Albert Camus (1913–1960)
Author of The Stranger
About the Author
Born in 1913 in Algeria, Albert Camus was a French novelist, dramatist, and essayist. He was deeply affected by the plight of the French during the Nazi occupation of World War II, who were subject to the military's arbitrary whims. He explored the existential human condition in such works as show more L'Etranger (The Outsider, 1942) and Le Mythe de Sisyphe (The Myth of Sisyphus, 1942), which propagated the philosophical notion of the "absurd" that was being given dramatic expression by other Theatre of the Absurd dramatists of the 1950s and 1960s. Camus also wrote a number of plays, including Caligula (1944). Much of his work was translated into English. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957. Camus died in an automobile accident in 1960. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Disambiguation Notice:
Do not combine this page with the author page for A. Camus or for Camus as there are other authors with the same surname, and surname and initial.
Series
Works by Albert Camus
Albert Camus: The Plague, The Fall, Exile and the Kingdom, and Selected Essays (2004) 702 copies, 4 reviews
Between Hell and Reason: Essays from the Resistance Newspaper Combat, 1944-1947 (1991) 54 copies, 1 review
Oeuvres completes tome IV [Bibliotheque de la Pleiade] (French Edition) (Bibliothèque de la Pléiade, 10921) (2008) 14 copies, 1 review
Travels in the Americas: Notes and Impressions of a New World (The France Chicago Collection) (2023) 12 copies, 1 review
Obras/ Works: El Reves Y El Derecho. Nupcias. El Extranjero. El Mito De Sisifo. Caligula. Carnets, 1 (Spanish Edition) (1996) 10 copies
Lo straniero - La peste - La caduta - L'esilio e il regno - Il rovescio e il diritto - Nozze - Il mito di Sisifo -… (1965) 8 copies
L'Étranger, La Peste, La Chute 6 copies
Obras/ Works: El Hombre Rebelde. Cronicas 1948-1953. Reflexiones Sobre La Guillotina. El Verano (Spanish Edition) (1996) 5 copies
Minotaurus 5 copies
La caduta e Discorsi di Svezia — Author — 4 copies
Ribellione e morte: saggi politici 4 copies
Albert Camus, editorialiste a l'Express: Mai 1955-fevrier 1956 (Cahiers Albert Camus) (French Edition) (1987) — Author — 4 copies, 1 review
Recits et Theatre. L'Envers et L'Endroit. Noces L'Etranger. La Peste. L'Ete. La Chute L'Exil.… (1958) 3 copies
Esortazione ai medici della peste 3 copies
Albert Camus: Obras escogidas 2 copies
Novele 2 copies
Obras 2 copies
"PREFACE" 2 copies
Das Exil und das Reich: Gesammelte Erzählungen | Der wichtigsten Erzählungen des Nobelpreisträgers… (2023) 2 copies
Essays by Albert Camus: The Myth of Sisyphus, the Rebel, Reflections on the Guillotine (2010) 2 copies
Obras / Works: Diarios de viaje & Carnets, 2 & La caída & Crónicas argelinas 1939-1958 (Spanish Edition) (1996) 2 copies
Pages choisies 2 copies
NJE KENAQESI E VETMUAR 1 copy
Δημιουργία και ελευθερία 1 copy
E PRAPMJA DHE E PERPARMJA 1 copy
Fiche de lecture L'Étranger de Albert Camus (analyse littéraire de référence et résumé complet) (2014) 1 copy
Fiche de lecture La Peste de Camus (Analyse littéraire de référence et résumé complet) (French Edition) (2018) 1 copy
Rencontre avec Camus. 1 copy
Calepins de Bibliographie 1 copy
Opgør : Essays 1 copy
NOBEL PRIZE LIBRARY 1 copy
Избранное 1 copy
Sürgün 1 copy
Obra selecta 1 copy
TERSİ VE YÜZÜ 1 copy
Plague Exile Kingdom 1 copy
