Many people associate with Camus such novels as: "the Plague", "the Stranger" (a.k.a. "the Outsider"), "the Fall", "the First Man". What remains rather obscure are his stories in "Exile and the Kingdom" collection and his plays.

"The Just" is such a powerful play! In spite of being very short, it manages to touch upon such subjects as: meaning of life, meaning of love, devotion to the cause, how should one face death, the way the brotherhood should be built, what is right and what is wrong for the cause of revolution, along with many social issues.

The Just is a play based upon real events. To convey his concept of moral revolutionaries, Camus fictionalized the 1905 Moscow assassination of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovitch, the uncle of Czar Nicholas II.

The assassin, in real life and in the play, is a man named Kaliayev. Camus' characterization is of a man dedicated to political change, but not through blind or senseless violence. Camus never endorsed or accepted the need for violence against "civilians" during a revolution, so he endows his characters with the same value. The small cell to which Kaliayev belongs in the play in dedicated to "justice* for the Russian people. They see their actions as self-sacrifice.

At the start of the play, Kaliayev is selected to throw the bomb that will assassinate the Grand Duke. His first attempt ends in what might be considered failure--Kaliayev does not throw the bomb. The Duke was with his niece and nephew. Kaliayev cannot harm innocent children, and the group agrees with his decision. Camus' account is, according to most, historically accurate; the real Kaliayev was not interested in harming those whom he considered to be innocent.

Breaking with history, Camus introduces a fictional character to illustrate the wrongs of the Communist Party. The character of Stepan Federov is a victim of the Czarist state. Due to his experiences under the Czar's legal system, he has become an extremist. Camus illustrates that some revolutionaries are acting upon emotion, not concern for their fellow citizens. Stepan tells the other terrorists that he would have killed children "if the organization commanded it."

Stepan is the archetype of a Stalinist--the type of supporter of the Soviet Union that prevented Camus from supporting the Communist Party. Camus was a socialist and supported the idea of change, but not the idea that any means can be justified by the anticipated ends. What happens when a revolution fails? The innocent die for nothing, according to Camus.

In the play, Kaliayev succeeds and assassinates the Grand Duke on the third try. The Grand Duchess Ella, sister of the Empress Alexandra, visits Kaliayev in prison; she is a kind and compassionate person. Again, Camus' account is based upon history. The Duchess even considers sparing the assassin's life. Kaliayev tells her that he wants to die--to avoid being a "murderer." At this moment in the play, Kaliayev adheres to basic existential ethics...he accepts the consequences of his actions.

Camus even ends the play with another insult to communists. Dora, a woman, is selected for the next bombing. Historically, women were not allowed to be active in most revolutionary movements, not even the French Resistance. Camus always wondered why "the people" never included women, although it is no wonder, considering how difficult were his own relationships with the women in his life.

The Just constitutes the third and final of Camus' works known as The Revolts; the first was the novel, Le Peste, or The Plague and the third, the essay, L'Homme Révolté, or The Rebel.

I first read, The Just, during a student exchange program in Australia and was immediately captured by Camus' captivating style. The plot is so simple and yet raises some extremely serious questions. A small rebel groop in pre-revolutionary Russia plan to assasin a member of the aristocracy, yet must face that the justification of their deed is by no means a simple one. In a world deprived of unambiguous moral standards, the rebels find that no judgement about anything in the real world can be absolutely justified. Camus is sublime in his quest to rebel and install moral values in an otherwise absurd universe, and his literary skills give his brand of existencial philosophy the atmosphere, which not only conveys it to literally everyone, but also gives it an atmosphere quite unique for philosophical fiction. Camus truly belongs among such greats as Dostoyevski, Kafka and Sartre.

Albert Camus' "Outsider" is a short, to the point, two part novel. The first introduces us to the characters and leads up to the killing of an Arab on the beach by the principal characters. The second follows his ordeal afterwards, his thoughts and his trial. He is persecuted as a cold killer due to his lack of visible emotion or remorse. He is concerned only for himself.

As mentioned in a previous review, this is a book of thought and questioning. Camus questions the pillars of Western society and questions humanities uncanny ability to believe that the majority is correct and that anybody else is different and thus can be persecuted.

