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1StevenTX
For discussion of the essays and longer non-fiction works of Albert Camus such as The Rebel, and Resistance, Rebellion and Death.
2baswood
In The Myth of Sisyphus Camus sets out to define what he means by the absurd a term that once understood give some valuable insights to his writing.
Camus and the Absurd
Camus says that we all live in the state of the Absurd.and once we realise this then we can quickly become anguished about our situation. So then what is the absurd.? Camus says that man wants to be able to understand and feel there is meaning to his life. Many of us go through life building for a future, however what if there is no future. The only thing that we can be certain of is our death and so what sort of a world is this and where is the future. Man wants to use his reason to be clear about a meaning to his life, but Camus argues that no one can explain the reason for his existence without resorting to illusion and myth. Scientists and Mathematicians can have theories about the mechanics of the universe but when they try and explain this to the common man then they have to resort to images (mere poetry Camus says).It is Camus contention that we live in an irrational and unreasonable universe and when we understand this then our life becomes absurd, because we realise that what ever we do we will never discover a meaning to our life.The absurd then is the confrontation between a mans desire for meaning and clarity and the silent irrationality of the universe in which he lives. What is really absurd is that most of us carry on with our lives, even though we have no future and no hope. Camus says:
The absurd is born of this confrontation between the human need and the unreasonable silence of the world
Camus asks the question: why should we not commit suicide if our lives are hopeless. His answer is that once we accept the situation we should revolt against it. After all one truth is now evident and that is there is no meaning in life. Our reasoning has told us this and to get our freedom we should embrace the absurd. Camus claims that when he considered the question of suicide he was debating whether or not life had to have a meaning to be lived. He now turns that question around and states that life will be lived all the better if it has no meaning. He says that man should live solely with what he knows, to accommodate himself to what is and to bring in nothing that is not certain. Man should live a life of consciousness, that is always being conscious of the absurd, he should live a life of revolt against all that he deems to be ridiculous around him. His revolt will give his life value. Man should therefore live as full a life as possible accepting and glorifying in everything that is available to him.
Camus stresses that man should live his life “without appeal” and I think what he means by this is: without appeal to eternal values that he might accept through religion or some other faith So the absurd man in Camus words he is a man who
“prefers his courage and his reasoning. The first teaches him to live without appeal and to get along with what he has; the second informs him of his limits. Assured of his temporally limited freedom, of his revolt devoid of future and of his moral consciousness, he lives out his adventures within the span of his lifetime”
Camus and the Absurd
Camus says that we all live in the state of the Absurd.and once we realise this then we can quickly become anguished about our situation. So then what is the absurd.? Camus says that man wants to be able to understand and feel there is meaning to his life. Many of us go through life building for a future, however what if there is no future. The only thing that we can be certain of is our death and so what sort of a world is this and where is the future. Man wants to use his reason to be clear about a meaning to his life, but Camus argues that no one can explain the reason for his existence without resorting to illusion and myth. Scientists and Mathematicians can have theories about the mechanics of the universe but when they try and explain this to the common man then they have to resort to images (mere poetry Camus says).It is Camus contention that we live in an irrational and unreasonable universe and when we understand this then our life becomes absurd, because we realise that what ever we do we will never discover a meaning to our life.The absurd then is the confrontation between a mans desire for meaning and clarity and the silent irrationality of the universe in which he lives. What is really absurd is that most of us carry on with our lives, even though we have no future and no hope. Camus says:
The absurd is born of this confrontation between the human need and the unreasonable silence of the world
Camus asks the question: why should we not commit suicide if our lives are hopeless. His answer is that once we accept the situation we should revolt against it. After all one truth is now evident and that is there is no meaning in life. Our reasoning has told us this and to get our freedom we should embrace the absurd. Camus claims that when he considered the question of suicide he was debating whether or not life had to have a meaning to be lived. He now turns that question around and states that life will be lived all the better if it has no meaning. He says that man should live solely with what he knows, to accommodate himself to what is and to bring in nothing that is not certain. Man should live a life of consciousness, that is always being conscious of the absurd, he should live a life of revolt against all that he deems to be ridiculous around him. His revolt will give his life value. Man should therefore live as full a life as possible accepting and glorifying in everything that is available to him.
Camus stresses that man should live his life “without appeal” and I think what he means by this is: without appeal to eternal values that he might accept through religion or some other faith So the absurd man in Camus words he is a man who
“prefers his courage and his reasoning. The first teaches him to live without appeal and to get along with what he has; the second informs him of his limits. Assured of his temporally limited freedom, of his revolt devoid of future and of his moral consciousness, he lives out his adventures within the span of his lifetime”
3baswood
The Rebel: an essay on man in revolt
This is not a book for the casual reader. It is a collection of essays that Camus worked up for publication in 1951. He arranged them into five sections and his aim was to make them into a definitive statements on his thinking on Europe as it emerged from yet another catastrophic world war. At times I found them difficult to follow, but then a purple passage would emerge which, made earlier struggles with the text absolutely worthwhile.
The oft quoted first couple of sentences plunges the reader straight in to Camus' world:
"What is a rebel? A man who says no: but whose refusal does not imply a renunciation. He is also a man who says yes as soon as he begins to think for himself.
The short first section defines what Camus means by an act of rebellion and goes on to examine what value judgements need to be present. It leads into a longer second section titled "Metaphysical Rebellion" and it is here that Camus talks about "a man protesting about his condition and against the whole of creation" He says it is metaphysical because it disputes the ends of man and of creation. Remembering how Camus had defined his idea of an absurd world in the Myth of Sisyphus and his thoughts on Nihilism then this series of essays examines in what sort of state Nihilism has left modern European man. (circa 1950's). He looks at the world through the eyes and thoughts of the Marquis de Sade and Nietzsche attempting to show how they as intellectual rebels have challenged the prevailing thoughts, but have ended up in the trough of Nihilism. There are some difficult ideas to grasp here and Philip Thody in his book Albert Camus: A study of his work sums it up well:
It's real appeal is to the intellectual already acquainted with the thinkers it discusses and aware of the problems involved. Too frequently, the ordinary English reader feels like a stranger in the midst of a complicated family quarrel.
