Albert Camus

Born

in Mondovi, Algeria

November 07, 1913

Died

January 04, 1960

Genre

Fiction, Philosophy

Influences

Friedrich Nietzsche, Franz Kafka, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Edmund Husserl, H ...more

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Albert Camus (1913-1960) was a representative of non-metropolitan French literature. His origin in Algeria and his experiences there in the thirties were dominating influences in his thought and work. Of semi-proletarian parents, early attached to intellectual circles of strongly revolutionary tendencies, with a deep interest in philosophy (only chance prevented him from pursuing a university career in that field), he came to France at the age of twenty-five. The man and the times met: Camus joined the resistance movement during the occupation and after the liberation was a columnist for the newspaper Combat. But his journalistic activities had been chiefly a response to the demands of the time; in 1947 Camus retired from political journali Albert Camus (1913-1960) was a representative of non-metropolitan French literature. His origin in Algeria and his experiences there in the thirties were dominating influences in his thought and work. Of semi-proletarian parents, early attached to intellectual circles of strongly revolutionary tendencies, with a deep interest in philosophy (only chance prevented him from pursuing a university career in that field), he came to France at the age of twenty-five. The man and the times met: Camus joined the resistance movement during the occupation and after the liberation was a columnist for the newspaper Combat. But his journalistic activities had been chiefly a response to the demands of the time; in 1947 Camus retired from political journalism and, besides writing his fiction and essays, was very active in the theatre as producer and playwright (e.g., Caligula, 1944). He also adapted plays by Calderon, Lope de Vega, Dino Buzzati, and Faulkner's Requiem for a Nun. His love for the theatre may be traced back to his membership in L'Equipe, an Algerian theatre group, whose "collective creation" Révolte dans les Asturies (1934) was banned for political reasons.

The essay Le Mythe de Sisyphe (The Myth of Sisyphus), 1942, expounds Camus's notion of the absurd and of its acceptance with "the total absence of hope, which has nothing to do with despair, a continual refusal, which must not be confused with renouncement - and a conscious dissatisfaction". Meursault, central character of L'Étranger (The Stranger), 1942, illustrates much of this essay: man as the nauseated victim of the absurd orthodoxy of habit, later - when the young killer faces execution - tempted by despair, hope, and salvation. Dr. Rieux of La Peste (The Plague), 1947, who tirelessly attends the plague-stricken citizens of Oran, enacts the revolt against a world of the absurd and of injustice, and confirms Camus's words: "We refuse to despair of mankind. Without having the unreasonable ambition to save men, we still want to serve them". Other well-known works of Camus are La Chute (The Fall), 1956, and L'Exil et le royaume (Exile and the Kingdom), 1957. His austere search for moral order found its aesthetic correlative in the classicism of his art. He was a stylist of great purity and intense concentration and rationality. ...more

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Albert Camus's Books

Average rating: 3.97 · 658,038 ratings · 20,720 reviews · 321 distinct works · Similar authors

	The Stranger by Albert Camus, Matthew Ward (Translator) 3.94 avg rating — 423,843 ratings — published 1942 — 595 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Plague by Albert Camus, Stuart Gilbert (Translator) 3.97 avg rating — 101,528 ratings — published 1947 — 335 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Fall by Albert Camus, Justin O'Brien (Translator) 4.05 avg rating — 45,056 ratings — published 1956 — 175 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays by Albert Camus, Justin O'Brien (Translator) 4.18 avg rating — 27,893 ratings — published 1942 — 33 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Rebel: An Essay on Man in Revolt 4.11 avg rating — 7,835 ratings — published 1951 — 89 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus, Justin O'Brien (Translator), James Wood (Introduction) 4.11 avg rating — 8,744 ratings — published 1942 — 130 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Exile and the Kingdom by Albert Camus, Justin O'Brien (Translator) 3.88 avg rating — 6,679 ratings — published 1957 — 71 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Happy Death by Albert Camus, Richard Howard (Translator), Jean Sarocchi (Afterword & Notes) 3.84 avg rating — 6,304 ratings — published 1971 — 66 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Caligula by Albert Camus, Pierre-Louis Rey 4.05 avg rating — 5,127 ratings — published 1939 — 44 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The First Man by Albert Camus, David Hapgood (Translator) 3.92 avg rating — 4,069 ratings — published 1994 — 88 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Albert Camus…

Series by Albert Camus

Notebooks 1, 2, 3 (3 books)
by Albert Camus, Ryan Bloom (Goodreads Author) (Translator)
4.09 avg rating — 839 ratings

Quotes by Albert Camus

“Don’t walk in front of me… I may not follow
Don’t walk behind me… I may not lead
Walk beside me… just be my friend”
― Albert Camus

tags: friends, friendship, misattributed-albert-camus

73966 likes

“You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.”
― Albert Camus

tags: attributed-no-source, happiness, meaning-of-life

10437 likes

“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.”
― Albert Camus

tags: seasons, strength, trial, triumph

8396 likes

See all Albert Camus's quotes »

Polls

What would you like to read in February 2016? Now is your chance to vote!

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

20 votes, 24.7%

The Awakening by Kate Chopin

15 votes, 18.5%

The Stranger by Albert Camus

13 votes, 16.0%

Animal Farm by George Orwell

11 votes, 13.6%

Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose

8 votes, 9.9%

The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West

6 votes, 7.4%

The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers

5 votes, 6.2%

Old Yeller by Fred Gipson

3 votes, 3.7%

81 total votes

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