I would recommed "Outsider" for a quick, extremely thought-provoking read. This classic is reknowned as one of the basic foundations of existentialist philosophy.

Il est un homme qui ne joue pas le jeu. Il est un peu différent et pour cette raison, il n'est pas accepté dans la société. Il est Meursault. Meursault est un homme 'taciturne et renferme' et parce qu'il ne montre pas ses emotions, il est condamne a mort. Le livre commence avec l'enterrement de sa mere ou il ne pleure pas. Il est indifferent a la mort de sa mere, et il continue sa vie, comme si rien s'est passé. Un jour quand il va a la plage avec ses amies, il tue un Arabe. Il pretend que c'est a cause de la chaleur et du soleil, mais est-ce-que c'est? Ce livre pose beaucoup de questions intriguantes, au sujet de la psychologie de Meursault. Pendant le proces nous apprenons que Meursault est condamné a mort parce qu'il ne conforme pas, et pas parce qu'il a tué un Arabe. La société ne peut pas accepter un homme qui n'est pas comme tous le monde. L'Etranger est un livre qui vous fait penser, je vous conseille de le lire car ca changera votre vie.

Différent. Ceci est le premier mot qui me frappe apres avoir lu L'Etranger d'Albert Camus. Apparement l'histoire est tres simple. Le narrateur et protagoniste est Meusault, un pied noir qui vit en Algerie jusqu'avant la deuxieme guerre mondiale, quand l'Algerie fait encore partie des colonies Francaises. Il s'agit de cet homme qui tue un Arabe, et de son proces. Mais ce qui est différent est son attitude envers ce qui se passe autour de lui. Meursault semble toujours n'etre pas intéressé a la société qui l'entoure, et il ne se comporte pas comme la société ferait. Sa philosophie de vie est presque absurde: il croit que la vie n'ait aucune importance, parce que en tout cas on va tous mourir, il est tres egoiste dans le sens que il ne s'interesse pas aux émotions des autres, mais il est totalement absorbé en soi-meme. Ce livre est tres frappant parce que, caché derriere le language simple et presque infantine, il y des questions qui nous font réfléchir sur le sens de la vie, sur qu'est que c'est juste, qui a le droit de juger, qui est "normal" et qui non.

For nearly 30 years I have carried this book with me virtually everywhere. No, it's not "an easy read" - but it is worth buying (owning)and treasuring - if only for the FOURTH LETTER (to a German Friend)- it is the most moving argument/declaration for humanity and choosing it that I have ever seen anywhere.

Some (like Sartre?) might call it a "rationalization". But even those who have resigned themselves to the religions of cynicism and despair - could find a remnant of fight and even "goodness" (yikes!) inside themselves. Camus' words remind us that resignation and the inevitable indifference and inhumanity that follow are the ultimate betrayals of life.

While there is nothing "cheerful" or even optimistic about these writings - you'd have to be cold-blooded, heartless and completely beyond repair or redemption not to be inspired by the wistful aspirations that Camus exudes from his admittedly battered heart and soul.

I disagree with the reviewer (who did praise this precious book) Sartre is smart - but so is Camus - and Camus exudes the humanity that Sartre can't even see or imagine.

Sartre would tell us that we always have the freedom to at least rattle our chains (at least theoretically) - but Camus has the power to inspire us to want to.

"I step onto the podium only when forced to by the pressure of circumstances and by my conception of my function as a writer." (p. 132) From the circumstances of Fascist Spain and Nazi occupied France, to the circumstances of the Hungarian and Algerian struggles for freedom, Camus' essays demand involvement, require action in the face of hopelessness. He never offers a moment's peace for couch-potato complacency. "Freedom is not made up principally of privileges; it is made up especially of duties." (p. 96)

To read these essays is to step into the world of a man who said to Christians "I share with you the same revulsion from evil. But I do not share your hope, and I continue to struggle against this universe in which children suffer and die." (p. 71) And "Perhaps we cannot prevent this world from being a world in which children are tortured. But we can reduce the number of tortured children." (p. 73)

Camus is recalled to the podium, in a day when children are tortured and die in Chiapas while most turn a blind eye and complain that sitcoms just aren't what they used to be. These essays, possibly his most accessible work, demand an active response from the modern reader. Our struggle today, although not against Nazi minions, still must echo his "There are means that cannot be excused. I should like to be able to love my country and still love justice." (p. 5) [See Jamal's Live from Death Row and Peltier's Prison Writings, elsewhere on Amazon.]