When reading The Rebel Camus position on the intellectual left should always be born in mind. He had experienced the German occupation in Paris, he had been an active member of The Resistance and an editor of the semi-clandestine paper Combat. His first novel L'etranger had garnered excellent reviews especially from left wing critics, however after the war Camus was moving closer to the political centre. He had already fallen out with Sartre and the French communists and so while he was extremely critical of German thinkers he also chose to be less than complimentary to some of the idols of the left wing. The long third section titled Historical Rebellion takes up over half of the book and examines the French and Russian revolutions as well as the rise of the Nazis. I was on surer ground here and found it easier to follow Camus, as in places he writes an almost revisionist history; this is especially true of the French Revolution where the left wing hero Saint-Just is cut down to size. Camus does at times appear like a schoolmaster lecturing the misguided left on the causes and outcomes of the Russian Revolution and it is no wonder he upset Sartre. I found some of his writing here particularly inspiring.
Camus point in rewriting the history of the revolutions of the past is to demonstrate that any revolt that does not recognise that it should transcend nihilism and establish limits of some kind is doomed to justify murder, terror and dictatorship. Revolutions are usually unsuccessful because they do not allow further rebellion. One repressive regime is followed by another equally repressive; or worse. Camus was passionate about the sanctity of human life and was horrified that Karl Marx political theories had been taken up by the left, whose slogan seemed to run along the lines of "the end justified the means" in a direct challenge to the Stalin regime he says:
What does it matter that this (the ideal of the Eternal City) should be accomplished by dictatorship and violence? in the New Jerusalem, echoing with the roar of miraculous machinery, who will still remember the cries of the victims?
In a short fourth section Camus looks at Rebellion and Art and writes about the novel's function of taking the reader into reality and beyond and leading him to a destiny of sorts. The novel can allow us to see the bigger picture. He digresses a little into themes of love and death and his writing on these again hits a purple patch.
The final section is titled "Thought at the Meridian" and is an attempt to provide a summary of his position, There is an essay on moderation and excess, where Camus again tries to come to terms with issues thrown up by rebellion. Revolutions must take cognizance of individuals, they must have limits they must have values, they have no right to commit murder. His final essay "Beyond Nihilism" takes him on a flight of fancy which is at times difficult to follow.
So apart from Philip Thody's more obvious reasons for finding this book a difficult read, I think there are other issues here. Camus challenges past philosophers ideas, but he does so on his own terms. He always claimed not to be a philosopher and he was right to say this because he rarely pauses to define his terms, he leaps from one thought to another and it is not always clear how he makes the jumps. I also get the feeling that he loved a well turned sentence more than the thought within it and he cannot resist an aphorism especially where it includes a play on words. His penchant for short punchy sentences is also not conducive when explaining complicated ideas.
So lets have some of these aphorisms, which alone are a good reason to read Camus:
"The blasphemy is reverent, since every blasphemy is, ultimately, a participation in holiness"
"Nihilism is not only despair and negation, but above all the desire to despair and to negate
"It can be said of Marx that the greater part of his predictions came into conflict withy facts as soon as his prophecies began to become an object of increasing faith"
"The future is the only kind of property that the masters willingly concede to the slaves"
Some great things in this book (I loved his critique of Capitalism) but overall a mixed bag. If you are willing to cruise through some fairly opaque passages there are rewards enough. I would rate this as 3.5 stars.
This is not a book for the casual reader. It is a collection of essays that Camus worked up for publication in 1951. He arranged them into five sections and his aim was to make them into a definitive statements on his thinking on Europe as it emerged from yet another catastrophic world war. At times I found them difficult to follow, but then a purple passage would emerge which, made earlier struggles with the text absolutely worthwhile.
The oft quoted first couple of sentences plunges the reader straight in to Camus' world:
"What is a rebel? A man who says no: but whose refusal does not imply a renunciation. He is also a man who says yes as soon as he begins to think for himself.
The short first section defines what Camus means by an act of rebellion and goes on to examine what value judgements need to be present. It leads into a longer second section titled "Metaphysical Rebellion" and it is here that Camus talks about "a man protesting about his condition and against the whole of creation" He says it is metaphysical because it disputes the ends of man and of creation. Remembering how Camus had defined his idea of an absurd world in the Myth of Sisyphus and his thoughts on Nihilism then this series of essays examines in what sort of state Nihilism has left modern European man. (circa 1950's). He looks at the world through the eyes and thoughts of the Marquis de Sade and Nietzsche attempting to show how they as intellectual rebels have challenged the prevailing thoughts, but have ended up in the trough of Nihilism. There are some difficult ideas to grasp here and Philip Thody in his book Albert Camus: A study of his work sums it up well:
It's real appeal is to the intellectual already acquainted with the thinkers it discusses and aware of the problems involved. Too frequently, the ordinary English reader feels like a stranger in the midst of a complicated family quarrel.
When reading The Rebel Camus position on the intellectual left should always be born in mind. He had experienced the German occupation in Paris, he had been an active member of The Resistance and an editor of the semi-clandestine paper Combat. His first novel L'etranger had garnered excellent reviews especially from left wing critics, however after the war Camus was moving closer to the political centre. He had already fallen out with Sartre and the French communists and so while he was extremely critical of German thinkers he also chose to be less than complimentary to some of the idols of the left wing. The long third section titled Historical Rebellion takes up over half of the book and examines the French and Russian revolutions as well as the rise of the Nazis. I was on surer ground here and found it easier to follow Camus, as in places he writes an almost revisionist history; this is especially true of the French Revolution where the left wing hero Saint-Just is cut down to size. Camus does at times appear like a schoolmaster lecturing the misguided left on the causes and outcomes of the Russian Revolution and it is no wonder he upset Sartre. I found some of his writing here particularly inspiring.
Camus point in rewriting the history of the revolutions of the past is to demonstrate that any revolt that does not recognise that it should transcend nihilism and establish limits of some kind is doomed to justify murder, terror and dictatorship. Revolutions are usually unsuccessful because they do not allow further rebellion. One repressive regime is followed by another equally repressive; or worse. Camus was passionate about the sanctity of human life and was horrified that Karl Marx political theories had been taken up by the left, whose slogan seemed to run along the lines of "the end justified the means" in a direct challenge to the Stalin regime he says:
What does it matter that this (the ideal of the Eternal City) should be accomplished by dictatorship and violence? in the New Jerusalem, echoing with the roar of miraculous machinery, who will still remember the cries of the victims?