Notebooks 1942-1951 1 copy
SANATÇI VE ÇAĞI 1 copy
TE DREJTET 1 copy
Obras Completas Tomo II 1 copy
Krisis kebebasan 1 copy
Los Poseídos, Teatro 2 1 copy
Főleg szeress 1 copy
Caligula and other works 1 copy
The Quotable Camus 1 copy
Desde la biblioteca: Camus 1 copy
Great Ideas Myth of Sisyphus (Penguin Great Ideas) by Camus, Albert (2005) Mass Market Paperback 1 copy
Teatro di Albert Camus 1 copy
The Trial — Author — 1 copy
The Renegade or a Confused Spirit — Author — 1 copy
Proti neredu sveta 1 copy
Odabrana djela 1 copy
The Thibaults 1 copy
Saggi letterari 1 copy
Dżuma Tom 2 1 copy
Dżuma Tom 1 1 copy
Primeiros cadernos 1 copy
Rub a lice 1 copy
Helen's Exile {essay} 1 copy
The Funeral 1 copy
Esė rinktinė. D. 2 1 copy
Denemeler 1 copy
Cahiers Albert Camus 1 copy
Vous Parle 1 copy
Užrašų knygelės I 1 copy
Twice A Year, No. XIV-XV 1 copy
Obcy / Dżuma / Upadek 1 copy
Opere di Camus 1 copy
The Silent Men — Author — 1 copy
Oeuvres complètes 1 copy
Misère de la Kabylie 1 copy
GOJEKYCURI RENEGATI 1 copy
Associated Works
The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction (1983) — Contributor — 1,161 copies, 3 reviews
The Assassin's Cloak: An Anthology of the World's Greatest Diarists (2000) — Contributor, some editions — 576 copies, 8 reviews
The Moral Life: An Introductory Reader in Ethics and Literature (1999) — Contributor — 187 copies, 2 reviews
The Graphic Canon, Vol. 3: From Heart of Darkness to Hemingway to Infinite Jest (2013) — Contributor — 152 copies, 1 review
The world of law; a treasury of great writing about and in the law, short stories, plays, essays, accounts, letters,… (1960) — Contributor — 51 copies
Die Sammlung der Nationalgalerie : 1945-1968 : Der geteilte Himmel : die Dokumentation einer Ausstellung (2014) — Contributor — 2 copies
L'homme revolte [de] Camus: Analyse critique (Profil d'une oeuvre ; 56) (French Edition) (1977) — Contributor — 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Camus, Albert
- Birthdate
- 1913-11-07
- Date of death
- 1960-01-04
- Burial location
- Lourmarin Cemetery, Lourmarin, Vaucluse, France
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- Algeria (birth)
- Country (for map)
- France
Algeria - Birthplace
- Mondovi, Algeria
- Place of death
- Villeblevin, Yonne, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France
- Cause of death
- car crash
- Places of residence
- Algiers, Algeria
Paris, Île-de-France, France
Mondovi, Algeria (birth) - Education
- University of Algiers (BA, 1935)
University of Algiers (MA, 1936) - Occupations
- novelist
essayist
playwright
journalist - Relationships
- Casares, Maria (partner)
Feraoun, Mouloud (friend) - Organizations
- French Communist Party
Algerian People's Party
Combat
French Resistance - Awards and honors
- Nobel Prize (Literature, 1957)
- Short biography
- Albert Camus was born to French-Spanish parents in Mondovi, a small village in northeastern Algeria, then a French colony. In 1933, he enrolled at the University of Algiers.. He became a theater professional and journalist, joining the staff of the Alger-Républicain in 1938. He was in Paris working for Paris-Soir magazine at the outbreak of World War II, and joined the French Resistance. After the war, he left political journalism and focused on essays, fiction, and his work as a theater producer and playwright. Camus died in an auto accident in 1960 at age 46.
