Most Popular Books by Albert Camus

With the intrigue of a psychological thriller, Camus''s masterpiece gives us the story of an ordinary man unwittingly drawn into a senseless murder on an Algerian beach. Behind the intrigue, Camus explores what he termed "the nakedness of man faced with the absurd" and describes the condition of reckless alienation and spiritual exhaustion that characterized so much of twentieth-century life. First published in 1946; now in translation by Matthew Ward.

One of the most influential works of this century, The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays is a crucial exposition of existentialist thought. Influenced by works such as Don Juan and the novels of Kafka, these essays begin with a meditation on suicide; the question of living or not living in a universe devoid of order or meaning. With lyric eloquence, Albert Camus brilliantly posits a way out of despair, reaffirming the value of personal existence, and the possibility of life lived with dignity and authenticity.

NOBEL PRIZE-WINNING AUTHOR • One of the most widely read novels of all time—from one of the best-known writers of all time—about a lawyer from Paris who brilliantly illuminates the human condition. Elegantly styled, Camus'' profoundly disturbing novel of a Parisian lawyer''s confessions is a searing study of modern amorality.

The first novel from the Nobel Prize-winning author lays the foundation for The Stranger, telling the story of an Algerian clerk who kills a man in cold blood. In A Happy Death, written when Albert Camus was in his early twenties and retrieved from his private papers following his death in 1960, revealed himself to an extent that he never would in his later fiction. For if A Happy Death is the study of a rule-bound being shattering the fetters of his existence, it is also a remarkably candid portrait of its author as a young man. As the novel follows the protagonist, Patrice Mersault, to his victim''s house -- and then, fleeing, in a journey that takes him through stages of exile, hedonism, privation, and death -it gives us a glimpse into the imagination of one of the great writers of the twentieth century. For here is the young Camus himself, in love with the sea and sun, enraptured by women yet disdainful of romantic love, and already formulating the philosophy of action and moral responsibility that would make him central to the thought of our time. Translated from the French by Richard Howard

From the Nobel Prize-winning author comes the story of Jacques Cormery, a boy who lived a life much like his own, with the sights, sounds and textures of a childhood steeped in poverty and a father''s death yet redeemed by the beauty of Algeria and the boy''s attachment to his mother. "A work of genius." —The New Yorker Published thirty-five years after its discovery amid the wreckage of the car accident that killed Camus, The First Man is the brilliant consummation of the life and work of one of the 20th century''s greatest novelists. Translated from the French by David Hapgood. "The First Man is perhaps the most honest book Camus ever wrote, and the most sensual...Camus is...writing at the depth of his powers...It is "Fascinating...The First Man helps put all of Camus''s work into a clearer perspective and brings into relief what separates him from the more militant literary personalities of his day...Camus''s voice has never been more personal." —The New York Times Book Review

By one of the most profoundly influential thinkers of our century, The Rebel is a classic essay on revolution. For Albert Camus, the urge to revolt is one of the " essential dimensions" of human nature, manifested in man''s timeless Promethean struggle against the conditions of his existence, as well as the popular uprisings against established orders throughout history. And yet, with an eye toward the French Revolution and its regicides and deicides, he shows how inevitably the course of revolution leads to tyranny. As old regimes throughout the world collapse, The Rebel resonates as an ardent, eloquent, and supremely rational voice of conscience for our tumultuous times. Translated from the French by Anthony Bower.

Set in North Africa, Paris, and Brazil, the six stories in this masterful collection reveal probing portraits of spiritual exile, and man’s perpetual search for an inner kingdom in which to be reborn. From a variety of masterfully rendered perspectives, these six stories depict people at painful odds with the world around them. A wife can only surrender to a desert night by betraying her husband. An artist struggles to honor his own aspirations as well as society''s expectations of him. A missionary brutally converted to the worship of a tribal fetish is left with but an echo of his identity. They display Camus at the height of his powers. Now, on the 50th anniversary of the book’s publication, Carol Cosman’s new translation recovers a literary treasure for our time. Albert Camus won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957.