Camus is outspoken about capital punishment, too. "It is obviously no less repulsive than the crime, and this new murder, far from making amends for the harm done to the social body, adds a new blot to the first one." (p. 176) His "Reflections on the Guillotine" is the longest essay in book. He views capital punishment, even in "free" societies, as an act of totalitarianism.

Camus proclaims the call to justice and the struggle for freedom found in the Old Testament, especially in the minor prophets. But he does so in a modern context, where God is silent and man is the maker of his own destiny. Although he sees no messianic age, he proclims the hope that by continuous effort evil can be diminished and freedom and justice may become more prevalent.

Five stars for courage, five stars for clarity, five stars for consistency. After the abortion of democracy on December 9, 2000, every freedom and justice seeking American needs to read this book.

(If you would like to respond to this review, click on the "about me" link above & send me email. Thanks!)

Camus' essays are obviously more difficult to read than hisstories, and quite possibly more difficult to read than his philosophical investigations as well. Should they be read? Of course. In them, he speaks of similar topics (i.e. what to do in the face of absurditiy, human moral dilemmas, etc.) as he does in the other books, though in a more precise, more direct fashion. His views on the death penalty shaped my own almost completely.

What you get in this book are coherent arguments by a coherent, nuainced thinker. Is Sartre smarter than Camus? Camus knew enough to fear most -isms and -ologies where Sartre did not... (not that I recommend ignoring Sartre either! )

this book has value beyond furnishing tidbits for Camus scholars, providing his take on North and South America, notably New York City and cities of Brazil, along with Buenos Aires and Santiago. He seems to have met only a few people he liked, and maybe two or three sites impressed him. He reflects on suicide. No it is not a cheerful work, but it is vivid. Hard to imagine this was the tour of a man at his most successful. For Americans, this work if valuable for he describes our homeland; if you have read the major works, this is worth a gander.

Educated Americans share a self-consciousness, a painful awareness that we descendants of mere colonists are probably at best nouveau-riche; in short, that we are not Europeans. Indeed, we struggle to hide our secret gratitude when a European friend--particularly a Frenchman--even shows interest in us. Thus it is a great joy to open these pages and find that one of the greatest products of French letters took the time to set down his thoughts about us and our country. Camus wrote these notes during a lecture tour to this country while he was in his thirties, a time when he was first coming to international attention and when he was deep in preparation of some of his most important literary works. Camus reveals a critical but endearingly tender fascination with our country, with its often crass culture, with its sometimes seemingly naive optimism, and with its lack of awareness of its own inestimable riches. At the same time, serious students of his work will discover the first inklings of insights and ideas that would work their way into his major writings.

Camus kept an extensive literary journal during his life, a very large portion of which (including this small piece) is available in English translation. His journal is deeply insightful and often tender and personal, but written in an elegant and well organized narrative (suggesting his anticipation that his journal would someday be read by the masses). Anyone who loves Camus will be interested in this book, and any American Camus-phile will be enraptured and gratified by it.

This book is a peek into how Camus really feels about The United States and South America, when he was here. He was also very specific, right down to what he did in the morning, how he prepared for each day, what he said to his fellow passengers, as well as how many people snored in his train cabin. I suggest this to anyone who is interested in Camus, as well as to anyone who enjoys reading a diary-style novel.

The cover of Caligula shows an abstract horse bucking, and that is just what Caligula does to us. It knocks us off our high-horse by bringing us face-to-face with death. Only (and I do not choose that word lightly) a true understanding of death can put lives in perspective. Sure Caligula is a despot who could have the life of any of his subjects, but the fact-of-the-matter is that our lives can end at any second. Caligula teaches us not to take life for granted, which is something that is all to easily done in this era. This theme also exists in State of Seige. The other two plays, The Misunderstanding, and The Just Assasins are more subtle, but they also deal with idea that we take petty concerns and ideas too seriously, and fail to look and the big picture. I should also add that the language and passion of the plays are exceptional.