- Disambiguation notice
- Do not combine this page with the author page for A. Camus or for Camus as there are other authors with the same surname, and surname and initial.
Members
Discussions
Camus - His Non-Fiction - discussion in Literary Centennials (May 2018)
possibly Dystopian about Death in Name that Book (October 2015)
Camus - The Fall - discussion in Literary Centennials (January 2014)
Albert Camus - Resources and General Discussion in Literary Centennials (December 2013)
Camus - The Plague - discussion in Literary Centennials (August 2013)
Camus - The Stranger (aka Outsider) - discussion in Literary Centennials (March 2013)
Camus - A Happy Death - discussion in Literary Centennials (January 2013)
***GroupRead: The Plague (Spoiler Free) in 75 Books Challenge for 2010 (April 2010)
Reviews
Oh, my. This has been on my TBR pile since the lockdowns began, but I am glad I waited until now to read it. First, because it allowed me to notice the details (people still went to cafes? the disease abated in winter, not summer?). Most important, it made the ending -the reopening of the city gates - that much more intense...especially since the dates lined up (they made the decision on January 25, and the doors opened in the first few days of February). "He let his tears flow without knowing whether they stemmed from his present joy or from a pain too long repressed...."… (more)
The world of The Stranger no longer exists. There is no more French colonial north Africa. Algeria is independent and the concept of colonies no longer makes sense to anyone. But we live with its legacies. We still have others, strangers. Camus's message is still relevant. Frenchmen were still dominant. Camus pushes the concept even further. The central character is disconnected from everyone and everything,
The story begins with a classic line – mother is dead. We learn that the central character has been estranged from his mother. He can't afford to care for her so he sends her to a state home. He doesn't seem to know that she had a relationship with a man, another resident of the state home. He shows no emotion in the preparation for and at her funeral. Clearly not a warm guy.
We learn he has a girlfriend, Marie, who wants to marry him. If that's what she wants he'll go along with her. Again his detachment is prominent. He seems to just go along. What does he want? No one knows. He merely seemed to want to get along. He has a friend, Raymond, who is angry with an Arab woman who he believes has cheated on him. He asks him to write a letter to her enticing her to come back to him, knowing the intent was really to get her to return so his friend could punish her. So he writes the letter, she returns and his friend hits her repeatedly. He's an accessory. The girl complains to the police but they do nothing. He backs up Raymond's claim she cheated on him. Raymond gets off with no charges. Things get worse.
They go to a beach house of a friend of Raymond's. They see a small group of Arab men, one of them Raymond identifies as the girl's brother. They get into a fight which Raymond initiates but Raymond gets cut by a knife. This seems to even the score but it does not end there. The Arabs are later seen on the beach seemingly exerting their right to be there. Raymond gives him a gun just in case he needs to defend himself. Instead he goes to beach, sees the brother and kills him. Not emotionally, just settling things in some sense.
He is arrested and seems to think he'll be released as what he did was in some sense justified. Again he seems not to be in touch with his surroundings. His detachment immediately works against him. Why did he abandon his mother? Why had he shown no emotion at her funeral? Why did he take Marie to see a comedy just after the funeral? The judge considers him a monster. He is convicted and sentenced to death. He wants there to be a crowd at his execution, greeting him with cries of hate, so he won't feel alone. Chilling.… (more)
The story begins with a classic line – mother is dead. We learn that the central character has been estranged from his mother. He can't afford to care for her so he sends her to a state home. He doesn't seem to know that she had a relationship with a man, another resident of the state home. He shows no emotion in the preparation for and at her funeral. Clearly not a warm guy.
We learn he has a girlfriend, Marie, who wants to marry him. If that's what she wants he'll go along with her. Again his detachment is prominent. He seems to just go along. What does he want? No one knows. He merely seemed to want to get along. He has a friend, Raymond, who is angry with an Arab woman who he believes has cheated on him. He asks him to write a letter to her enticing her to come back to him, knowing the intent was really to get her to return so his friend could punish her. So he writes the letter, she returns and his friend hits her repeatedly. He's an accessory. The girl complains to the police but they do nothing. He backs up Raymond's claim she cheated on him. Raymond gets off with no charges. Things get worse.
