. However, "Happy Death" does provide some keen insight into Camus and his philosophy and is worth reading for that reason alone as well as for a decent number of really thought provoking powerful passages scattered throughout. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Classics    2. Fiction    3. French Novel And Short Story    4. Literary    5. Literature - Classics / Criticism    6. Fiction / Literary    7. Modern fiction   

Reviews (13)

A gathering of some of Camus' finest short stories
Justin O'Brien's translation renders beautifully into English six of Camus' finest stories, including the masterpiece "The Guest."

Amazing.
This is one of my favorite books. All deep meaning and pointless over evaluation aside, these stories are amazing. The descriptions of the landscapes, the actions of the characters, the intense things that went on, were all described with amazing language. I loved how, expecially in "The Growing Stone" and "The Renegade" you feel as if you are in the world that is being described. The realness of these very strange situations is an amazing vacation of a sort, and shows the inherent beauty in reality.

LET ME OUT OF HERE
Well, here I am again with Albert Camus. This is the third review of one of his works that I've written. I thought The Stranger was a great work and so I went on to The Fall and found it lacking. I've found that Camus is at his best when he concentrates on a story instead of preaching to his audience. Yeah, you can put philosophical ideas in fiction but you have to clothe it deeply enough in story. In Exile and the Kingdom (1958), a book of 6 short stories comes closer to the storytelling brillance of The Stranger but doesn't quite pull it off. Read more

Subjects:  1. Classics    2. Fiction    3. French Novel And Short Story    4. Literature - Classics / Criticism    5. Short Stories (single author)    6. Fiction / Short Stories (single author)    7. Modern fiction   

Reviews (5)

A double value
The notebooks are valuable as the record of a life, and also as a kind of preliminary sketchbook to the works. Here one can see Camus groping toward the chrystallization of his most significant works. The aphoristic and descriptive beauty of some of the passages also add to the value of the work.

An existentialist in the process
After reading all of Camus' works I read his notebooks, and all of it sudden his track of mind made sense. You can clearly see the train of thoughts before The Stranger and The Fall. This book is essential for anyone who is into existentialism, absurdism and their derivatives.
Albert Camus, writer.
For too many decades and by too many college instructors, Albert Camus has been clumped together with Jean-Paul Sartre and others under the heading of "Existentialist". This collection of Camus' notebooks indicates that there were many other things going on in his thinking, and Existentialism was hardly one of them. In fact, several revealing excerpts show us a man who disagreed with it fundamentally. Read more

Subjects:  1. 1913-1960    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Camus, Albert,    6. European - French    7. French Prose    8. General    9. Literary    10. Notebooks, sketchbooks, etc    11. Camus, Albert    12. French    13. Other prose: from c 1900 -   

Reviews (25)

For addicts only
This incomplete last novel by Camus tells the story of Jacques Cormery who, by visiting his father's war grave, opens up memories of his childhood in Algeria. He recalls the poverty of his family, his intellectual development, his impressions of the country and the various characters who lived there. The growth of Jacques's self-identity is charted.
incomplete, but great work
It is reallly not fair to rate a work that is not complete.As an artist, I know how horrifying it is to show unfinished works to anybody.It really is a violation.However, whether this is Camus's first draft or 2nd draft, the evidence is everywhere what kind of great book it would have been had he had a chance to edit it, re-structure and re-write it.It was a great learning experience for me to study what a potential masterpiece looks like in the early stage of its creation.
Albert Camus' The First Man - we have no right to read this
I was going to read this book. I bought it for a graduate class I'm taking in the English department at the university where I am attaining my Master's. Then I looked into the history a bit and decided that to read this book would be to engage in ideological rape. Albert Camus did not give his CONSENT to publish this book in this version. Period. Posthumous publishing of a dead author's UNCOMPLETED work or works is immoral and unethical. I don't need to quench my voyeuristic thirst by reading something the author never intended me to read. Some might argue otherwise, but I just don't see how peeking at your sibling's diary is EVER justified. It is someone else's private property, we don't have a right to read it without their permission.
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Subjects:  1. Classics    2. Fiction    3. Literary    4. Literature - Classics / Criticism    5. Fiction / Literary    6. Reading Group Guide   

Reviews (5)

Amazing as always
Albert Camus is as good at writing plays as he is at everything else he does. Whether you are new to Camus or not, you will definately enjoy this.

