Albert Camus - Resources and General Discussion

Please use this thread for general information, links to resources, and and discussion of Camus and his works in general. We will have separate threads discussing specific works.

Was Camus required reading for you in school?

I read The Plague in high school, though I don't recall if it was for an English class or a History class. (We read some translated works in "English" class, as contradictory as that sounds). I still remember some of the classroom discussion about what the rats symbolized.

I'm pretty sure I read The Stranger in high school as well, though it may have been in college.

I'm pretty sure that I read The Stranger in high school, and The Plague for English 101 in college.

I read The Plague, probably in high school, and I have a feeling I read The Stranger, but it doesn't seem to be in my LT library. I remember nothing!

Camus's Nobel Prize page seems a good source for the availability of translations.

http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1957/camus-bibl.html

Searching around for Biographies and Lit. crit. of Albert Camus and so far I have ordered:

Albert Camus: A Life by Olivier Todd
(I went for this one because Mr Todd's Christian name is the French Olivier with an i}

also Albert Camus: Elements of a life by Robert Zeretsky

Does anybody have any other recommendations, although there is much to sift through on Rise's link at #5

David Bellos, the editor of my Everyman's Library omnibus of Camus's work has the following comments in his "Select Bibliography":

Conor Cruise O'Brien, Camus (1970). A lively, intelligent polemic which focuses attention on the role of Camus's background in Algeria in the construction and meaning of his work.

Roger Grenier. Album Camus (1982). An outstandingly intelligent and sympathetic illustrated biography by a man who knew Camus well.

Patrick McCarthy. Camus: A Critical Study of His Life and Work (1982). A readable 'life and works' of manageable dimensions.

Philip Thody. Albert Camus: A Study of His Work (1989). Informative and commonsensical from a resolutely British point of view. Not especially sensitive to Camus's philosophical position, but quite acute on his art of writing.

Olivier Todd. Albert Camus: A Life (1996). The standard narrative biography; a very long book, for specialists.

There is no mention of the Zeretsky book because it was published after this bibliography. It gets some very positive reviews on Amazon, as does Camus, a Romance by Elizabeth Hawes.

I read Albert Camus: A Life by Olivier Todd several years ago, and I was very disappointed by it. I looked at several reviews on Amazon, and apparently the English version lacks ~150 pages of the original version in French, and is missing much of the discussion of Camus the philosopher, which I wanted to read more than the trite accounts of his squabbles with Sartre and his numerous girlfriends.

I have just started Albert Camus: A life by Olivier Todd. Enjoying it so far, but there are no notes and a list of Camus published works would have been useful.

His first publication was a collection of essays L'Envers et L'Endroit, which are available along with some other essays in translation in Lyrical and Critical Essays which I have now ordered. Well you have got to start from the beginning.

Just finished Albert Camus: a life an excellent biography by Olivier Todd. It's the sort of book that makes me eager to read some of Camus's works. My version was a hardback copy of 420 pages and covered the life in some detail.

I have read and reviewed Camus: Elements of a life by Robert Zaretsky.

I think it would serve very well as an introduction to Camus. At just 200 pages including notes and references it is easily digestible, but in concentrating on just four major events in Camus life manages to give an excellent impression of his life, his contradictions and his works. Having previously read Olivier Todd's biography I was familiar with much of the stuff in Zaretsky's book, but I think Zaretsky gives enough background to the events to make his book a worthwhile read.

For those who do not want to read about Camus love-life, then read Zaretsky, but I would still recommend Olivier Todd's biography as well.

Thanks for all the wonderful resources on Camus, Barry!

Here's something on Camus's "The Myth of Sisyphus" from Zach Weiner, one of my favourite web cartoonists:

http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2871

Albert Camus recommended that his three works published in 1942 should be read together. They are his first novel l'etranger his play Caligula and his collection of essays The Myth of Sisyphus. Possibly he felt his ideas and thoughts on The Absurd would crystallize while reading the three books, or he may of course have just wanted to sell more books.