“Its relevance lashes you across the face.” —Stephen Metcalf, The Los Angeles Times • “A redemptive book, one that wills the reader to believe, even in a time of despair.” —Roger Lowenstein, The Washington Post A haunting tale of human resilience and hope in the face of unrelieved horror, Albert Camus'' iconic novel about an epidemic ravaging the people of a North African coastal town is a classic of twentieth-century literature. The townspeople of Oran are in the grip of a deadly plague, which condemns its victims to a swift and horrifying death. Fear, isolation and claustrophobia follow as they are forced into quarantine. Each person responds in their own way to the lethal disease: some resign themselves to fate, some seek blame, and a few, like Dr. Rieux, resist the terror. An immediate triumph when it was published in 1947, The Plague is in part an allegory of France''s suffering under the Nazi occupation, and a timeless story of bravery and determination against the precariousness of human existence.

The Nobel Prize winner''s most influential and enduring personal writings, newly curated and introduced by acclaimed Camus scholar Alice Kaplan. Albert Camus (1913-1960) is unsurpassed among writers for a body of work that animates the wonder and absurdity of existence. Personal Writings brings together, for the first time, thematically-linked essays from across Camus''s writing career that reflect the scope and depth of his interior life. Grappling with an indifferent mother and an impoverished childhood in Algeria, an ever-present sense of exile, and an ongoing search for equilibrium, Camus''s personal essays shed new light on the emotional and experiential foundations of his philosophical thought and humanize his most celebrated works.

The Outsider or The Stranger (French: L''Etranger) is a novel by Albert Camus published in 1942. Its theme and outlook are often cited as exemplars of Camus''s philosophy of the absurd and existentialism, though Camus personally rejected the latter label. The titular character is Meursault, an indifferent French Algerian ("a citizen of France domiciled in North Africa, a man of the Mediterranean, an homme du midi yet one who hardly partakes of the traditional Mediterranean culture"), who, after attending his mother''s funeral, apathetically kills an Arab man whom he recognises in French Algiers. The story is divided into two parts, presenting Meursault''s first-person narrative view before and after the murder, respectively. In January 1955, Camus wrote: "I summarized The Stranger a long time ago, with a remark I admit was highly paradoxical: ''In our society any man who does not weep at his mother''s funeral runs the risk of being sentenced to death.'' I only meant that the hero of my book is condemned because he does not play the game."

NOBEL PRIZE WINNER • Twenty-three political essays that focus on the victims of history, from the fallen maquis of the French Resistance to the casualties of the Cold War. In the speech he gave upon accepting the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957, Albert Camus said that a writer "cannot serve today those who make history; he must serve those who are subject to it." Resistance, Rebellion and Death displays Camus'' rigorous moral intelligence addressing issues that range from colonial warfare in Algeria to the social cancer of capital punishment. But this stirring book is above all a reflection on the problem of freedom, and, as such, belongs in the same tradition as the works that gave Camus his reputation as the conscience of our century: The Stranger, The Rebel, and The Myth of Sisyphus.

"The French writer Albert Camus is best known for his novels and philosophical works, which are among the most influential of the twentieth century. But his journals, which he kept from 1935 to 1959, offer an intimate glimpse into his thinking at its most personal. Beautifully retranslated by Ryan Bloom and supplemented by an introduction by Alice Kaplan, Travels in the Americas presents the journals that Camus wrote during his eventful visits to the United States in 1946 and to South America in 1949. When Camus sailed to the US in 1946, he was virtually unknown to American audiences. All that was about to change-The Stranger, his first book translated into English, was about to be published, and he would soon be a literary star. By 1949, when he set out for South America, Camus was an international celebrity. Camus''s journals from these two trips record his impressions, frustrations, and longings. Here are his vivid first impressions of New York City, his encounters with publishers and critics and assorted shipmates. Camus appears unguarded, his fallibility on full display. He is irritated by mediocrity and frustrated by his health. Yet he is also moved to rapture by landscapes, by women, or simply by the bounty of his own philosophical imagination. Long unavailable in English and now freshly translated and annotated, these journals let readers walk beside the existentialist thinker as he experiences the changes in his own life and in the world around him, openly describing his passions and preoccupations on the way, all in his inimitable style"--

The Nobel Prize winner''s most influential and enduring political writings, newly curated and introduced by acclaimed Camus scholar Alice Kaplan. Albert Camus (1913-1960) is unsurpassed among writers for a body of work that animates the wonder and absurdity of existence. Committed Writings brings together, for the first time, thematically-linked essays from across Camus''s writing career that reflect the scope of his political thought. This pivotal collection embodies Camus''s radical and unwavering commitment to upholding human rights, resisting fascism, and creating art in the service of justice.