In a short fourth section Camus looks at Rebellion and Art and writes about the novel's function of taking the reader into reality and beyond and leading him to a destiny of sorts. The novel can allow us to see the bigger picture. He digresses a little into themes of love and death and his writing on these again hits a purple patch.
The final section is titled "Thought at the Meridian" and is an attempt to provide a summary of his position, There is an essay on moderation and excess, where Camus again tries to come to terms with issues thrown up by rebellion. Revolutions must take cognizance of individuals, they must have limits they must have values, they have no right to commit murder. His final essay "Beyond Nihilism" takes him on a flight of fancy which is at times difficult to follow.
So apart from Philip Thody's more obvious reasons for finding this book a difficult read, I think there are other issues here. Camus challenges past philosophers ideas, but he does so on his own terms. He always claimed not to be a philosopher and he was right to say this because he rarely pauses to define his terms, he leaps from one thought to another and it is not always clear how he makes the jumps. I also get the feeling that he loved a well turned sentence more than the thought within it and he cannot resist an aphorism especially where it includes a play on words. His penchant for short punchy sentences is also not conducive when explaining complicated ideas.
So lets have some of these aphorisms, which alone are a good reason to read Camus:
"The blasphemy is reverent, since every blasphemy is, ultimately, a participation in holiness"
"Nihilism is not only despair and negation, but above all the desire to despair and to negate
"It can be said of Marx that the greater part of his predictions came into conflict withy facts as soon as his prophecies began to become an object of increasing faith"
"The future is the only kind of property that the masters willingly concede to the slaves"
Some great things in this book (I loved his critique of Capitalism) but overall a mixed bag. If you are willing to cruise through some fairly opaque passages there are rewards enough. I would rate this as 3.5 stars.
4edwinbcn
096. L'été
Finished reading: 25 August 2013
In English: 
L'été (Summer) is a collection of essays by Albert Camus, which is recommended reading for readers who are new to the critical work of Camus. The pieces in this collection are considered to be less difficult and accessible than some of his other essays.
L'été contains several essays describing cities in Algeria, such as Oran and Tipasa. Tracing their history back to the Phoenicians and Romans, Camus rich descriptions reveal a wondeful portrait of these cities much like other great cities around the Mediterranean Sea.
More challenging are short essays about the Greek civilisation, in essays such as about Prometheus and the Exile of Helen.
For the largest part, these essays make for a few hours of pleasant reading, and enough of tickle to reread the more difficult pieces.
Other books I have read by Albert Camus:
Jonas ou l'artiste au travail, suivi de "La pierre qui pousse"
Finished reading: 25 August 2013
In English: 
L'été (Summer) is a collection of essays by Albert Camus, which is recommended reading for readers who are new to the critical work of Camus. The pieces in this collection are considered to be less difficult and accessible than some of his other essays.
L'été contains several essays describing cities in Algeria, such as Oran and Tipasa. Tracing their history back to the Phoenicians and Romans, Camus rich descriptions reveal a wondeful portrait of these cities much like other great cities around the Mediterranean Sea.
More challenging are short essays about the Greek civilisation, in essays such as about Prometheus and the Exile of Helen.
For the largest part, these essays make for a few hours of pleasant reading, and enough of tickle to reread the more difficult pieces.
Other books I have read by Albert Camus:
Jonas ou l'artiste au travail, suivi de "La pierre qui pousse"
6edwinbcn
Lettres à un ami allemand
Finished reading: 28 August 2013
Translated and included in: 
Lettres à un ami allemand (English; Letters to a German friend) is a collection of four letters, written during the occupation and published clandestinely. The first of these letters was published in 1943, the second in 1944 and the final two were written in 1944, but published in 1945. After the war, the collection appeared is a small, numbered edition. Camus was opposed to translation of the work and circulation among foreign readers, although he did consent to an Italian translation. The reason for this is that, according to Camus the letters were written with the singular purpose of informing people about and re-invigorating the resistance.
The letters are addressed to an imaginary "German friend," but when addressed in plural vous Nazis are indicated. The letters are polemical, criticizing Germany's striving for dominance in Europe. They are a plea for justice, worded as a struggle against violence. The ends cannot justify the means. The letters are replete with descriptions and images of transports of prisoners and Jews, and speaks of the millions of deaths caused by the war. Fierce language is used to condemn the German cause, which must sway to the allied cause.
Beside the horrible descriptions, and fierce denouncements of the Nazi cause, the letters contain some beautiful and poetic images, such as the reminder that happiness should not be forgotten. Against the German-dominated Europe of fields of smoking corpses, Camus poses the finest traditions of a united Europe, from the castle in Prague to the stones of Venice. At this point Camus pointed at more than just a united struggle against fascism, towards a united Europe.
An English translation of Lettres à un ami allemand is included in Resistance, Rebellion, and Death.
Other books I have read by Albert Camus:
L'été
Jonas ou l'artiste au travail, suivi de "La pierre qui pousse"
Finished reading: 28 August 2013
Translated and included in: 
Lettres à un ami allemand (English; Letters to a German friend) is a collection of four letters, written during the occupation and published clandestinely. The first of these letters was published in 1943, the second in 1944 and the final two were written in 1944, but published in 1945. After the war, the collection appeared is a small, numbered edition. Camus was opposed to translation of the work and circulation among foreign readers, although he did consent to an Italian translation. The reason for this is that, according to Camus the letters were written with the singular purpose of informing people about and re-invigorating the resistance.
The letters are addressed to an imaginary "German friend," but when addressed in plural vous Nazis are indicated. The letters are polemical, criticizing Germany's striving for dominance in Europe. They are a plea for justice, worded as a struggle against violence. The ends cannot justify the means. The letters are replete with descriptions and images of transports of prisoners and Jews, and speaks of the millions of deaths caused by the war. Fierce language is used to condemn the German cause, which must sway to the allied cause.
Beside the horrible descriptions, and fierce denouncements of the Nazi cause, the letters contain some beautiful and poetic images, such as the reminder that happiness should not be forgotten. Against the German-dominated Europe of fields of smoking corpses, Camus poses the finest traditions of a united Europe, from the castle in Prague to the stones of Venice. At this point Camus pointed at more than just a united struggle against fascism, towards a united Europe.