They go to a beach house of a friend of Raymond's. They see a small group of Arab men, one of them Raymond identifies as the girl's brother. They get into a fight which Raymond initiates but Raymond gets cut by a knife. This seems to even the score but it does not end there. The Arabs are later seen on the beach seemingly exerting their right to be there. Raymond gives him a gun just in case he needs to defend himself. Instead he goes to beach, sees the brother and kills him. Not emotionally, just settling things in some sense.
He is arrested and seems to think he'll be released as what he did was in some sense justified. Again he seems not to be in touch with his surroundings. His detachment immediately works against him. Why did he abandon his mother? Why had he shown no emotion at her funeral? Why did he take Marie to see a comedy just after the funeral? The judge considers him a monster. He is convicted and sentenced to death. He wants there to be a crowd at his execution, greeting him with cries of hate, so he won't feel alone. Chilling.… (more)
An early abandoned work, resurrected after his death. First US edition, purchased at the Seattle Antiquarian Bookfair Oct 2024.
Mersault is the slow star, slouching through his non-descript life. Perhaps this version is more autobiographical. Many echoes of the stranger, but a more lived, less bleak version.
This copy is oddly deckled on the sides and bottom, with remarkable textured paper for a standard edition.
Mersault is the slow star, slouching through his non-descript life. Perhaps this version is more autobiographical. Many echoes of the stranger, but a more lived, less bleak version.
This copy is oddly deckled on the sides and bottom, with remarkable textured paper for a standard edition.
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Statistics
- Works
- 297
- Also by
- 47
- Members
- 97,105
- Popularity
- #93
- Rating
- 3.9
- Reviews
- 1,168
- ISBNs
- 1,887
- Languages
- 50
- Favorited
- 506
His coincidental embroilment leads to the part the book is most famous for, his shooting and subsequent murder of a man for no reason other than being frustrated by the summer heat. Camus lays the foundation for his take on the nature of our existences in this quote: “We [Raymond and Meursault] stared at each other without blinking, and everything came to a stop there between the sea, the sand, and the sun, and the double silence of the flute and the water. It was then that I realized that you could either shoot or not shoot.” Meursault faces the potential of murder with startling detachment, measuring both potential decisions with the same weight.
The Stranger makes itself an engaging read whilst also exploring philosophical thought in an appealing and accessible manner. The world in which Meursault resides is one that believes that there exists a rational explanation for our existence or something to believe in. Meursault’s crime and lack of remorse takes a provocative stance as it rebels against the foundational ideals of the society that everyone abides by; the idea that there is a meaning in our existence. Meursault, or more accurately Camus, rebels against the idea of a higher power or purpose which threatens the readily accepted status quo. This can be seen in a passage shortly before Meursault is executed: Camus takes the stance that all of our lives are equal because of the fact we will all eventually die, or in other words, we are all equal in death. It doesn’t matter what we do when the ending is exactly the same. I believe Camus’ writing style only enhances my enjoyment of the novel, as it's written with simple, direct language that makes the concepts that he employs within his writing easier to understand. I believe this book should be read by all people who are interested in the philosophy of existentialism or absurdism, as Camus is able to tackle the topic masterfully whilst maintaining the digestibility of a typical literary novel.
The same reasons I recommend the book to others is the same reason I am rating it 4.5 stars. I have always had an interest in philosophy but had difficulty getting into dense books with convoluted language. Camus was able to bypass this by writing a novel exploring the issue with metaphors and direct language. The only critique I have for the novel is that its beginning is very slow-paced as its purpose is to set up for the larger themes of the story. All in all, I believe The Stranger to be a very enjoyable and thought-provoking read that I would not be opposed to rereading later.… (more)