I have just finished the stranger and here is my review :
https://medium.com/@boumeddiene.elhassen/reading-albert-camus-the-stranger-2dd6124d2adb
tell me what do you think? and is there anything that i have missed ?

I’m halfway through A Happy Death and I’m not sure what to read next. I’ve been trying to let the books come to me, as cheesy as that sounds, and I had White Nights and Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky next in line but it doesn’t feel like a natural successor as of right now. I’m wrapping up undergrad and am about to graduate (while also having no idea what I’m about to do next career wise). De Beauvoir has been calling my name, I feel like something from her might be insightful right now, but I don’t know what of hers I should read? I’ve only read A Very Easy Death and I loved it but I could only empathise with and appreciate it so much at this point in time. Any recommendations if you were me?

I read The Stranger last summer and I adored it. I want to read something else from Camus, but I'm not sure what to take on next. Any suggestions?

I am about to read A Happy Death and I was wondering what the best translation would be?

I know this is probably a repetitive question on here, but I'm curious to hear your thoughts, having the novel coming in the post soon!

I already have some background knowledge on Camus and absurdism from watching a lot of YouTube videos about him. But what else should I know? What are some things I should look out for? Some things to think about that will give me the best interpretation?

Thanks in advance.

“Maman Died Today,Yesterday Or I Don’t Know.”

The Novella with arguably the most famous opening line in the literature world,The Stranger(4/5)published in 1942 was written by writer,philosopher Albert Camus is a work that’s focused on the philosophy of Absurdism. We see a protagonist who is indifferent in nature who works a 9-5 Job in the French Algiers and the ridiculous things that happens to him that inevitably leads to a series of horrors for the readers,not to the protagonist.

Camus uses a story to translate his idea of Absurdism,a philosophy that tells us that life is inherently meaningless and we should enjoy things and be indifferent towards the things that happening to us. In the opening we see meursault’s mother dies and he goes to attend her funeral but we could see he is not affected by her departure but is tired by the long journey. He probably loved his maman,but her death doesn’t matter to him. Likewise we see many events and meursault’s indifference towards those events. Is he too cold hearted? Or he doesn’t care about the world? many questions arise. If I have to surmise my thoughts about the book perfectly I have to spoil the book or I can’t make sense for what I say.

In short it is a book of high standard and well received in the literature and philosophical world. One of the fine works on the concept of Absurdism,A gateway book that could be used as an entry way to the Absurdist philosophy. The book exposes us to a unique perspective of a man who neither feels nor react in the normal way and is condemned because of it. The existentialist canons Kafka,Dostoevsky is unlike Camus who views the world indifferently but are known for more emotional and deep writing styles. Outsider is plain in text but deep in implication. I cannot help but compare him to the other two,as they are known for their expressive and direct to heart narration. Exactly for that reason Camus is different and original. Looking forward to read more of him and delve more in absurdist philosophy.

“The Stranger/Outsider explores the nakedness of man faced with the absurd." -Albert Camus.

So firstly it was an amazing book, I loved it and I was wondering how similar The Fall is to The Stranger

I was also wondering what are other books that are similar to The Stranger that kind of use a story to demonstrate a philosophy (similar to absurdism)

Hello everyone, I’m currently reading the very hungry caterpillar and it’s my first Camus’ book, I’m kinda new to the “book world” and I have a hard time understanding the very hungry caterpillar. I’m still at the begging of the book, specifically in “pop! - out of the egg came a tiny and very hungry caterpillar” and Im thinking to stop it, read something else and return to it in the future. Maybe it would be better to start with another of Camus’ work for example “clifford the big red dog”. Should I stop it or give it another chance and finish it ??

Hello everyone, I’m currently reading the rebel and it’s my first Camus’ book, I’m kinda new to the “book world” and I have a hard time understanding the rebel. I’m still at the begging of the book, specifically in “ the absolute denial” and Im thinking to stop it, read something else and return to it in the future. Maybe it would be better to start with another of Camus’ work for example “the stranger”. Should I stop it or give it another chance and finish it ??

I mean, we live in a world where literal apes fly about in metal tubes, thanks camus

Albert Camus uses the word Sadducee to describe a person after answering the following questions. Do you have any possessions? (Assume you say yes) Do you share them with the poor? (Assume you say no)

Sadducee is used to describe a Jewish minority who do not believe in the immorality of the spirit. When we look at Jewish stereotypes we see the common assumption that Jews are greedy. (For this lesson say they are greedy) Greed can be driven to value and POSSESION. In Camus belief of absurdism a key point is that life is meaningless and we should live a way where we are happiest, to fill life with value and possessions is to make one happy. Concluding I believe Camus use of Sadducee is to say that one does not share his values because they are what give life purpose and for the short time we exist it makes one happy, short terms Sadducee is a greedy holder of man.

