(Book Jacket Status: Jacketed) From one of the most brilliant and influential thinkers of the twentieth century-two novels, six short stories, and a pair of essays in a single volume. In both his essays and his fiction, Albert Camus (1913--1960) de-ployed his lyric eloquence in defense against despair, providing an affirmation of the brave assertion of humanity in the face of a universe devoid of order or meaning. The Plague-written in 1947 and still profoundly relevant-is a riveting tale of horror, survival, and resilience in the face of a devastating epidemic. The Fall (1956), which takes the form of an astonishing confession by a French lawyer in a seedy Amsterdam bar, is a haunting parable of modern conscience in the face of evil. The six stories of Exile and the Kingdom (1957) represent Camus at the height of his narrative powers, masterfully depicting his characters-from a renegade missionary to an adulterous wife -at decisive moments of revelation. Set beside their fictional counterparts, Camus's famous essays "The Myth of Sisyphus" and "Reflections on the Guillotine" are all the more powerful and philosophically daring, confirming his towering place in twentieth-century thought.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 5.0 / 5.0
Great collection, a must have!:
Great value! It's a heavy read, but everyone should read Camus at least once in their lives. :)
Haven't even read it, but:
I've read the books and the essays, Vintage has them seperately, but get them here. Camus is a secular "god," one of the greatest (and bravest) writers of the twentieth century. Don't trust me, just read something short. (Maybe the editorial from "Combat" on the dropping of the atom bomb in Aout 1945.)
Moving, Thought-Provoking, and Genius:
I had read Camus's "The Stranger" and was taken aback by the wonderful understanding he had of the human mind. I needed to read more, and in this handsome book was a great feast for the mind. It is not meant to be read all at once, I found it helpful to read another book inbetween the full-length novels within the collection.
There has been no singular work that has moved me as much as the "The Plague, The Fall, Exile and the Kingdom, and Selected Essays", it goes beyond existentialism and his... more info
Excellent:
Albert Camus is one of my favorite authors. His stories are some of the greatest of the past century.
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