Other Works of Camus
By Alex Scholl
Camus’s progress as a writer can be split into two stages. In the first “Camus developed a concept of the ‘absurd’” and in the second stated that “man should not simply accept the ‘absurd’ universe, but should ‘revolt’ against it” (McGrath 345)
Camus’ first published work was a collection of essays titled The Wrong Side and the Right Side in 1937. In 1938 he became a journalist. His first novel was The Stranger which was published in 1942. Other fiction works of his include The Plague (1947) and The Fall (1956). He has also written some plays like Caligula and The Just Assassins. A collection of short stories titled Exile and the Kingdom (1957) was Camus’ last work to be published premortem. A rough draft of a novel Camus was working on right before his death was published in 1995 under the title The First Man. What would have been his final work is autobiographical, detailing the lives of a poor French-Algerian family starting in 1913 (the year of Camus’ birth).
Much of Camus’ early work fits into the first kind of writings. One of Camus’ well know early works, The Myth of Sisyphus, addresses the meaning, or lack thereof, of life in an absurd world and if suicide is the only true option. This work fits into the first category of works by Camus since it focuses on the hopelessness of Sisyphus’s situation. Camus even says that Sisyphus would probably begin to enjoy his punishment, choosing to accept it instead of coming up with another scheme to escape death. The Stranger fits in this group because of the point in his life that it was released and that the idea character of the second period isn’t present.
The second category doesn’t come up until later in his life. The prime example of his second kind of work would be his book length essay that is literally titled The Rebel. In The Rebel he brings up the absence of God and the inevitability of absurdity that he discussed in his earlier works and “now stresses revolt” along with it. Camus specifies that revolt is done on an individual level, unlike rebellion which is a large, violent usurpation that can lead to an even crueler controlling body.
Works Cited
McGrath, Robert L. "Camus." The McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of World Biography. City: The McGraw-Hill Companies, 1973. 345-47. Print.
Camus, Albert. The Myth of Sisyphus. New York: Vintage Books, 1959. Print.
Aronson, Ronald, "Albert Camus", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2012 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = <http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2012/entries/camus/>.
Riding, Alan. “Camus's Last Work, a First Draft, Shows His Life and His Style.” The New York Times, 26 April 1994. 5 May 2015 < http://www.nytimes.com/1994/04/26/books/camus-s-last-work-a-first-draft-shows-his-life-and-his-style.html>
Camus’ first published work was a collection of essays titled The Wrong Side and the Right Side in 1937. In 1938 he became a journalist. His first novel was The Stranger which was published in 1942. Other fiction works of his include The Plague (1947) and The Fall (1956). He has also written some plays like Caligula and The Just Assassins. A collection of short stories titled Exile and the Kingdom (1957) was Camus’ last work to be published premortem. A rough draft of a novel Camus was working on right before his death was published in 1995 under the title The First Man. What would have been his final work is autobiographical, detailing the lives of a poor French-Algerian family starting in 1913 (the year of Camus’ birth).
Much of Camus’ early work fits into the first kind of writings. One of Camus’ well know early works, The Myth of Sisyphus, addresses the meaning, or lack thereof, of life in an absurd world and if suicide is the only true option. This work fits into the first category of works by Camus since it focuses on the hopelessness of Sisyphus’s situation. Camus even says that Sisyphus would probably begin to enjoy his punishment, choosing to accept it instead of coming up with another scheme to escape death. The Stranger fits in this group because of the point in his life that it was released and that the idea character of the second period isn’t present.
The second category doesn’t come up until later in his life. The prime example of his second kind of work would be his book length essay that is literally titled The Rebel. In The Rebel he brings up the absence of God and the inevitability of absurdity that he discussed in his earlier works and “now stresses revolt” along with it. Camus specifies that revolt is done on an individual level, unlike rebellion which is a large, violent usurpation that can lead to an even crueler controlling body.
Works Cited
McGrath, Robert L. "Camus." The McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of World Biography. City: The McGraw-Hill Companies, 1973. 345-47. Print.
Camus, Albert. The Myth of Sisyphus. New York: Vintage Books, 1959. Print.
Aronson, Ronald, "Albert Camus", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2012 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = <http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2012/entries/camus/>.
Riding, Alan. “Camus's Last Work, a First Draft, Shows His Life and His Style.” The New York Times, 26 April 1994. 5 May 2015 < http://www.nytimes.com/1994/04/26/books/camus-s-last-work-a-first-draft-shows-his-life-and-his-style.html>