An English translation of Lettres à un ami allemand is included in Resistance, Rebellion, and Death.
Other books I have read by Albert Camus:
L'été
Jonas ou l'artiste au travail, suivi de "La pierre qui pousse"
7StevenTX
I think I'm basically just repeating what baswood said about this:
The Rebel: An Essay on Man in Revolt by Albert Camus
First published 1951
English translation by Anthony Bower 1956
The Rebel is Albert Camus's response to the idea that European leftists are obligated to follow the lead of the Soviet Union under Stalin. In this essay he discusses the various themes of revolutionary thought in a post-religious world, going back to Jacobins and the French Revolution. He also develops the idea of rebellion as distinct from revolution, and concludes with an argument that in a highly polarized era of extreme ideologies, to be a moderate is to be a rebel.
"Is it possible to find a rule of conduct outside the realm of religion and its absolute values? That is the question raised by rebellion." In the first section of the book, Camus looks at those who have proposed an answer to this question, starting with the negation of all values as proposed by the Marquis de Sade. He looks in more detail, though, at the ideas of Nietzsche, followed by those of the Romantics and other literary movements.
The longest section of the book is an examination of historical rebellion, starting with the Jacobins and continuing through the 20th century. The sharpest focus is on Marxism and, in particular, the idea embodied in the "dictatorship of the proletariat" that Marxism "aims at liberating all men by provisionally enslaving them all." This leads to the mandate that we murder men for the sake of mankind, and the grotesque idea that the victims must exalt their executioner. Camus counters this with the argument that "instead of killing and dying in order to produce the being that we are not, we have to live and let live in order to create what we are."
The problem with much of Camus's writing, as baswood aptly put it in his recent review, is that "he loved a well turned sentence more than the thought within it and he cannot resist an aphorism especially where it includes a play on words. His penchant for short punchy sentences is also not conducive when explaining complicated ideas." Instead of the methodical arguments used by most philosophers, Camus leaps from one bold assertion and generalization to the next. It's possible, however, that someone with more background than I have in the ideas of philosophers such as Hegel, Marx and Nietzsche may find some of Camus's comments more digestible.
It's also unfortunate that when Camus finally comes to his concluding remarks on moderation, he resorts more to poetic metaphors than concrete ideas and recommendations. France at that time in history seemed poised between the influence of Soviet communism and American corporate capitalism. Camus rejected both, but in The Rebel he barely mentions the latter, saying only that, like Marxism, it is a society based on industrial production and that any society based on production is "only productive, not creative."
The Rebel is obviously an important work, and there are many ideas within it which any reader can appreciate. But to understand and judge the book as a whole it is probably best to approach it with a strong background in the writers and ideas on which Camus built his thesis.
The Rebel: An Essay on Man in Revolt by Albert Camus
First published 1951
English translation by Anthony Bower 1956
The Rebel is Albert Camus's response to the idea that European leftists are obligated to follow the lead of the Soviet Union under Stalin. In this essay he discusses the various themes of revolutionary thought in a post-religious world, going back to Jacobins and the French Revolution. He also develops the idea of rebellion as distinct from revolution, and concludes with an argument that in a highly polarized era of extreme ideologies, to be a moderate is to be a rebel.
"Is it possible to find a rule of conduct outside the realm of religion and its absolute values? That is the question raised by rebellion." In the first section of the book, Camus looks at those who have proposed an answer to this question, starting with the negation of all values as proposed by the Marquis de Sade. He looks in more detail, though, at the ideas of Nietzsche, followed by those of the Romantics and other literary movements.
The longest section of the book is an examination of historical rebellion, starting with the Jacobins and continuing through the 20th century. The sharpest focus is on Marxism and, in particular, the idea embodied in the "dictatorship of the proletariat" that Marxism "aims at liberating all men by provisionally enslaving them all." This leads to the mandate that we murder men for the sake of mankind, and the grotesque idea that the victims must exalt their executioner. Camus counters this with the argument that "instead of killing and dying in order to produce the being that we are not, we have to live and let live in order to create what we are."
The problem with much of Camus's writing, as baswood aptly put it in his recent review, is that "he loved a well turned sentence more than the thought within it and he cannot resist an aphorism especially where it includes a play on words. His penchant for short punchy sentences is also not conducive when explaining complicated ideas." Instead of the methodical arguments used by most philosophers, Camus leaps from one bold assertion and generalization to the next. It's possible, however, that someone with more background than I have in the ideas of philosophers such as Hegel, Marx and Nietzsche may find some of Camus's comments more digestible.
It's also unfortunate that when Camus finally comes to his concluding remarks on moderation, he resorts more to poetic metaphors than concrete ideas and recommendations. France at that time in history seemed poised between the influence of Soviet communism and American corporate capitalism. Camus rejected both, but in The Rebel he barely mentions the latter, saying only that, like Marxism, it is a society based on industrial production and that any society based on production is "only productive, not creative."
The Rebel is obviously an important work, and there are many ideas within it which any reader can appreciate. But to understand and judge the book as a whole it is probably best to approach it with a strong background in the writers and ideas on which Camus built his thesis.
8baswood
Steven, a similar reaction to mine on The Rebel: An essay on man in revolt. It is not his finest hour and it seems a bit lost in a world of it's own to the modern reader. There are however some interesting ideas amongst some great and some indifferent writing. A Mixed bag.
9baswood
Resistance, Rebellion and Death: Essays Albert Camus
I love my Country too much to be a Nationalist states Camus in his introduction to his Letters to a German Friend and this sets the tone for these magnificent essays. They highlight Camus political stance, as the early letters published in 1944 shriek his defiance from a beleaguered Paris to his final defence of his position on the Algerian crisis in 1958. It is Camus himself who becomes beleaguered on this journey: firstly being fated as an intellectual hero of the French resistance and later; a man shunned by the intellectual left for his failure to support the Algerian Liberation movement. Camus belief in justice, and his unwillingness to spill blood are twin themes of much of his writing, together with his struggles to come to terms with apparently contradictory positions and refusal to be anything less than truthful make for fascinating reading.
