Antiquarian and Classic Book Reviews
(November 7th, 1913 — January 4th, 1960)
Albert Camus was a French philosopher, author, and journalist. Born in Algeria (which was a French colony at the time), he grew up in a poor neighbourhood.
Camus studied philosophy at the University of Algiers and was noted as a moralist, leaning towards anarcho-syndicalism. At the age of 44, in 1957, he won the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Camus was in Paris during World War II when the Germans invaded France. After failing to flee, he joined the French Resistance and served as editor-in-chief at an outlawed newspaper, Combat.
A politically active figure, Camus was part of the Left that opposed the Soviet Union. He was also part of many organizations seeing European integration. He advocated for a multicultural and pluralistic Algeria during the Algerian War, which drew him much criticism.
Camus’ views contributed to the rise of absurdism as a philosophy. Though he firmly rejected the term, he is also considered to be an existentialist.
At the age of 46, Camus died suddenly in a fatal car accident. Only three of his novels had been published at the time of his death. An early novel that he self-rejected, A Happy Death (La Mort Heureuse), was published posthumously. The First Man (Le Premier Homme), which was incomplete at the time of his death, was also published posthumously.
Albert Camus is a book author.
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Though the novel is complete in terms of narrative, it’s not exactly finished per se. There’s a note in front of my edition that explains that the decision was made to publish the work because reading as much of Camus’ as possible helps readers and scholars understand who Camus was as a writer and his process. This is a review of A Happy Death.