Encompassing the doctorine of the Ubermensch cast alongside the dictatorship of Hitler, Camus creates an absurd, absolute ruler whom the people are at his beck and call. Every whim, be it for food or a specific person's death for the merge specticle of it, are just some of the scenes depicted in this play. It forces the question of whether one would rather possess a ruler who is consistant in all actions, thought, etc. or one who is willing to contradict him or herself for the good of the people. This is a complex work whose depths it seems may never be compeletly explored. Often overlooked due to the potency of his prose, Camus has produced yet another masterwork.

Camus' raw talent. There isn't anything negative to say about Camus, other than he died too young. If he'd lived through the 60's, he'd at the most give Sartre a good run for his money.

I love Camus simply because he's the only writer/philosopher who 'beats you up' with the truth, and comforts you with the notion, that he too has done this to himself. He doesn't try to replace your religion or your belief, or even question your place in the world. And he certainly didn't trade in one 'ism' for another like his Toad-faced contemporary!

Read this! It's wonderful. Camus sums up life's absurdities simplier than Kierkergaard and a tad bit kinder--maybe even sublte--than Nietzsche (who in my estimation is the one and only TRUE existential----maybe Che Guevara is a close second)

"There is no love of life without despair of life."-These words haunted me when I first read this book nearly ten years ago. I then lent it out, never to be returned. (Ahem, I've become very cautious about lending books out since then.) Anyway, I just recently repurchased this book and reread it, and I still (unlike Camus' himself) regard the LYRICAL essays herein as much more beautiful, powerful and significant than the much touted The Stranger (which I, however, like as well, only on another level.)
It's quotes like the one above and "Knowing that certain nights whose sweetness lingers will keep returning to the earth and sea after we are gone, yes, this helps us die." that make this collection of essays Camus' best work.
The Stranger is, indeed, a unique contribution to post-WWII literature. But these essays are unique as well as powerful and beautiful. My bet is that, a century from now, these essays will be remembered long after the "existentialist" vogue has long faded, as Camus' best work.
My apologies to those who worship terse, arid prose. It has its place. But it's not the stuff of truly great literature. The lyrical essays contained herein are.

Here is a compilation of the essays that Camus wrote during the entire span of his career.It is branched into 2 categories,& a final chapter dealing more personally with outlooks on life & his works.The lyrical section describes in vivid detail the places that have moved & altered his life profoundly,eloquently relating how & why.It is one of the great literary what-if's if Camus would have done poetry in verse form;judging from the fine,thin & nimble prose that impressively illustrates the simultaneous cause & effect union bet. the man & his nature,he could have been a very good lyric poet,if not a great one.The Critical essays are honest & insightful measurements on the correlation bet. the work that he deals with & it's relevance to life & art.The final section,"Camus On Himself",offer some verifiable insights into the man & his personality.This book could serve as a very impt. introduction or supplement to Camus's entire canon;one could feel very refreshed & informed after reading it.

The language of the book are so well written that you can feel the emotions and spirits permeates from the pages. This book contains a lot of thoughts that are suprisingly simple, yet manage to escape us in the course of everyday life. It is about memories, places, faces and emotions of an ordinary human being with an extraordinary talent for life. " ... there is more love in these awkward pages than in all those that have followed." (Albert Camus, Preface 1958)

This geomentally challenging journey into pure estivation is so abstractually written, it cries of the Socratic method. This read promises a ravenous hunger for more.

Chilling, confrontational and exposing of the geomentallity. This geomentally challenging journey into pure estivation is so abstractually written, it cries of the Socratic method. This read promises a ravenous hunger for more.

I thought this book was excellent. It was extremely helpful as far as taking a piece of work that I found difficult to read, and not only making it understandable and interesting, but also giving it meaning and purpose. I now comprehend the book's importance as a historical piece of literature much better than I could before. I found the biography of Casmus' life to be well-rounded and captivating, without needing to read an entire book about him! I highly recommend this book for any student of literature who wants to better understand Casmus and/or his writing of The Plague.

