Exile and the Kingdom (edition 2007)

I haven't read Camus in a long long time and before that, only The Stranger which I think everyone has read. Camus is, of course, an exceptional writer but the strength in this collection is within each story and the variety of each. It's also in the fact that the stories themselves are so unique and memorable that their presence stays with you even when you wish you could leave them behind in a sense (the image of a man without a tongue being tortured for example isn't something I'd like to dream about on a pleasant afternoon.) Camus is quite adept at creating not just characters but engaging situations to place them in as well as sometimes incredibly vivid metaphors that may not even be quite obvious at first as in the case of his first story, "The Adulterous Woman." He also creates a certain kind of landscape in other stories-"The Guest" and telling a story of a life in "The Artist at Work," which was definitely my favorite of the collection. What becomes overwhelmingly clear is his grasp of humans as much as his understanding of the sense of a personal story, whether it be one of doubt and searching or one of tragedy and it is this theme that unites them all in a unique sort of exile. ( )

A good collection of short stories, told with Camus' characteristic deep thought and meaning. ( )

Désert et rivages méditerranéens sont le cadre éclatant de la plupart des nouvelles de L'Exil et le Royaume. Ocre et gris, le désert étire à l'infini ses sables et ses pierres où cheminent sans trêve des hommes « qui ne possèdent rien mais ne servent personne ». Dans cet étrange royaume que Janine entrevoit au-delà des palmeraies s'incarnent la grandeur et la liberté. En contraste, sa propre vie, étriquée. De là naît le drame bref de La Femme adultère. Même quand l'angoisse ne paralyse pas les aspirations les plus hautes des êtres, ils succombent souvent - tel Le Rénégat, prisonniers de la Ville interdite. Ou bien leurs actes sont mal interprétés, et c'est la tragédie de L'Hôte ou des Muets. Que peut-on les uns pour les autres ? Saisir le fardeau prêt à choir comme le héros de la Pierre qui pousse ? Quelle ligne de conduite faut-il donc adopter pour rompre l'exil, entrer dans le royaume ? La transparente affabulation de Jonas donne une réponse dont l'humour masque la gravité.

There are many lessons ready to be absorbed from Albert Camus’s works in Exile and the Kingdom; one lesson I took a particular interest in is to simply look around you. This was learned by d’Arrast, a French engineer tasked with building a dam in South America. He didn’t need to socialize with the people there, especially the cook when they became friends; the cook and others in the small town in South America wanted d’Arrast to stay, and the engineer considered it, but Camus wrote no more of d’Arrast to let the reader decide his fate. In another story, Jonas, or The Artist at Work, the main character (Jonas, if you haven’t guessed it) was a successful painter, until he loses his talent, and shells himself into a loft in his apartment. He was meditating for days without food and water, relying solely on his “star” that will let him bless canvases with his imagination as he did before. Unfortunately, this restricted access to him from his family and friends. Eventually, Jonas was rescued from his hole, and his new work was discovered, “…it was hard to tell whether it should be read as independent or interdependent.” The lesson from this is to cherish all that you have and not rely on purely on miracles as Jonas did.
The stories also gave me knowledge on other cultures. One that I noticed particularly was in THE ADULTEROUS WIFE, with the Arabs looking proud and wearing different clothes. The women weren’t presented to the world and there were nomadic encampments. Religion played a big role in two of the stories, The Renegade, or A Confused Mind, and The Growing Stone. In the first, the setting was in Algeria in a small, desolate village filled with people that worship evil and live only to the brink of death. In the latter story, Christianity is celebrated in different manner than the average Sunday mass, through dance the Southern Americans worship a statue of Jesus Christ found in a river.
These stories aren’t for those seeking adventure or for those who wish to discuss their political views upon the world. These stories were written for the readers that want to learn ways to improve themselves, or even to help view other parts of the world, the other side of people. I would recommend this book to those that want to learn how to look around and gaze at beauty. ( )

I just finished reading the short story collection, The Exile and the Kingdom, by Albert Camus. Of the six stories in the collection my favorite two are the Growing Stone and The Guest, closely followed by The Adulterous Woman. I read the Guest in high school and can't say that I understood it much except on a superficial level. I got much more out of it this go round. I really liked the Growing Stone which has almost a mystical quality to it and multiple layers of meaning. Camus continues to be one of my favorite authors and thinkers and has had and continues to have a tremendous influence on my life. ( )