Albert Camus Books

Chilling, confrontational and exposing of the geomentallity. This geomentally challenging journey into pure estivation is so abstractually written, it cries of the Socratic method. This read promises a ravenous hunger for more.

This geomentally challenging journey into pure estivation is so abstractually written, it cries of the Socratic method. This read promises a ravenous hunger for more.

I first bought this slender book in 1976 at 17, when I first became aware of the outside world and didn't understand how to reconcile my instinctive pacifism with the violence of public discourse. I was too young to understand more than a few words. But today, while packing up some books to donate to the library, I stumbled on it and began to read. Camus captivated me again, and this time I began to understand his message. It is as though a fog has lifted.

Camus rejected war, the sanctioned murder of humans. My nascent understanding of his argument is that although it's not realistic to hope to stop all war, it's important for the individual to overcome the fear that makes us root for one side or the other. This rings particularly true right now for this American woman, having grown frustrated with our president's recent "terror speeches." How, indeed, can we each think clearly, apply our values with integrity, and face down what we know is fundamentally wrong, while we cling to fear? How can we respond to our frightened friends and acquaintences when they insist that we must "defend" ourselves at all cost? Change is difficult, and may take the rest of time to accomplish, but we must endeavor to change, if only to experience peace in our own lives.

The book was written in 1972, but the ideas are fresh, perhaps eternal. Yes, it's deep, but even at 17 I underlined the key ideas, and even without wading through the dense language you will come across clear restatements of the principles. I recommend it for anyone who is uncomfortable with current events and needs encouragement to live their ideas. I, in fact, am about to order around 10 of these to give to my friends, who've been as confused and exasperated by their inability to articulate their beliefs as I. I hope you'll consider it, too.

Camus sets forth his views on how peace should be universal but how it is unlikely to occur in the near future due to rising and conflicting world powers. This is more of a position paper than a book, but is rather deep.

I am sad to see no other reviews of this book on Amazon. This is a well written book full of essays written by Albert Camus for the french resistance paper Combat. Like the title suggests Albert Camus is faced 'Between Hell And Reason' with what he and the world was faced against. Much like Orwell's "Homage To Catalonia" we see the writer in his early age before his written his major works and going off into the abyss of war. We see them mold ideas which mostly are more radical and less complicated which they would use later to write "masterpieces".

The essays start with the liberation of Paris. The topics throughout the book go from self critique of the paper to responses of major figures in the war. My favorite essays were the ones that pointed out how false and fake the press were during the war. Camus however doesn't just criticize other figures and press, he self-critques his own paper Combat. Camus is very honest and isn't just filled with meaningless words. He really means what he says and doesn't say it if it's not true. Mostly when I read political essays and other works of the same nature, I mostly feel alienated and disagree but with "Between Hell And Reason" I could understand and really believe what Camus said. Very few political pieces do that to me.

This edition of "Between Hell And Reason" has a big introduction with translator's notes and footnotes for the essays. Anyone who wants to really study Albert Camus could use a lot from this edition of "Between Hell And Reason."

i am glad to see that this book is still in publication, having bought it a number of years ago. it is indispensable, and provides a systematic presentation of camus and his major, and minor, works. i would certainly suggest it for any camus scholar or those even mildly interested in his life and works.

This is a German translation of Albert Camus "L'étranger" (1942), which was translated into English as "The Stranger". As this is the German version, it seems to be best to give you my oppinion in the books language. Here we go:

Mersault - der Icherzähler dieses Romans - beginnt seine Geschichte mit dem Tod seiner Mutter. Er muss zu ihrem Begräbnis reisen, nimmt dort aber alles mehr oder weniger teilnahmslos zur Kenntnis. Genau dieser Schlag Mensch ist nämlich Mersault, jemand der keinen Ehrgeiz hat, der sich für keinen anderen interessiert, wohl auch jemand der keinen Sinn in seinem Leben sieht. Anders als Rieux in 'Die Pest', hat Mersault aus seinem Atheismus die Lehre gezogen, dass die Gottlosigkeit einer Sinnlosigkeit gleichkommt.

Jedenfalls gerade von der Beerdigung zurückgekehrt stürzt sich Mersault in eine Beziehung, von Liebe kann da allerdings keine Rede sein. Völlig irrational erschießt Mersault in eingebildeter Notwehr danach einen Araber - er selbst ist ein Pied Noir - und dafür wird ihm der Prozess gemacht. Letztlich wird er aufgrund seiner Gottlosigkeit und seiner Lebenseinstellung zum Tode verurteilt werden und seine Lebensbeichte und -einstellung einem Priester erzählen.

Die Person Mersault ist hervorragend gezeichnet, glaubwürdig und dennoch unbegreiflich. Stilistisch hat Camus ein wirklich gutes Werk geschaffen. Sprachlich jedoch hatte ich mit dem Werk allerdings ein riesiges Problem. Der ständige Wechsel zwischen Vergangenheit und Mitvergangenheit - teilweise sogar innerhalb desselben Satzes - macht das Lesen schwierig, ja richtiggehend unangenehm. Dies ist wohl eher dem Übersetzer als Camus anzulasten, da sich die französische Grammatik hier grundsätzlich von der deutschen unterscheidet.