''My mother died today. Or maybe it was yesterday, I don''t know.'' Mersault will not pretend. Unmoved by the death of his mother, he refuses to show sadness just to satisfy the expectations of others. Then, when he commits a random act of violence on a sun-drenched beach in Algiers, his lack of emotion only compounds his guilt in the eyes of society. Albert Camus'' portrayal of a man confronting the absurdity of human life became an existentialist classic. Yet it is also a book filled with quiet joy in the physical world, and this new translation, based on listening to recordings of Camus reading aloud, sensitively renders the subtleties and dreamlike atmosphere of l''Etranger.

The summation of the existentialist philosophy threaded throughout all his writing, Albert Camus'' The Myth of Sisyphus is translated by Justin O''Brien with an introduction by James Wood in Penguin Classics. In this profound and moving philosophical statement, Camus poses the fundamental question: is life worth living? If human existence holds no significance, what can keep us from suicide? As Camus argues, if there is no God to give meaning to our lives, humans must take on that purpose themselves. This is our ''absurd'' task, like Sisyphus forever rolling his rock up a hill, as the inevitability of death constantly overshadows us. Written during the bleakest days of the Second World War, The Myth of Sisyphus (Le Mythe de Sisyphe) argues for an acceptance of reality that encompasses revolt, passion and, above all, liberty. This volume contains several other essays, including lyrical evocations of the sunlit cities of Algiers and Oran, the settings of his great novels The Outsider and The Plague. Albert Camus (1913-60) is the author of a number of best-selling and highly influential works, all of which are published by Penguin. They include The Fall, The Outsider and The First Man. Awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957, Camus is remembered as one of the few writers to have shaped the intellectual climate of post-war France, but beyond that, his fame has been international. If you enjoyed The Myth of Sisyphus, you might like Camus'' The Outsider, also available in Penguin Modern Classics. ''Camus could never cease to be one of the principal forces in our domain, nor to represent, in his own way, the history of France and of this century'' Jean-Paul Sartre

"Here now, for the first time in a complete English translation, we have Camus''s three little volumes of essays, plus a selection of his critical comments on literature and his own place in it. As might be expected, the main interest of these writings is that they illuminate new facets of his usual subject matter."--The New York Times Book Review "A new single work for American readers that stands among the very finest."--The Nation

Is it possible to die a happy death? This is the central question of Camus''s astonishing early novel, published posthumously and greeted as a major literary event. It tells the story of a young Algerian, Mersault, who defies society''s rules by committing a murder and escaping punishment, then experimenting with different ways of life and finally dying a happy man. In many ways A Happy Death is a fascinating first sketch for The Outsider, but it can also be seen as a candid self-portrait, drawing on Camus''s memories of his youth, travels and early relationships. It is infused with lyrical descriptions of the sun-drenched Algiers of his childhood - the place where, eventually, Mersault is able to find peace and die ''without anger, without hatred, without regret''.