Whatever his reasons, I am going to follow his advice and read them next week.

#14 - I saw Caligula and 3 Other Plays in a bookstore yesterday, carried it around for a while, but wound up not buying it. Now I wish I had. I'll be back in that neighborhood week after next for a dental appointment, so I'll buy it then if they still have it.

Albert Camus: A study of his work by Philip Thody
"He wanted, as he said in 1949, to be able to write as Mozart composed music. This is an ambition which he still has, but one which he knows cannot be realized by turning his back upon the human tragedy. It is from Camus's awareness of this tragedy, coupled with his integrity both as a thinker and as an artist, that we can confidently expect many more admirable works of art from one of the greatest humanists of our day"

Philip Thody wrote this in 1957 as the conclusion to his review of Albert Camus published works. He did not of course realize that Camus would die in an automobile accident in 1960 without publishing anything else of significance. In effect Thody's A Study of his Work is a complete critical biography and one that has been written while Camus was still alive. Therefore this is a contemporaneous text written with a feel for the times in which Camus lived and which I think adds much to our understanding of Camus thoughts and reflections of that world and milieu.

Thody emphasises that the ideas and themes behind Camus works are as important as his artistry and literary techniques and therefore to really appreciate this writer the reader needs to understand both these aspects. Thody leads us through the works chronologically demonstrating how Camus thoughts/philosophy develops as his writing matured. Camus as we know was off to a great start with his first novel The Stranger and Thody explains just what Camus was getting at with his ideas on the "absurd world" in which he believe we all lived, pointing out the effects of the Second World War on the intellectual climate and on Camus writing his book in 1940-42. Thody also explains how important this novel was to intellectual thought in France at the time. He also discusses the plays and the essays in The Myth of Sisyphus pointing out how Camus ideas of "revolte" would lead to a difference of opinion with the leading existentialists. Thody's chapter on The Plague is excellent as he develops further his ideas on Camus answers to the absurd world and how humans can resist that plague. He also brings out themes of exile and separation and how people at the time of the novel's publication believed the plague was a metaphor for the Nazi's invasion of Paris. Thody continues to lead the reader by the hand as he attempts to come to terms with the ideas held in Camus difficult third novel: L'homme revolte (the Rebel). There are again excellent chapters on the short stories, essays and Camus final masterpiece The Fall

Throughout this book of literary criticism Thody takes a fair minded view of Camus achievements and his final chapter entitled "achievements and limitations" is a fine piece of writing summing up just how much Camus had accomplished. For me Thody pitches his analysis perfectly, his explanations are clear and fairly concise and he lets Camus speak for himself whenever it is appropriate, using passages form his books as examples. I gained much from this relatively short book of 120 odd pages which in addition has a postscript and plenty of notes which include passages from the works of Camus in their original language. It serves as a very good guide for the general reader and I would rate it at 4.5 stars

The Cambridge Companion to Camus
The Cambridge companions are a well established series of books that feature critical essays from contributors, covering such topics as: single authors, literary and national movements, philosophy and culture. Having now read a couple of Camus novels, some plays and essays as well as Olivier Todd's biography and Philip Thody's a study of his work I was curious to see if the Cambridge companion would add anything to my reading experience of Camus. The short answer is that it did.

This Cambridge companion was published in 2007 and all of the fourteen contributors could be considered as contemporary with the publication date. The essays are divided into three sections; Biography and influences, Themes preoccupations and genres and texts and contexts, in addition there is an introduction by Edward J Hughes and a short Postface to round things off, he also edited the volume. There is also a chronology of significant events in Camus' life, a fairly detailed list of his publications and a big enough guide to further reading to keep most completists happy for years to come. I found all the essays readable and was pleased to find that it was editorial policy to show all quotes from Camus' writings in their original French with an English translation immediately following.