This collection starts with the four "Letters to a German Friend" justifiably famous for their powerful indictment of the Nazis. They are a rallying call to his compatriots in their fight for freedom from German oppression, but more importantly they are an intellectual statement as to why Frenchmen should not hesitate to kill their enemy. Having made his case for the moral rightness of the French freedom fighters, Camus says "I can tell you (his German friend) that at the very moment when we are going to destroy you without pity, we still feel no hatred for you." In an essay published in his newspaper "Combat" written after the liberation of Paris in 1944 entitled "The Blood of Freedom" Camus makes his position clear:
"Time will bear witness to the fact that the men of France did not want to kill and their hands were clean when they entered a war they had not chosen
More short essays from "Combat" are followed by Camus' reflections immediately following the end of the war. In a short section "Pessimism and Tyranny" there are a couple of essays making the point that nihilism and negation are natural thoughts harboured by people after the horrors of war and those thoughts should be posited, but Camus is ready to move on to a more optimistic philosophy. Two more essays Defence of Intelligence" and "The unbeliever and Christians" further clarify Camus' position. The essays now jump ahead to 1953 when Camus is no longer writing articles for "Combat" and feels he can expound on one of his favourite themes Freedom. The section is entitled Defense of Freedom and we start to see Camus on the back foot. He has become fearful of the power of governments: the power of the state and criticises the intellectual left wing's love affair with Russia and its denial of individual freedoms.
A selection of Essays about Algeria finds Camus at his most politicised. He became involved in an attempt to instigate a civilian truce in the war torn country in 1956 when tit for tat murders were common place. His own position as a Frenchman born in Algeria placed him firmly in the French colonialist camp in many peoples eyes and his famous statement that he would not support a movement that could lead to the death of his mother (who still lived in Algeria) made it a very personal position. Camus could however point to the fact that he had written profusely about the injustices towards the Arab community and was quite clear that reforms had to be made to give the Arabs equal rights, but this was not enough to satisfy the left wingers in France. He courageously took a leading role in trying to bring about a truce, getting his hands dirty in a dangerous situation, perhaps he was naïve, but his willingness to get involved has to be admired. It was all over for him in 1958 when he felt compelled to make a final statement on his position and in an essay "Algeria 1958" he has clearly been left behind by events. By this time Camus had stated "I am incapable in rejoicing in any death whatsoever" and "no case justifies the death of the innocent"
Their follows essays on the Hungarian uprising in 1956, where Camus again found himself at odds with many of his former friends and while he lambasted them with stinging attacks for their support of the Totalitarian regimes, he saluted the voices for freedom and liberty only where they did not lead directly to the deaths of innocent people.
I am not one of those people who long for the Hungarian people to take up arms again in an uprising doomed to be crushed under the eyes of an international society that will spare neither applause nor virtuous tears before returning to their slippers like football enthusiasts on Saturday evening after a big game
His long essay "Reflections on the Guillotine" should be read by all those that still support capital punishment, to my mind Camus' case against the use of Capital punishment is unanswerable and deserves to be read. The final couple of essays steer the reader away from politics as Camus explores the role of the artist in post war society. Liberty, justice and freedom feature as usual as key themes along with an essential honesty that precludes art for arts sake; there has been enough of this with Camus exhorting a return to reality:
Art which is nothing without reality and without which reality is insignificant
This is an excellent collection of essays and essential reading for anyone interested in Albert Camus, but also some gems that capture the thoughts and ideas of one of the most important writers of mid twentieth century Europe. A Five star read.
I love my Country too much to be a Nationalist states Camus in his introduction to his Letters to a German Friend and this sets the tone for these magnificent essays. They highlight Camus political stance, as the early letters published in 1944 shriek his defiance from a beleaguered Paris to his final defence of his position on the Algerian crisis in 1958. It is Camus himself who becomes beleaguered on this journey: firstly being fated as an intellectual hero of the French resistance and later; a man shunned by the intellectual left for his failure to support the Algerian Liberation movement. Camus belief in justice, and his unwillingness to spill blood are twin themes of much of his writing, together with his struggles to come to terms with apparently contradictory positions and refusal to be anything less than truthful make for fascinating reading.
This collection starts with the four "Letters to a German Friend" justifiably famous for their powerful indictment of the Nazis. They are a rallying call to his compatriots in their fight for freedom from German oppression, but more importantly they are an intellectual statement as to why Frenchmen should not hesitate to kill their enemy. Having made his case for the moral rightness of the French freedom fighters, Camus says "I can tell you (his German friend) that at the very moment when we are going to destroy you without pity, we still feel no hatred for you." In an essay published in his newspaper "Combat" written after the liberation of Paris in 1944 entitled "The Blood of Freedom" Camus makes his position clear:
"Time will bear witness to the fact that the men of France did not want to kill and their hands were clean when they entered a war they had not chosen
More short essays from "Combat" are followed by Camus' reflections immediately following the end of the war. In a short section "Pessimism and Tyranny" there are a couple of essays making the point that nihilism and negation are natural thoughts harboured by people after the horrors of war and those thoughts should be posited, but Camus is ready to move on to a more optimistic philosophy. Two more essays Defence of Intelligence" and "The unbeliever and Christians" further clarify Camus' position. The essays now jump ahead to 1953 when Camus is no longer writing articles for "Combat" and feels he can expound on one of his favourite themes Freedom. The section is entitled Defense of Freedom and we start to see Camus on the back foot. He has become fearful of the power of governments: the power of the state and criticises the intellectual left wing's love affair with Russia and its denial of individual freedoms.
A selection of Essays about Algeria finds Camus at his most politicised. He became involved in an attempt to instigate a civilian truce in the war torn country in 1956 when tit for tat murders were common place. His own position as a Frenchman born in Algeria placed him firmly in the French colonialist camp in many peoples eyes and his famous statement that he would not support a movement that could lead to the death of his mother (who still lived in Algeria) made it a very personal position. Camus could however point to the fact that he had written profusely about the injustices towards the Arab community and was quite clear that reforms had to be made to give the Arabs equal rights, but this was not enough to satisfy the left wingers in France. He courageously took a leading role in trying to bring about a truce, getting his hands dirty in a dangerous situation, perhaps he was naïve, but his willingness to get involved has to be admired. It was all over for him in 1958 when he felt compelled to make a final statement on his position and in an essay "Algeria 1958" he has clearly been left behind by events. By this time Camus had stated "I am incapable in rejoicing in any death whatsoever" and "no case justifies the death of the innocent"
Their follows essays on the Hungarian uprising in 1956, where Camus again found himself at odds with many of his former friends and while he lambasted them with stinging attacks for their support of the Totalitarian regimes, he saluted the voices for freedom and liberty only where they did not lead directly to the deaths of innocent people.
