The Myth of Sisyphus by Amazonundefined

Price last update: 11/03/2024

Description

In this profound and moving philosophical statement, Camus poses the fundamental question: If human existence has no meaning, is life worth living?
'What I touch, what resists me - that is what I understand'
As Camus argues, if there is no God to give meaning to our lives, humans must take on that purpose themselves. This is our 'absurd' task, like Sisyphus condemned forever to roll a rock up a hill. Written during the bleakest days of the Second World War,
The Myth of Sisyphus
argues for an acceptance of reality that encompasses revolt, passion and, above all, liberty, gained through an awareness of pure existence. This volume contains several other essays, including lyrical evocations of the sunlit cities of Algiers and Oran, the settings of his great novels
The Outsider
and
The Plague
. The writings in this volume are all, in their own way, hymns to the physical world and the elemental pleasures of living. Translated by Justin O'BrienWith an afterword by James Wood
O autorze
Albert Camus (1913-60) grew up in a working-class neighbourhood in Algiers. He studied philosophy at the University of Algiers, and became a journalist. His most important works include
The Outsider
,
The Myth of Sisyphus,
The Plague
and
The Fall
. After the occupation of France by the Germans in 1941, Camus became one of the intellectual leaders of the Resistance movement. He was killed in a road accident, and his last unfinished novel,
The First Man
, appeared posthumously.Justin O'Brien was the Blanche W. Knopf Professor of French Literature at Columbia University and renowed translator of Anre Gide and Albert Camus, both of whom were his intimate friends.
James Wood
has been a staff writer at the
New Yorker
since 2007. In 2009, he won the National Magazine Award for reviews and criticism. He was the chief literary critic at the
Guardian
from 1992 to 1995, and a book critic at the
New Republic
from 1995 to 2007. He has published a number of books with Cape, including
How Fiction Works
, which has been translated into thirteen languages.