Jesse Cunningham catalogues a broad, well-researched collection of essays that address readers on a variety of levels. Camus biographers Germaine Bree and Gaetan Picon introduce the work with insightful, easily understood discussions on theme and allegory. The other contributing writers, (John Cruickshank, Derek Parker, David R. Ellison, Brian Masters, Rachel Bespaloff, Jennifer Waelti-Walters, Patrick McCarthy, Allen Thiher, David Sprintzen, Bernard C. Murchland, and Robert R. Brock), tackle a variety of subjects with pertinence and wit. I highly recommend this work as an insightful read and a stepping stone to further research.

Herbert Lottman is the most loving and I believe the most authoritative of all students of Albert Camus. This short book is a treasure for anyone who cares about Camus' literature. If you are serious about Camus, you should read this book as well as Lottman's excellent biography of Camus, which was the groundbreaking work in all Camus scholarship and remains the best Camus biography.

Lottman's work on Camus has not been as well received as one might hope, and that is a great shame. Ironically, I think his reception by Camus scholars mirrors the incivility which the French elite reserved for Camus himself. I think the treatment both men received from the literati is explained by the fact that they are both outsiders. Neither man was a French native (Camus was an Algerian of French-Spanish descent and Lottman is an American expatriate living in Paris) and neither was a professional academic (Camus was a newspaper editor, a novelist, and a man of the theater, while Lottman is a journalist). It seems that the elite are simply never willing to admit any reason to listen to an outsider, no matter how worthy that person might be. That is so at least in retrospect, anyway; I think that as time passes the elite will recognize Lottman's greatness, just as, with time, they recognized the greatness of Camus.

Anyway, this book is a touching, very readable glimpse into the life of a fascinating man, by an author who himself clearly loves Camus and has taken great pains to paint him truthfully.

Having submitted this review in spanish and not having it posted, I'll try again in english.......
Camus reached fame with his elaborations about the concept of the absurd (the purposeless search of the meaning of existence in a universe void of any)in three works: The Stranger, a novel; Caligula, a teathrical opus; and The Myth of Sisyphus, a recopilation of philosophical essays.
In his second famous novel, The Plague, we find a different Camus. Perhaps, more concerned about moral values and solidarity between human beings, in the face of massive destruction.
The plot of the novel unfolds in the city of Oran, Algeria. The central image has to do with a rat invasion that causes a plague epidemy, with disastrous consecuences. Here we find metaphorically portraited the invasion by the Nazis in 1943 of non occupied France (Camus said that the Nazis came like rats).
Then we find a description of the evolution of the plague, the reaction of the authorities (at first, self denial), the progressive isolation of the town from outside world, and on the onset the "normalization" of the tragedy (people grow accostumed to live with it, and become zombies). After the evolution and the growth of the problem, the inhabitants become completely isolated from the outside, and become prisoners in the inside, due to the drastic measures taken by the authorities. The plague becomes a collective problem that requires recognition and reaction by all. We have here a clear metaphorical reference to the need of a collective reaction to the Vichy government by all the citizens. The call to participate and react becomes a moral issue. Camus then describes with certain detail the soccer stadium where people are forcibly concentrated by the authorities, and this is an allusion to the Nazi concentration camps. More than the persons, the protagonist of this novel is the city.
In the sense that the values of solidarity and participation against a common disaster or enemy are called for, this novel is much more developed, from an ethical standpoint, than The Stranger.

esta novela, que da la sensacion de claustrofobia y terror provocada por una enfermedad que pone en cuarentena a toda la poblacion, es otro logro de albert camus, un tremendo escritor, autor de ese otro libro llamado el extranjero. la peste, de caracter menos nihilista, nos muestra a los seres humanos aislados por la enfermedad y en busca de una causa comun, pero siempre solos, con su interior muy buena... LUIS MENDEZ

Only in French, but comments in English are welcome:un des plus puissants livres de tous les temps, du point de vue litteraire inimitable, du point de vue humain la transcription artistique et a la fois humaine des profondeurs sensibles et distantes en meme temps de l'espece humaine.