I am not one of those people who long for the Hungarian people to take up arms again in an uprising doomed to be crushed under the eyes of an international society that will spare neither applause nor virtuous tears before returning to their slippers like football enthusiasts on Saturday evening after a big game
His long essay "Reflections on the Guillotine" should be read by all those that still support capital punishment, to my mind Camus' case against the use of Capital punishment is unanswerable and deserves to be read. The final couple of essays steer the reader away from politics as Camus explores the role of the artist in post war society. Liberty, justice and freedom feature as usual as key themes along with an essential honesty that precludes art for arts sake; there has been enough of this with Camus exhorting a return to reality:
Art which is nothing without reality and without which reality is insignificant
This is an excellent collection of essays and essential reading for anyone interested in Albert Camus, but also some gems that capture the thoughts and ideas of one of the most important writers of mid twentieth century Europe. A Five star read.
10baswood
Between Hell and Reason: Essays from the Resistance Newspaper Combat, 1944-1947 by Albert Camus
Albert Camus from his early experience in the communist party in Algeria was convinced that politicians were either selfish and corrupt or dedicated to abstract goals or political dogma; all of which caused them to neglect the people they were supposed to serve. Camus was therefore well equipped to be the editor of a Parisian newspaper, but this was not just any old newspaper; "Combat" was the paper of the French resistance and when Paris was liberated from the Nazis in August 1944, the paper emerged from the underground with Camus as its editor and he looked forward to a new breed of politicians to get the country back on its feet after the horrors of occupation.
Between Hell and Reason contains just over 40 essays originally printed as editorials written mainly between August 1944 and November 1946, they average at about 1000 words per essay and are superbly written in clear and concise language. They serve to give an easily digestible potted history of Camus' political thought during the period, but just as importantly for the modern reader they provide a window on the struggles of France to come to terms with the Nazi invasion. In the book the essays are divided into three sections, the first covers the period from August 1944 to December 1944 and are full of hope for the future of France, but Camus sets his stall out in the very first essay written on the 21 August just a couple of days after the start of the insurrection by the Resistance against the German garrison:
"Combat against Nazi Germany continues; it will continue relentlessly. But even if this is the hardest of struggles for which all France has mobilised, it is not the only one we must fight. It will not be enough to return to the mere appearance of liberty with which France of 1939 had to be content. We will have accomplished only an infinitesimal part of our task if tomorrow's French Republic finds itself like the Third Republic, confined by the domination of Money.
We all know that the fight against privileges of money was always a favourite theme of Petain and his crew. But we also know that, since July 1940, Money has weighed more heavily on our people than ever before. For that is when Money, to conserve and increase it's privileges, hoisted traitors to power and deliberately tied it's interests to Hitler's"
Camus second essay written also during the insurrection is titled "They Shall Not Escape" and exhorts the Parisians to continue to erect barricades so that retribution can be carried out against the fleeing Germans. There follows a series of essays on some of Camus's favourite themes; Freedom and Justice, a continuation of the rebellion instigated by the resistance, fear that the old political order will be restored, social order, a new policy for the colonies and new forms of socialism. All these are written shortly after the liberation and are an attempt by Camus to have a voice in setting the agenda for the recovery of France. This section also contains his now notorious views that the purges against collaborators should be carried out. The final essay in this section finds Camus for the first time on the defensive; written in December 1944 it concerns what Camus sees as an offensive launched by the political right against the Resistance movement.
The second section of essays sees Camus in more sober and reflective mood, they start from the end of December 1944 and take us up to August 1945. The revolution in politics has not taken place and the Resistance movement has been sidelined. It contains Camus admission that he was wrong to support the purge, saying it has now gone astray and is a disgrace and France should move on, he is forced to re-state his paper's position on justice and democracy in politics, he takes a swipe at the Pope for supporting general Franco in Spain and for not declaring against the Nazis sooner than he did. Near the end of the section is his editorial on the bombing of Hiroshima, where he sees that world politics have changed for ever and humanity's hope now must lie with international efforts for world peace.
The third section is entitled "Neither Victims nor Executioners" and the standard of writing is maintained as Camus takes stock of a changing world and the changes that have come upon him over the previous two years. This is reflected in his brilliant editorial in November 1946 titled "To Save Lives":
It is a peculiarity of our times. We make love by telephone, we no longer work with material but with machines, and we kill and are killed by proxy. We gain in neatness but lose in understanding......... People like myself want not a world where murder no longer exists (we are not so crazy as that!), but one where murder is no longer legitimized. Here we are indeed Utopian - and contradictorily so. For we live in a world where murder is legitimised, and if we do not like that we must change it. But it seems we cannot change it without running the risk of murder. Murder thus brings us back to murder, and we will continue to live in terror whether we accept it with resignation or suppress it with means that substitute one form of terror for another.
The essays are selected and translated by Alexandre de Gramont who also writes an excellent introductory essay that fills in the background and puts the essays in the context of their times. That the essays are important historical documents goes without saying, but when they can still provide plenty of food for thought and maintain a quality of writing that manages to stay on the right side of bluster then for me they are a five star read.
Albert Camus from his early experience in the communist party in Algeria was convinced that politicians were either selfish and corrupt or dedicated to abstract goals or political dogma; all of which caused them to neglect the people they were supposed to serve. Camus was therefore well equipped to be the editor of a Parisian newspaper, but this was not just any old newspaper; "Combat" was the paper of the French resistance and when Paris was liberated from the Nazis in August 1944, the paper emerged from the underground with Camus as its editor and he looked forward to a new breed of politicians to get the country back on its feet after the horrors of occupation.