Which is more dangerous, insane people or insane societies?
Camus does an excellent job of contrasting individual insanity and collective insanity in his play Caligula. Basically, Caligula is insane. He is a despot who holds the lives of his subjects in his hands. At times, for very arbitrary reasons, he kills or executes someone from his court. This seems arbitrary and frightenging. Yet, Caligula is contrasted against sane military officers who engage in terrible acts of war where thousands upon thousands of civilians and soldiers are killed. So who is insane?Is it the dictator who might execute someone in his court for very trivial reasons or is it the rational military general who kills thousands and thousands of persons in rational and supposedly justified warfare?Camus reveals to the careful reader that societal evil is far more dangerous than individual evil.This is a wonderful thoughtful classic play that demonstrates Camus' ability to bring complex concepts to dramatic life.
What a play!
The cover of Caligula shows an abstract horse bucking, and that is just what Caligula does to us. It knocks us off our high-horse by bringing us face-to-face with death. Only (and I do not choose that word lightly) a true understanding of death can put lives in perspective. Sure Caligula is a despot who could have the life of any of his subjects, but the fact-of-the-matter is that our lives can end at any second. Caligula teaches us not to take life for granted, which is something that is all to easily done in this era. This theme also exists in State of Seige. The other two plays, The Misunderstanding, and The Just Assasins are more subtle, but they also deal with idea that we take petty concerns and ideas too seriously, and fail to look and the big picture. I should also add that the language and passion of the plays are exceptional. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 12-41    2. 1913-1960    3. Caligula,    4. Camus, Albert,    5. Continental European    6. Drama    7. Emperor of Rome,    8. Fiction    9. Historical drama    10. Plays / Drama    11. Translations into English    12. Drama / General   

Reviews (1)

Quick and friendly
the book came quickly and it was new as new can be. thanks! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Classics    2. Fiction    3. Literature: Classics    4. Essays, journals, letters & other prose works   

Reviews (1)

Rebels Against the Gods
Albert Camus finished his first novel, "The Stranger", when he could not leave Paris during its first year of occupation by the German army in 1940-41.This was France's darkest hour, especially when right-wing collaborators betrayed many other French citizens to the evil Gestapo.
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Subjects:  1. Classics    2. Literature - Classics / Criticism    3. Non-Classifiable   

Reviews (5)

THE NOVEL "POR EXCELENCIA" FROM CAMUS
Having submitted this review in spanish and not having it posted, I'll try again in english....... magnifica
esta novela, que da la sensacion de claustrofobia y terror provocada por una enfermedad que pone en cuarentena a toda la poblacion, es otro logro de albert camus, un tremendo escritor, autor de ese otro libro llamado elextranjero. la peste, de caracter menos nihilista, nos muestra a los sereshumanos aislados por la enfermedad y en busca de una causa comun, perosiempre solos, con su interior muy buena... LUIS MENDEZ

La Peste est une premonition de ce fin de siecle
Only in French, but comments in English are welcome:un des plus puissants livres de tous les temps, du point de vue litteraire inimitable, du point de vue humain la transcription artistique et a la fois humaine des profondeurs sensibles et distantes en meme temps de l'espece humaine. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Continental European    2. Literature: Classics    3. Plays / Drama    4. Modern fiction   

Subjects:  1. Fiction - General    2. Literary    3. Modern fiction    4. Short stories   

Subjects:  1. Literature: Classics    2. Phenomenology & Existentialism   

Reviews (7)

Camus: great thinker, lesser novelist
The Outsider, one of Camus' earlier works, reads distinctly as a vehicle for Camus' philosophy. T