In his Nobel Prize acceptance speech, Albert Camus declared that a writer's duty is twofold: "the refusal to lie about what one knows and the resistance against oppression." These twin obsessions help explain something of Camus' remarkable character, which is the overarching subject of this sympathetic and lively book. Through an exploration of themes that preoccupied Camus--absurdity, silence, revolt, fidelity, and moderation--Robert Zaretsky portrays a moralist who refused to be fooled by the nobler names we assign to our actions, and who pushed himself, and those about him, to challenge the status quo.

Though we do not face the same dangers that threatened Europe when Camus wrote The Myth of Sisyphus and The Stranger, we confront other alarms. Herein lies Camus' abiding significance. Reading his work, we become more thoughtful observers of our own lives. For Camus, rebellion is an eternal human condition, a timeless struggle against injustice that makes life worth living. But rebellion is also bounded by self-imposed constraints--it is a noble if impossible ideal. Such a contradiction suggests that if there is no reason for hope, there is also no occasion for despair--a sentiment perhaps better suited for the ancient tragedians than modern political theorists but one whose wisdom abides. Yet we must not venerate suffering, Camus cautions: the world's beauty demands our attention no less than life's train of injustices. That recognition permits him to declare: "It was the middle of winter, I finally realized that, within me, summer was inextinguishable."

• We started tracking this book on December 2, 2013.
• This book was $12.99 when we started tracking it.
• The price of this book has changed 28 times in the past 4,370 days.
• The current price of this book is $13.20 last checked 52 minutes ago.
• This book is at its lowest price in the past 90 days.
• This lowest price this book has been offered at in the past six months is $12.60.
• This lowest price this book has been offered at in the past year is $9.99.
• The lowest price to date was $9.99 last reached on April 9, 2020.
• This book has been $9.99 9 times since we started tracking it.
• The highest price to date was $19.00 last reached on November 2, 2025.
• This book has been $19.00 one time since we started tracking it.

• Literature & FictionLiterary CriticismRegionsEuropeanFrench

• Text-to-Speech: Disabled
• Lending: Disabled
• Print Length: 236 Pages
• File Size: 31 KB