Writer: Albert Camus, Part 01

I first read Albert Camus my senior year of law school. That was his novel The Stranger. During my college years, I went onto read The Rebel, a book length philosophical essay, and The Possessed, a play. I was quiet enamored of The Rebel and wish I had kept in mind its teachings as I might have avoided my troubles. 

I did not read Camus in full until I landed in prison. I re-read The Stranger, finished reading The Plague (a novel I had started years before my arrest), and The Fall (another novel). It was good getting reacquainted with Camus. My notes will hopefully appear here - if ever my PO approves my laptop.

Meanwhile, let me suggest Eternalised's essays on Camus.

An Introduction to Albert Camus has this paragraph which may explain what I had forgotten and why you should read Camus:

Camus teaches us, through his Absurdism, that life has inherent worth, even if it has no inherent meaning, very different from nihilism, in which nothing has any meaning. His down-to-earthiness makes one feel that he is a kind of friend guiding us on our journey of life, helping us to overcome our struggles with anxiety, depression, or suicide. He champions life, and asks us to live it, to the point of tears.

 Book Review: The Plague – Albert Camus, which is a fine examination of the novel.

This shows the power of indifference and denial present in the city, the metaphorical plague of the novel. It is only when things escalate and the citizens become prisoners of the plague under total quarantine, that they realise how little priority they gave to the things that mattered most to them, suggesting that it is questionable whether they were really “free” before the plague.

Maybe not the best novel for these days of Covid and maybe it is.

sch 3/29/22