Between Hell and Reason contains just over 40 essays originally printed as editorials written mainly between August 1944 and November 1946, they average at about 1000 words per essay and are superbly written in clear and concise language. They serve to give an easily digestible potted history of Camus' political thought during the period, but just as importantly for the modern reader they provide a window on the struggles of France to come to terms with the Nazi invasion. In the book the essays are divided into three sections, the first covers the period from August 1944 to December 1944 and are full of hope for the future of France, but Camus sets his stall out in the very first essay written on the 21 August just a couple of days after the start of the insurrection by the Resistance against the German garrison:
"Combat against Nazi Germany continues; it will continue relentlessly. But even if this is the hardest of struggles for which all France has mobilised, it is not the only one we must fight. It will not be enough to return to the mere appearance of liberty with which France of 1939 had to be content. We will have accomplished only an infinitesimal part of our task if tomorrow's French Republic finds itself like the Third Republic, confined by the domination of Money.
We all know that the fight against privileges of money was always a favourite theme of Petain and his crew. But we also know that, since July 1940, Money has weighed more heavily on our people than ever before. For that is when Money, to conserve and increase it's privileges, hoisted traitors to power and deliberately tied it's interests to Hitler's"
Camus second essay written also during the insurrection is titled "They Shall Not Escape" and exhorts the Parisians to continue to erect barricades so that retribution can be carried out against the fleeing Germans. There follows a series of essays on some of Camus's favourite themes; Freedom and Justice, a continuation of the rebellion instigated by the resistance, fear that the old political order will be restored, social order, a new policy for the colonies and new forms of socialism. All these are written shortly after the liberation and are an attempt by Camus to have a voice in setting the agenda for the recovery of France. This section also contains his now notorious views that the purges against collaborators should be carried out. The final essay in this section finds Camus for the first time on the defensive; written in December 1944 it concerns what Camus sees as an offensive launched by the political right against the Resistance movement.
The second section of essays sees Camus in more sober and reflective mood, they start from the end of December 1944 and take us up to August 1945. The revolution in politics has not taken place and the Resistance movement has been sidelined. It contains Camus admission that he was wrong to support the purge, saying it has now gone astray and is a disgrace and France should move on, he is forced to re-state his paper's position on justice and democracy in politics, he takes a swipe at the Pope for supporting general Franco in Spain and for not declaring against the Nazis sooner than he did. Near the end of the section is his editorial on the bombing of Hiroshima, where he sees that world politics have changed for ever and humanity's hope now must lie with international efforts for world peace.
The third section is entitled "Neither Victims nor Executioners" and the standard of writing is maintained as Camus takes stock of a changing world and the changes that have come upon him over the previous two years. This is reflected in his brilliant editorial in November 1946 titled "To Save Lives":
It is a peculiarity of our times. We make love by telephone, we no longer work with material but with machines, and we kill and are killed by proxy. We gain in neatness but lose in understanding......... People like myself want not a world where murder no longer exists (we are not so crazy as that!), but one where murder is no longer legitimized. Here we are indeed Utopian - and contradictorily so. For we live in a world where murder is legitimised, and if we do not like that we must change it. But it seems we cannot change it without running the risk of murder. Murder thus brings us back to murder, and we will continue to live in terror whether we accept it with resignation or suppress it with means that substitute one form of terror for another.
The essays are selected and translated by Alexandre de Gramont who also writes an excellent introductory essay that fills in the background and puts the essays in the context of their times. That the essays are important historical documents goes without saying, but when they can still provide plenty of food for thought and maintain a quality of writing that manages to stay on the right side of bluster then for me they are a five star read.
11baswood
Albert Camus: Lyrical and Critical Essays
There are two sides of Camus on show here in this wonderful collection of essays; the Lyrical essays mostly dwell on his love for his native Algeria and his celebration of Mediterranean culture, while the critical essays are largely book reviews or thoughts on the writers who he saw as significant. Whichever side of Camus is on show, the writing lives and breaths with a sincerity and a passion that is a highlight of mid twentieth century European culture.
The Lyrical essays start with some of Camus earliest writing taken from his collection "The wrong side and the right side" published in Algeria in 1936. As a young man of 23 it is surprising that much of his subject matter is loneliness and death, it is not so surprising to find him reflecting also on his childhood and family, but there is slight feeling of melancholia if not sadness in some of this writing. We witness a man who is already well on the road to thinking seriously about what he values in life and what he can expect from the world and he is trying not to sink into despair. The sun and the land of his native Algeria are what he clings to as a fillip from a feeling of powerlessness. The next year 1937 saw the publication of Noces and there are four brilliant essays from this collection everyone of which is a gem. Camus is now looking at the world as an absurd phenomenon, but in Algeria he also sees so much life that he is exalted by it and it pours out of him in these truly lyrical essays. In "Summer in Algeria" he seems to be at a crossroads in his thoughts:
Everything that exalts life at the same time increases its absurdity. In the Algerian summer I learn that only one thing is more tragic than suffering, and that is the life of a happy man. But this can also be the path to a greater life, since it can teach us not to cheat..........For hope contrary to popular belief, is tantamount to resignation. And to live is not to be resigned.
My favourite essay here is "The wind at Djemilla" Camus describes how he journeys to and arrives at the ruins at Djemilla a place isolated on the coast and where he is battered by winds:
The violent bath of sun and wind drained me of all strength. I scarcely felt the quivering of wings inside me, life's complaint, the weak rebellion of the mind. Soon scattered to the four corners of the earth, self-forgetful and self-forgotten, I am the wind and within it, the columns and the archway, the flagstones warm to the touch, the pale mountains round the deserted city. And never have I felt so deeply and at one and the same time so detached from myself and so present in the world...... Then I think of flowers, smiles, the desire for women, and realize that my whole horror of death lies in my anxiety to live
Nuptials at Tipasa describes a young mans love for life on a perfect day and "the Desert" has a theme of living in the present and Camus runs with this idea to think about life and perhaps obtains a little wisdom. Other Lyrical essays follow but by the time he writes "Enigma" in 1950 he is becoming, battered by life rather than just the wind. His thoughts now lead him to explain himself to his critics, something he had not needed to do before. He emphasises the fact that his thoughts are developing, he is changing, he does not want to be pinned down. In 1953 he writes an essay titled "Return to Tipasa" where he seeks to rediscover the feelings he had before the second world war. Despite having to climb over barbed wire he is able to recapture moments as a younger man, but now must return to the troubles of Europe. All of these lyrical essays contain moments of beauty, but they all lead Camus to reflect on life and as we move through them we can feel his thoughts developing.