All I have read is The Stranger and The Fall (and loved them) and I am soon starting The Plague. Does anyone have advice on which order to read his work in, or texts suggested to read before others. Thanks so much!

Hey everyone, starting The Plague! Have already read (and loved) The Fall and The Stranger, with the fall really intriguing me to a whole new level. Which of those two novels should I expect The Plague to be most similar to? And what kind of thought processes/ understandings should I have before reading? Thanks.

Hi there, I’m a big Camus fan and I’ve read three of his books: The Myth of Sisyphus, The Stranger, and The Plague (in that order). I’ve always found The Stranger to be a less compelling allegory for Absurdism than The Plague. I’ve found Mersault’s bored, unenthusiastic demeanour to be somewhat antithetical to Camus’ philosophy, and I thought Dr. Rieux’s relentless persistence and passion (for his friendships, his work, and his interests) in the face of hopelessness to be more akin to that of Sisyphus, hence that of the absurd man.

However, considering The Stranger’s place as the foremost work of absurdist fiction, I’m almost definitely missing something. Maybe it’s a matter of personal opinion, but I’d like to understand this better and maybe re-read The Stranger with a better perspective!

For reference, I’m young and inexperienced, so I have no expectation that I know what I’m talking about, so please feel free to correct me or explain things. Thanks!

Not sure if this is the place to ask, but I just started it and this one sentence in Chapter 2 of Natural Death is confusing. I don’t know if it’s even important to understand for the rest of the book, but I still want to. It’s when he talks about how (I think) Langlois would continually try to win over the old secretary, Madame Herbillon. “Mersault was translating “vegetables” staring over his head at the lightbulb in its corrugated green cardboard shade”. What is he translating as vegetables? Is he reading something or does the green of the lightbulb remind him of a vegetable? Or is it something else entirely? If it’s helpful, the sentences right before are “The poor man (I think this is Langlois) was quite unable to soften the old lady’s heart or to win his way into her good graces. This afternoon he (I think this is also Langlois?) was strutting around the middle of the office. “We really get along very well together, don’t we, Madame Herbillon?” Mersault was translating…” Thanks!

I couldnt find anything on this. Do you think it's a coincidence or something more purposeful? Even the name as a whole is quite suspicious with "Meur" being so close to "mort".

I mean obviously to some extent Meursault is Camus, but do you think this was intentional?

"I would rather live my life as if there is a God and die to find out there isn't, than live as if there isn't and to die to find out that there is." - Albert Camus

It seems like this quote is indeed from him, although I'm not gonna lie, I'm having a hard time believing in it, the source would be his notebooks 1951-1959, but I don't get this quote after reading The Myth of Sisyphus, isn't this philosophical suicide? Has anyone read his notebooks?

i am irritated by how often camus comes up in the discussion of existential angst. i am existentially tormented schizo - reality is something my immune systems seem to reject. i read it years ago, among other pop philosophy "baby's first existential crisis" texts (kirkegaard, nietzche, et al) and found it to be useless for my crisis, besides giving me something to occupy my time. however, two years ago a suicide close to me robbed me of any leftover sense of mental peace, which has found me in circles where the name "camus" is often mentioned. i'm not above being humbled, so i gave it another read recently. unfortunately, i came away thinking it was absolute dog water.

from the approach camus takes, i get the sense that camus' notion of "suicide" has little to do with the actual phenomenon of self killing. camus' "suicide" is an abstract concept within continental philosophy. to camus, continuing to live with full acceptance of the absurd is also "suicide." his argument is internally consistent and it's not without merits, but it is entirely lacking anything that makes me want to kill myself less. the absurd that camus describes as lurking on every street corner is certainly part of self-killing, but because he seems to constitute all suicide as a response to this absurd, from which i can only conclude that camus had never tried to kill himself before - he has no awareness of the actual firsthand, phenomenological experience of an attempted self-killing. reading his writing about "suicide" makes "suicide" feel entirely alien to me, a suicidal person with multiple past attempts. he does not mention the indifference of the world feeling like hostile neglect, he doesn't mention one's own mind and body seeming as hostile enemies distinct from the "self" i don't feel like he is talking about the same thing i have gone through, thus it is useless to me.

and so, it puts a pit in my stomach that this seems to be the best balm anyone can offer me. "just take pleasure in your existential torment that your body and mind tell you to flee, idiot!" at the end of the day it feels like unreachably abstract neoplatonic metaphysical hemming and nothing more.

genuinely, how do yall get anything usable out of this?

I’m wondering what literature could have influenced him/his style

Any tips?

Hi,

Can someone share with me the digital version of Nuptials? I want to read it because it's one of Camus's early works and the foundation of his subsequent literary creations.

Thanks

the rebel, the first man, exile and the kingdom or a happy death is your favourite. I'm going to buy all four but I don't rly want to spend that much money at the same time so I want to know which one to buy first