Endorsements: "The reissue of Camus'' seminal essay, ''Neither Victims nor Executioners, '' could hardly be more timely. In Iraq and Afghanistan, the hideous march to oblivion goes on apace. America is ironically reversing the ethic proposed by Camus'' title. American adventuring, playing the part of omnipotent executioner, is creating multitudes of victims. No search is undertaken for a ''third way.'' Indeed, were the Camus thesis proposed, it would evoke only wide-eyed innocent arrogance. Kennedy and Klotz-Chamberlin have dedicated a lifetime to the ''third way'' commended by Camus. Our gratitude to our mentors for a prescient, timely introduction." --Fr. Daniel Berrigan, SJ "Pacifists are not looking for a Utopian outlook nor unrealistic expectations. Many said, ''South Africa will not change.'' But it did. Others looked at Northern Ireland and, it took years, but it also changed. The Soviet Union changed. The Middle East will change but not through violence or murder. We still think of ourselves within borders, protecting ourselves from others, Europe took its borders away and they are better. South, Central, and North America should take away their borders, as well as people in the Middle East. . . . We should build a culture of nonviolence through an understanding of human rights without regard to race, religion, and nationality." --Mubarak Awad, founder of Nonviolence International "If we spontaneously approve of nuclear terrorism, if we become apologists for the uninhibited use of naked power, we are thinking like Communists, we are behaving like Nazis, and we are well on the way to becoming either one or the other. In that event we had better face the fact that we are destroying our own Christian heritage." --Thomas Merton Author Biography: Albert Camus (November 7, 1913 - January 4, 1960) was a French author and philosopher and one of the principal luminaries (with Jean-Paul Sartre) of existentialism. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957.

As a philosophy teacher, mentor, and friend, Jean Grenier (1898?1971) had an enormous influence on the young Albert Camus (1913?1960), who, in fact, acknowledged that Grenier?s Les Iles had touched the very core of his sensibility and provided him with both a ?terrain for reflection, and a format? that he would later use for his own essays. Their correspondence, beginning when the seventeen-year-old Camus was Grenier?s student at the Grand Lycäe of Algiers, documents the younger man?s struggle to become a writer and find his own voice, a period in which he turned frequently to his mentor for advice, comfort, and direction. The letters cover a period of almost thirty years, from 1932 to Camus?s untimely death in 1960. Because Camus destroyed the earlier correspondence he received, the first twenty-six letters in the volume are his only; the full begins in 1940. ø These enlightening letters offer invaluable glimpses into the development of Camus?s aesthetic ideas, literary production, and political stance. In contrast to the correspondence of Grenier, who throughout remains somewhat reticent about his life and doubtful about himself and his works, Camus?s letters are a window into his most profound thoughts and sensitivities, delving deeply into his psyche and, at times, revealing a side of the writer unfamiliar to us. Undoubtedly they allow us a better understanding of Albert Camus, the man and the artist.

The Nobel Prize winner''s most influential and enduring lectures and speeches, newly translated by Quintin Hoare, in what is the first English language publication of this collection. Albert Camus (1913-1960) is unsurpassed among writers for a body of work that animates the wonder and absurdity of existence. Speaking Out: Lectures and Speeches, 1938-1958 brings together, for the first time, thirty-four public statements from across Camus''s career that reveal his radical commitment to justice around the world and his role as a public intellectual. From his 1946 lecture at Columbia University about humanity''s moral decline, his 1951 BBC broadcast commenting on Britain''s general election, and his strident appeal during the Algerian conflict for a civilian truce between Algeria and France, to his speeches on Dostoevsky and Don Quixote, this crucial new collection reflects the scope of Camus''s political and cultural influence.

A call to arms for artists, in particular those who came from an immigrant background, like he did. • “To create today means to create dangerously. Every publication is a deliberate act, and that act makes us vulnerable to the passions of a century that forgives nothing.” In 1957, Nobel Prize-winning philosopher Albert Camus gave a speech entitled "Create Dangerously." Camus understood the necessity of those making art as a part of civil society. A bold cry for artistic freedom and responsibility, his words today remain as timely as ever. In this new translation, Camus''s message, available as a stand-alone little book for the first time, will resonate with a new generation of writers and artists.

The Plague is Albert Camus''s world-renowned fable of fear and courage The townspeople of Oran are in the grip of a deadly plague, which condemns its victims to a swift and horrifying death. Fear, isolation and claustrophobia follow as they are forced into quarantine. Each person responds in their own way to the lethal disease: some resign themselves to fate, some seek blame, and a few, like Dr Rieux, resist the terror. An immediate triumph when it was published in 1947, The Plague is in part an allegory of France''s suffering under the Nazi occupation, and a story of bravery and determination against the precariousness of human existence. ''A matchless fable of fear, courage and cowardice'' Independent ''Magnificent''The Times Albert Camus was born in Algeria in 1913. He studied philosophy in Algiers and then worked in Paris as a journalist. He was one of the intellectual leaders of the Resistance movement and, after the War, established his international reputation as a writer. His books include The Plague, The Just and The Fall, and he won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957. Camus was killed in a road accident in 1960.