The first section: Biography and Influences containing three essays interested me the least, but this was because it added little that was new to my previous reading. It was the seven essays in the second section: Themes, Preoccupations and Genres, that really made the book come alive for me, because it took the debate about Camus further than I had travelled before. An excellent essay re-interpreting Le Mythe De Sisyphe started the ball rolling (pun intended) as David Carroll examines Camus' ideas on the Absurd relating them to the world in which he lived (Second World War) and then assessing how much value they are in todays world. Christine Margerrison in her essay Camus and the Theatre asks why it is that Camus is not recognised as a major playwright. Camus loved the theatre and founded his own theatre group, he said that he loved the feeling of working with other people to produce a play, but his own plays had mixed success at the time and are not so often revived today. Jeanyves Guerin follows with a lively essay on Camus the journalist, that makes me want to go out and find some of his articles to read for myself. However the highlight of this section and perhaps the highlight of the book are the three essays that assess Camus as a thinker and moralist. Camus and Social Justice, Camus and Sartre the Great Quarrel, and Violence and Ethics in Camus, all point to Camus as a man left behind in the intellectual debate in post world war Europe. They are critical in various degrees of his stance as a moralist and almost condemnatory of his position in the debate on colonialism. He was seen at the time as a supporter of colonialism because of his eventual refusal to support the Algerian Uprising. His position on these issues is re-examined in the light of events following the Algerian independence movement and there is now more understanding of his efforts to bring people together and tacit support for his vitriolic condemnation of those who saw abstract principle as more important than human interrelationships. It is a debate that became fundamental to much of what Camus wrote during the final phase of his life and as such is of great interest to the Camus reader.

The final section Texts and Contexts starts of with a humdinger of an essay by Peter Dunwoodie who looks at Camus ideas on Mediterranean culture and how this influenced his early essays and his first novel L'Estranger. It also points forward to his later difficulties with the Algerian question and his seemingly ambivalent attitude to the arab/muslim world that doesn't quite fit into Mediterranean hedonism. I had to read Dunwoodie's essay twice, to come to grips with his ideas, but it was well worth the re-read. There follows a workmanlike essay on layers of meaning in The Plague and a good essay on withheld identity in The Fall, but as to how relevant this essay is, I will be able to judge better when I get to read The Fall and this brought home to me that to get the most out of theses essays you will need to have read at least some of Camus and be interested to know more about his place in literature and the thoughts that drove his creative spirit.

If this volume in the Cambridge Companion series is representative of the standard of criticism then I am eager to read more. They would not serve so well as an introduction to an author or genre, but would come into their own for those readers wishing to dig deeper. A Five star Read.

Albert Camus: A Biography by Herbert R. Lottman
First published 1980

Herbert Lottman's biography of Albert Camus is a richly detailed and highly sympathetic examination of the writer's life--too much so in both cases for my taste. The book's strongest point is that it shows how much of Camus's life and work were devoted to areas that are apart from his popular image as novelist and philosopher.

Camus was born in Algeria, then a French possession, in 1913. His father was soon to die in the First World War, so Camus was raised by his mother and extended family. As a youth he developed tuberculosis, which chiefly affected his stamina and was partly responsible for directing him toward artistic pursuits. His principal lifetime love was the theater, first as an actor and later as playwright, director and manager. To pay the bills he started work as a journalist, and would continue to do so off and on for most of his life. Camus lived in Algeria, with occasional trips to Europe, until the German invasion in 1940 left him stranded in Paris. Under Nazi occupation he worked openly for a publishing firm while secretly writing for and editing an underground newspaper.

Camus's early political allegiance was to the French communist party. But stories of Stalin's atrocities led to a break with the communists who insisted on maintaining their loyalty to the USSR. This was also responsible for Camus's very public break with his friend Jean-Paul Sartre. For the rest of his life, Camus maintained an independent stance that was left of center, but not communist, and resisted France's alignment with either the USSR or the USA. When the Muslim population of Algeria rebelled against the French government, Camus was torn between his belief in self-determination and his desire to protect the lifestyle of his family and other Frenchmen in Algeria. Much to the consternation of his friends, Camus withheld his voice during the Algerian war.