The Critical essays tend to be shorter and take the form of reviews which were published in various magazines or newspapers. They have been selected not only for Camus critique of other writers, but also for what they reveal about Camus himself. All of them are interesting, for example reviews of two books by John-Paul Sartre, before they became friends and then competitors. There are short essays on Herman Melville and William Faulkner; American authors that Camus admired. Other reviews lead him to talk about his views on language and religion and on the writers that influenced him as a young man. There are a couple of essays on French authors that are no longer in print, especially Roger Martin Du Gard, who is much admired by Camus, but who has no voice today, but there is still much to admire in how they are written.
There is a smaller third part to the book which collects a few essays where Camus writes or talks about his own work. Interesting snippets on reading L'Etranger and The Plague and a heartfelt letter to a colleague explaining why Camus has no time to meet him; Camus does not make excuses but tells him straight that his busy life precludes him from doing everything that others wish him to do.
These essays are Camus in bite sized chunks, they all have a ring of sincerity and as usual we feel we are on a journey with a man seeking truth and justice. Some of the Lyrical essays demand to be re-read again and again and although the Critical essays do not hold such a fascination they are nevertheless worth reading. The book ends with three short transcripts of interviews with Camus and his humanity shines through; they are a perfect coda to his essays. A Five star read
There are two sides of Camus on show here in this wonderful collection of essays; the Lyrical essays mostly dwell on his love for his native Algeria and his celebration of Mediterranean culture, while the critical essays are largely book reviews or thoughts on the writers who he saw as significant. Whichever side of Camus is on show, the writing lives and breaths with a sincerity and a passion that is a highlight of mid twentieth century European culture.
The Lyrical essays start with some of Camus earliest writing taken from his collection "The wrong side and the right side" published in Algeria in 1936. As a young man of 23 it is surprising that much of his subject matter is loneliness and death, it is not so surprising to find him reflecting also on his childhood and family, but there is slight feeling of melancholia if not sadness in some of this writing. We witness a man who is already well on the road to thinking seriously about what he values in life and what he can expect from the world and he is trying not to sink into despair. The sun and the land of his native Algeria are what he clings to as a fillip from a feeling of powerlessness. The next year 1937 saw the publication of Noces and there are four brilliant essays from this collection everyone of which is a gem. Camus is now looking at the world as an absurd phenomenon, but in Algeria he also sees so much life that he is exalted by it and it pours out of him in these truly lyrical essays. In "Summer in Algeria" he seems to be at a crossroads in his thoughts:
Everything that exalts life at the same time increases its absurdity. In the Algerian summer I learn that only one thing is more tragic than suffering, and that is the life of a happy man. But this can also be the path to a greater life, since it can teach us not to cheat..........For hope contrary to popular belief, is tantamount to resignation. And to live is not to be resigned.
My favourite essay here is "The wind at Djemilla" Camus describes how he journeys to and arrives at the ruins at Djemilla a place isolated on the coast and where he is battered by winds:
The violent bath of sun and wind drained me of all strength. I scarcely felt the quivering of wings inside me, life's complaint, the weak rebellion of the mind. Soon scattered to the four corners of the earth, self-forgetful and self-forgotten, I am the wind and within it, the columns and the archway, the flagstones warm to the touch, the pale mountains round the deserted city. And never have I felt so deeply and at one and the same time so detached from myself and so present in the world...... Then I think of flowers, smiles, the desire for women, and realize that my whole horror of death lies in my anxiety to live
Nuptials at Tipasa describes a young mans love for life on a perfect day and "the Desert" has a theme of living in the present and Camus runs with this idea to think about life and perhaps obtains a little wisdom. Other Lyrical essays follow but by the time he writes "Enigma" in 1950 he is becoming, battered by life rather than just the wind. His thoughts now lead him to explain himself to his critics, something he had not needed to do before. He emphasises the fact that his thoughts are developing, he is changing, he does not want to be pinned down. In 1953 he writes an essay titled "Return to Tipasa" where he seeks to rediscover the feelings he had before the second world war. Despite having to climb over barbed wire he is able to recapture moments as a younger man, but now must return to the troubles of Europe. All of these lyrical essays contain moments of beauty, but they all lead Camus to reflect on life and as we move through them we can feel his thoughts developing.
The Critical essays tend to be shorter and take the form of reviews which were published in various magazines or newspapers. They have been selected not only for Camus critique of other writers, but also for what they reveal about Camus himself. All of them are interesting, for example reviews of two books by John-Paul Sartre, before they became friends and then competitors. There are short essays on Herman Melville and William Faulkner; American authors that Camus admired. Other reviews lead him to talk about his views on language and religion and on the writers that influenced him as a young man. There are a couple of essays on French authors that are no longer in print, especially Roger Martin Du Gard, who is much admired by Camus, but who has no voice today, but there is still much to admire in how they are written.
There is a smaller third part to the book which collects a few essays where Camus writes or talks about his own work. Interesting snippets on reading L'Etranger and The Plague and a heartfelt letter to a colleague explaining why Camus has no time to meet him; Camus does not make excuses but tells him straight that his busy life precludes him from doing everything that others wish him to do.
These essays are Camus in bite sized chunks, they all have a ring of sincerity and as usual we feel we are on a journey with a man seeking truth and justice. Some of the Lyrical essays demand to be re-read again and again and although the Critical essays do not hold such a fascination they are nevertheless worth reading. The book ends with three short transcripts of interviews with Camus and his humanity shines through; they are a perfect coda to his essays. A Five star read
12GKopy
Hi. I've been looking for the correct source for this quote ever since I included it in my Masters thesis over 25 years ago. All sources at the time just pointed to other sources:
"The blasphemy is reverent, since every blasphemy is, ultimately, a participation in holiness"
When I asked a former colleague in education, "Where did Camus say this?" He responded, "France?"
Any help? And I want to jump in and read Camus properly, thoroughly.
Thanks.
"The blasphemy is reverent, since every blasphemy is, ultimately, a participation in holiness"
When I asked a former colleague in education, "Where did Camus say this?" He responded, "France?"
Any help? And I want to jump in and read Camus properly, thoroughly.
Thanks.
Join to post