Youthful writings of Albert Camus including essays, verse, parables, and fairy tales.

The Stranger (French: L''Étranger), also published in English as The Outsider, is a 1942 novella by French author Albert Camus. Its theme and outlook are often cited as examples of Camus'' philosophy, absurdism, coupled with existentialism; though Camus personally rejected the latter label. The title character is Meursault, an indifferent French settler in Algeria described as "a citizen of France domiciled in North Africa, a man of the Mediterranean, an homme du midi yet one who hardly partakes of the traditional Mediterranean culture."Weeks after his mother''s funeral, he kills an Arab man in French Algiers, who was involved in a conflict with one of Meursault''s neighbors. Meursault is tried and sentenced to death. The story is divided into two parts, presenting Meursault''s first-person narrative view before and after the murder, respectively. Meursault learns of the death of his mother, who has been living in an old age home in the country. He takes time off from work to attend her funeral, but he shows no signs of grief or mourning that the people around him expect from someone in his situation. When asked if he wishes to view her body, he declines, and he smokes and drinks regular (white) coffee - not the obligatory black coffee - at the vigil held by his mother''s coffin the night before the burial. Most of his comments to the reader at this time are about his observations of the aged attendees at the vigil and funeral, which takes place on an unbearably hot day. Back in Algiers, Meursault encounters Marie, a former secretary of his firm. The two become re-acquainted, swim together, watch a comedy film, and begin to have an intimate relationship. All of this happens on the day after his mother''s funeral. Over the next few days, Meursault helps Raymond Sintès, a neighbor and friend who is rumored to be a pimp, but says he works in a warehouse, to get revenge on a Moorish girlfriend he suspects has been accepting gifts and money from another man. Raymond asks Meursault to write a letter inviting the girl over to Raymond''s apartment solely so that he can have sex with her and then spit in her face and throw her out. While he listens to Raymond, Meursault is characteristically unfazed by any feelings of empathy, so he does not express concern that Raymond''s girlfriend would be emotionally hurt by this plan and agrees to write the letter. In general, Meursault considers other people either interesting or annoying, or feels nothing for them at all. Raymond''s girlfriend visits him on a Sunday morning, and the police get involved when he beats her for slapping him after he tries to kick her out. He asks Meursault to testify that the girlfriend had been unfaithful when he is called to the police station, to which Meursault agrees. Ultimately, Raymond is let off with a warning.

ABOUT THE PLAGUE The first new translation of The Plague to be published in the United States in more than seventy years, bringing the Nobel Prize winner''s iconic novel ("A redemptive book, one that wills the reader to believe, even in a time of despair." --The Washington Post) to a new generation of readers. The townspeople of Oran are in the grip of a deadly plague, which condemns its victims to a swift and horrifying death. Fear, isolation, and claustrophobia follow as they are forced into quarantine. Each person responds in their own way to the lethal disease: some resign themselves to fate, some seek blame, and a few, like Dr. Rieux, resist the terror. An immediate triumph when it was published in 1947, The Plague is in part an allegory of France''s suffering under the Nazi occupation, as well as a timeless story of bravery and determination against the precariousness of human existence. In this fresh yet careful translation, award-winning translator Laura Marris breathes new life into Albert Camus''s ever-resonant tale. Restoring the restrained lyricism of the original French text, and liberating it from the archaisms and assumptions of the previous English translation, Marris grants English readers the closest access we have ever had to the meaning and searing beauty of The Plague. This updated edition promises to add relevance and urgency to a classic novel of twentieth-century literature.

Albert Camus remains one of the most important writers of the 20th century. Camus''s observations of American life are at once insightful and hard-hitting; a reflection of his own dreams, fears, and desires; and a symbol of his intense struggle to find an ethic in that sober decade of human history.