The 4 most OUTSTANDING Albert CAMUS BOOKS
Born into a modest family of French emigrants, Albert Camus became one of the essayists, novelist and playwright most important in the country. He spent much of his youth in Algeria and, thanks to his intelligence and discipline, published great works. In a PROFESSOR we bring you a brief review about Albert Camus books most outstanding, so you can discover a little more about this wonderful author and his relevance in history.
After beginning his studies in philosophy that he could not finish due to tuberculosis disease, he formed a theater Company with several fans as members who were dedicated to performing classics before a packed auditorium of workers. He worked as a journalist and was in the year 1942 when he became better known after publishing his work "Abroad"and the essay "The myth of Sisyphus". His writing shows a strong influence on the part of the existentialist current, which defends a vision of human destiny as absurd and the ability to live even the greatest misfortunes from indifference, the same as according to Albert Camus, is part of humanity. Got to be
awarded the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature and he soon passed away due to a car accident.Index
- The Stranger, one of Albert Camus's most important books
- The plague, another very important book by Camus
- The myth of Sisyphus
- The Fall of Albert Camus
The Stranger, one of Albert Camus's most important books.
"Abroad" is the first novel published in the year 1942 by author Albert Camus. Its importance lies in part because it is the author's first work in which we can see and recognize many philosophical positions, especially centered on the current existentialistand also because we find a high quality writing and a very marked literary style. The protagonist of the work represents without any doubt the "theory of absurdity"that Camus himself exposes in another of his books: "The myth of Sisyphus". Camus tells us the story of the lord Meursault, a male office worker, in his early thirties, indifferent to the life that despite the many situations in which he will be involved, will not show regret or pity, simply, indifference. He is practically a being apathetic at the very existence of him.
The most accepted interpretation of the character created by Camus explains that this, he is a "hedonistic". The consciousness of him does not go beyond sensual enjoyment. There is also talk of a amoral character, who appears calm before any serious event such as the death of his mother. He only shows some kind of interest in those relationships that are based on his desire and sensuality.
Numerous studies have concluded that it is the most important work of Camus in addition to being a writing that marked a before and after in European literature, blurring the distances that were between philosophy and literature.
The plague, another very important book by Camus.
Published in 1947, "Plague" tells the story of some doctors who discover the sense of solidarity thanks to his humanitarian work in the Algerian city Oran being stalked by a plague. The different protagonists will show the effects of this plague on different profiles of the population, going much further than the simple story of an infection. He is reflected as disaster and misfortune they can bring out the best feelings to fight and overcome.
The main character is the doctor Rieux, a man who does not pretend to be a hero but an honest person, giving himself with all his means to the cause and trying to eliminate the plague from the city. The subject is not something new and never seen in literature, but the way it is treated in this novel is. With serenity, without extreme violence, or feeling of panic or terror. What Camus is interested in is the existential analysis of all characters that appear, not so much the catastrophe itself. You don't want to distract the reader from his main concern: Why and why human suffering?
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The myth of Sisyphus.
The myth of Sisyphus is another of the most outstanding Albert Camus books. It is an essay published in 1942, just like the novel "Abroad". In it, Camus poses "the theory of absurdity" from a philosophical point of view. A clear questioning the meaning of existence individually, his main concern is the meaning of human experience and life, the absurdity of all this and what it is like to realize and wonder this individually.
Analyze the relationship between absurdity and suicideIs there some kind of logic that inevitably leads from the absurd to suicide? To do this, a very old question is asked, Does life have any meaning? He begins here to exemplify and explain the symptoms of absurdity: the first, feeling strange. It is undoubtedly a magnificent work of philosophy that uses the Greek myth of Sisyphus suicide to explain his theory of absurdity and human suicide.
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The Fall of Albert Camus.
"The fall" was the third novel written by Albert Camus where a man who introduces himself under the pseudonym of Jean Baptise Clamance, practices as a lawyer or judge in Amsterdam after the Second World War. This novel dislodged critics a lot because it is not so easy to interpret or it is situated in such a clear line as Camus had everyone used to. The novel is shown as a sequel to the confrontation of Sartrewith Camus, who had told him that he was not able to conceptualize his philosophical theories.
Camus used symbolism for many of his works, however, not a single symbol appears in this at all. The novel is presented as the monologue of a character that little by little he is discovering that what seem to be all good actions, are no longer the reflection of his desire to dominate and of a cruelty that he ends up ascribing to all humanity.
And with this we end this review of the most outstanding Albert Camus books. Do you think we have missed any essentials? Leave us a comment!
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Bibliography
- Biographies and lives (2004-2019). Albert Camus: Biographies and Lives, the online biographical encyclopedia.
- López, A. P. (2012). A look at the feeling of the absurd from Camus's The Myth of Sisyphus.
- Montero, D. (2016). Sickness, sinking, defeat. The fall by Albert Camus. Daimon, International Journal of Philosophy (5), ppp. 837-846.
- Villalvazo, O. (2015). Camus's foreigner: something more than absurdity. Synchrony, (68), pp 74-92.
- Zielinski, M. Albert Camus through "La Peste".