Lottman obviously felt that Camus's sex life was off limits. Camus was married twice, and was still living with his second wife Francine when he was killed in an automobile accident in January 1960. But he spent much of his time with other women, particularly actresses, often travelling with them unchaperoned. There is also mention of a "ravishing young woman associated with neither his literary life or the theater" who was Camus's frequent companion for the last two years of his life, but the name of this young woman was apparently withheld out of delicacy.

Despite Lottman's enthusiasm for everything he did and said, Camus comes across as less likable than I had expected. He was always sensitive to insult and criticism, and flit from one project to another his whole life. His literary production was rather slim altogether, and even he suspected that the Swedish Academy awarded him the Nobel Prize more for political reasons than for his accomplishments. His best moments appeared to be when he was out of the limelight and not under pressure, when he could be quite unassuming and companionable.

I read this particular biography, not because of favorable reviews, but because it came readily to hand. I'm sure there are better and newer ones that make use of sources that were not yet made available to researchers when Lottman was writing. Lottman nonetheless gives us a wealth of detail on Camus's daily life, but I found the author too quick to defend Camus. There is very little insight into the man and his philosophy. Instead we have details such as the names of his friends' dogs, the itinerary of a traveling companion's maid, and the family history of a blacksmith with whom Camus chatted a few times.

Great reviews of both the Cambridge Companion (Barry) and the Camus biography (Steven). Given my general wariness with regard to the Cambridge series, Barry's five stars would almost tickle my curiosity to see what's so special about the volume on Camus.

Polaris (Paul) sent me a "heads up" on A BBC radio 3 programme on Albert Camus called Inside the Outsider and it was excellent. Recommended for anyone wanting an in depth introduction to the man and his work and also good for all those that like a conspiracy theory. Here is the link:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b03g2r5j/Sunday_Feature_Albert_Camus_Inside....

Today, November 7, is Camus's 100th birthday!

To mark the date, Guardian has a gallery of 15 different covers for L'Etranger

http://www.theguardian.com/books/gallery/2013/nov/07/albert-camus-the-outsider-g...

It would be good to have all those covers.

I didn't realize it was also translated as The Outsider, but it's actually a better translation than The Stranger.

#24 I don't agree Rebecca. The translation of l'etranger to the outsider highlights all that is wrong with Philip Gilberts translation; In my opinion he continually puts words into Camus mouth. I think The Stranger is a perfectly good translation of the title of the book, because then it is up to the reader to make their own judgements as whether Mersault is an outsider from the text of the novel.

I'm sure you're right, Barry. It's years since I read it. I was just thinking literally (from French that I learned years ago, so it could be wrong) that "l'étranger" means "the foreigner," which to my mind is closer to "outsider" than "stranger" -- but I wasn't thinking of the novel itself, which I probably should reread.

I've just read Anatole France's novel Thaïs, which includes an introduction from 1976 by Wayne C. Booth (1921-2005) a critic and professor at the University of Chicago. Booth describes Anatole France as the culture hero and foremost living "man of letters" of his age. He then goes on to explain France's fall from prominence:

"But of course later generations must seek other representatives: France will be replaced by Gide and Proust, Gide and Proust by Camus and Sartre, Camus and Sartre by--whomever happens to be your present intellectual hero or heroine."

This passage is then footnoted as follows:

"It is always surprising to remind oneself of just how consistently modern Americans have relied on French culture to provide these representatives. I can remember, when the news came in 1960 that Camus had been killed in an automobile accident, how absolutely devastated I felt: my representative was gone. Now, only fifteen years later, even if he were still living, he could not serve in the same way for me; others have supplanted him, and though his works survive for me, they must do so without the assistance of a living 'man of letters.'"