Synopses & Reviews
(Book Jacket Status: Jacketed)
From one of the most brilliant and influential thinkers of the twentieth century–two novels, six short stories, and a pair of essays in a single volume. In both his essays and his fiction, Albert Camus (1913—1960) de-ployed his lyric eloquence in defense against despair, providing an affirmation of the brave assertion of humanity in the face of a universe devoid of order or meaning.
The Plague–written in 1947 and still profoundly relevant–is a riveting tale of horror, survival, and resilience in the face of a devastating epidemic. The Fall (1956), which takes the form of an astonishing confession by a French lawyer in a seedy Amsterdam bar, is a haunting parable of modern conscience in the face of evil. The six stories of Exile and the Kingdom (1957) represent Camus at the height of his narrative powers, masterfully depicting his characters–from a renegade missionary to an adulterous wife –at decisive moments of revelation. Set beside their fictional counterparts, Camus’s famous essays “The Myth of Sisyphus” and “Reflections on the Guillotine” are all the more powerful and philosophically daring, confirming his towering place in twentieth-century thought.
Review:
“[
The Fall is] uniquely Camus. Beneath its wit, elegance, and irony there is no lack of intelligence, troubled earnestness, and perhaps even the moral anguish of the true religieux.” –
San Francisco ChronicleReview:
“[
The Fall is] an irresistibly brilliant examination of modern conscience.” –
New York TimesReview:
“Today
The Plague takes on fresh significance…Looking back on the grim record of the twentieth century, we can see more clearly now that Albert Camus had identified the central moral dilemmas of the age.” –
The Guardian About the Author
Born in Algeria in 1913, Albert Camus published
The Stranger–now one of the most widely read novels of this century–in 1942. Celebrated in intellectual circles, Camus was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957. On January 4, 1960, he was killed in a car accident.
Table of Contents
Introductionix
Select Bibliographyxxvii
Chronologyxxvii
THE PLAGUEI
THE FALL273
EXILE AND THE KINGDOM357
THE MYTH OF SISYPHUS489
REFLECTIONS ON THE GUILLOTINE607
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