A veces al caminar por la calle yo también he sentido esa desazón, esa falta de raíces en el mundo y pese a tener padre y madre, hermanos y esposa, siento que no pertenezco a este mundo, que yo también como el personaje de Camus, soy un extranjero en este mundo, que solo estoy de paso y que no importa lo que haga para cambiarlo siempre será así y jamás será de otra forma. En esos momentos en los que tengo un ataque fuerte de abusurdismo, veo lo banal, y a veces es aún mas fuerte que la depresión, pues en las depresiones te preocupas por que la gente no te quiere, en estos momentos eso no te importa ya, nada te importa. Mucha gente lo achaca a la falta de Dios, a la falta de raices, a la falta de amor, sin saber que a veces los excesos de la vida pueden producir ese mismo efecto y quizás hasta mucho peor. Camus nos muestra en su novela a un hombre que no tiene afectos ni pasiones, un hombre que sin querer mata, y sin querer muere y todo alrededor, vida y muerte, esta imbuido del sentido del absurdo.

Luis Méndez

Están ante un libro excelente que relata los primeros años de la vida del escritor en Argel, cuando todavía era un niño (y pobre, además). Si bien es autobiográfico, contiene reflexiones altamente relacionadas con la filosofía existencialista - y deliciosa, por qué no - de Albert Camus. No está terminado, contiene "notas" al final como la conocida obra de Marcel Porust.. Esto se debe, creo, a que su publicación es póstuma pues Camus murió antes de terminarla. Léanla, y no se pierdan CALÍGULA, EL MITO DE SÍSIFO, EL EXTRANJERO y LA PESTE, del mismo autor. Camus es una aventura introspectiva que habla de vida, amor, libertad y muerte de una manera simplemente exquisita.

A courageous and extraordinary essay,"The Rebel" (English title) was written at a time when many French intellectuals were either members of the Communist party and/or apologists for Stalin. The moral authority of France's intellectual 'elite' was unquestionably sympathetic to the orthodox Left in the immediate postwar period of the late 40's through the 50's. Camus' essay represents what philosophers Richard Rorty and Jurgen Habermas both envision as the highest vocation for the model citizen: Camus protests "in the name of the society itself against those aspects of the society which are unfaithful to its own self-image." (Rorty, Contigency, irony, and solidarity, 1989, p.60).

To enjoy the flavor of life, take big bites; one does when imbibing Camus; The Stranger, Plague, Fall, and Rebel; But it is in Notebooks one truly feels the essence of the foundation of his ideas; the salt of the pork; bites, and bits; sparks; as it were, the like. Each entry, taken as an individual idea, observation, note, in and of themselves often leaves one breathless with the depth and scope of concise observation of life's truth's. An absolute phenomenal encounter with the great man himself; one achieves both greater appreciation and immense understanding of the ideas and direct thoughts of Camus. Every page is revealing. This is not a book to devour, it is one to savour, page by page, entry by entry; one to take time with.

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.

Hitler and his Nazi hordes seemed poised to rule all of Europe, plunging it into a new dark age. How could anyone cope with living in a world like this? It seemed impossible for decent people to believe in anything at all.

"The Stranger", an allegory, does not directly address this crisis. Camus instead tells of a man in Algeria, the narrator, who appears to care nothing about anyone or anything. He tells us of his indifference or boredom to nearly every situation.

The tale begins, for example, when his mother dies alone in a retirement home; he seems only annoyed that going to her funeral ceremony has disrupted his weekend. Later, when his mistress asks him if he loves her, he comments that "it really does not matter if I love you or not, does it?" He observes a lonely old man frequently beating his only companion, a scrawny dog, and reacts to this pathetic situation only by wondering why they put up with each other. Why doesn't the miserable old man get rid of the dog? Why doesn't the dog run away? Why do they need each other so much?

His only real pleasure, going to the sunny beach, is disrupted one weekend by a fight arising out of a misunderstanding with two Arabs. This somehow leads to his killing one of the two with a knife in apparent self-defense and his arrest for murder. The tale moves rapidly through more and more misunderstandings and absurdities before, during, and after his court trial.

I should not, of course, tell how the plot is resolved but urge you to find out for yourself. Anyhow, what's really important in "The Stranger" is how he finally becomes aware and how to cope with his aimless life and with the suffering surrounding him but simply did not know how to cope with these absurdities.

At the end, he finally finds peace of mind. He says he has learned to welcome the cold indifference of the universe. The stars do not care one way or another how he thinks or acts, so he is free...free at last...to do what he chooses.

At this time Camus's publisher also released his famous essay, "The Myth of Sisyphus". He tells how the gods had punished Sisyphus, a titan, for having defied them by bringing fire to humans. He is forced every day to push a huge rock up a steep hill, knowing in advance that just before he comes to the top, it will plunge back downhill. Yet, he does not despair. The gods have not defeated him; he is not a dumb animal but is fully aware of the absurdity of his plight. At the end of each day, he is consoled with these thoughts as he walks downhill. Camus tells us that "we must imagine Sisyphus happy". Yes...happy!!

"The Stranger" and "The Myth of Sisyphus" brought relief from despair for many French and other Europeans. They learned that they were at least free to think what they liked. The gods could not take that away from them. They were free to hope and, whenever they chose, to act. We, too, can rebel against the gods anytime we choose.