Works, such as the novels The Stranger (1942) and The Plague (1947), of Algerian-born French writer and philosopher Albert Camus concern the absurdity of the human condition; he won the Nobel Prize of 1957 for literature.
Origin and his experiences of this representative of non-metropolitan literature in the 1930s dominated influences in his thought and work.
Of semi-proletarian parents, early attached to intellectual circles of strongly revolutionary tendencies, with a deep interest, he came at the age of 25 years in 1938; only chance prevented him from pursuing a university career in that field. The man and the times met: Camus joined the resistance movement during the occupation and after the liberation served as a columnist for the newspaper Combat.
The essay Le Mythe de Sisyphe (The Myth of Sisyphus), 1942, expounds notion of acceptance of the absurd of Camus with "the total absence of hope, which has nothing to do with despair, a continual refusal, which must not be confused with renouncement - and a conscious dissatisfaction." Meursault, central character of L'?tranger (The Stranger), 1942, illustrates much of this essay: man as the nauseated victim of the absurd orthodoxy of habit, later - when the young killer faces execution - tempted by despair, hope, and salvation.
Besides his fiction and essays, Camus very actively produced plays in the theater (e.g., Caligula, 1944).
The time demanded his response, chiefly in his activities, but in 1947, Camus retired from political journalism.
Doctor Rieux of La Peste (The Plague), 1947, who tirelessly attends the plague-stricken citizens of Oran, enacts the revolt against a world of the absurd and of injustice, and confirms words: "We refuse to despair of mankind. Without having the unreasonable ambition to save men, we still want to serve them."
People also well know La Chute (The Fall), work of Camus in 1956.
Camus authored L'Exil et le royaume (Exile and the Kingdom) in 1957. His austere search for moral order found its aesthetic correlative in the classicism of his art. He styled of great purity, intense concentration, and rationality.
Camus died at the age of 46 years in a car accident near Sens in le Grand Fossard in the small town of Villeblevin.
We help a person more by giving him a favorable image of himself than by constantly reminding him of his shortcomings.Each individual normally strives to resemble his best image. [...] We are for instance the result of twenty centuries of Christian imagery. For two thousand years man has been offered a humiliating image of himself. The result is obvious. Anyway, who can say what we should be if those twenty centuries had clung to the ancient ideal with its beautiful human face? * Concerning criticism. Three years to make a book, five lines to ridicule it. * So that after having painfully incarnated, and at rare intervals, one of those images or come closer to one of those memories, life is filled with long spaces pf empty time like dead skins. * Art is the distance that time gives to suffering.It is man's transcendence in relation to himself. * I took ten years to win what seems to me priceless: a heart without bitterness. And as often happens, once I had gone beyond the bitterness, I incorporated it in one or two books. Thus I shall be forever judged on that bitterness which has ceased to mean anything to me. But that is just. It's the price one must pay. * The aging heart. To have loved and yet that nothing can be saved. * What balances the absurd is the community of men fighting against it. * How many nights in a life where one has ceased to be! * I lived, without restraint, on beauty: eternal bread.
Daca va plac operele lui Camus, veti iubi cu siguranta "Carnetele" sale - un cumul de marturisiri, descrieri ale locurilor in care calatorea, ganduri, fragmente din operele pe care le va scrie precum si citate din cartile pe care le citea, Tolstoi, Nietzsche, Pascal, Dostoievski fiind doar cativa dintre autorii pe care-i frecventa. Aveti astfel ocazia de a face cunostinta cu un soi de "fisa de lectura", avand ocazia sa primiti recomandari de la un castigator al premiului Nobel pentru Literatura, eveniment pe care-l noteaza cum nu se poate mai frumos: "17 octombrie. Nobel. Straniu simtamant de coplesire si de melancolie. La 20 de ani, sarac si gol, am cunoscut gloria adevarata. Mama." (La anuntarea premiului Nobel, Camus i-a telefonat mamei sale, la Alger). In toate cele trei volume ale carnetelor, regasim un Camus de o modestie ireprosabila, "constient" de faptul ca e "un suflet mediu + o exigenta". Si-aici l-as contrazice pe Cioran care-l numea "un excelent scriitor minor", Camus ramane, in opinia mea, un excelent scriitor major. Cat despre aberanta observatie a lui Cioran cum ca Albert Camus ar fi citit numai literatura franceza si ar avea o cultura de invatator, Carnetele vin sa raspunda acelei observatii injuste. Trebuie mentionat ca acele rautati au fost asumate de Cioran la batranete, in Caietele sale (jurnal pe care, de asemenea, vi-l recomand, aveti acolo o mie de pagini despre toate cartile care s-au scris, Cioran fiind unul dintre cei mai mari cititori ai planetei) admite, notand moartea lui Camus, ca e "un om pe care l-am vorbit de rau de cate ori am putut", motivul fiind ca Albert Camus i-a spus, cand Cioran isi publica prima carte in franceza, "acum a sosit momentul sa intrati in idei", o impertinenta, ce-i drept, pentru ca se vede in "Tratat de descompunere", ca Cioran avea un oarecare nivel, cum chiar el relateaza in volumul doi al operelor de la Academia Romana, or Camus i se adreseaza "ca unui invatator". Nu neg ca a plouat cu premii peste Albert Camus si ca i s-au exagerat meritele, insa in acelasi timp eleganta cu care si-a gestionat gloria il face demn de ea. Unul din miile de pasaje care mi-au mai mult decat placut, cu care am rezonat si in care m-am regasit: "Exist? ?n faptul de a scrie dovada unei certitudini personale care ?ncepe s?-mi lipseasc?. Certitudinea c? ai ceva de spus ?i mai ales c? ceva poate s? fie spus - certitudinea c? ceea ce sim?i ?i ceea ce e?ti are valoare de exemplu - certitudine c? e?ti de ne?nlocuit ?i c? nu e?ti la?. Pe toate acestea le pierd ?i ?ncep s?-mi imaginez momentul c?nd nu voi mai scrie."
Revoltat sau absurd? O imersiune ?n noti?ele intime ale lui Camus din perioada scrierii la Omul Revoltat. O reverie...o s?pt?m?n? de filosofie pur?, at?ta timp am lecturat Carnete II. M? atrage sublimul spre Carnete III, ?mi vine, pur simplu, s? alerg spre libr?rie ?i s? o procur... Niciodat? revenirea la Camus nu a fost at?t de exuberanta ?i fatal?...M? consuma ?i ma ?nt?re?te ca ?ntr- o lupta siderala cu mine, p?n? m? voi pune la p?m?nt pe mine ?ns?mi, ca pe un spirit vechi, imobil... Ce se va produce ?n c?dere? O nou? na?tere, a doua. Dintr-un asemenea spirit, t?cut ?i lep?dat, se na?te a doua via?a...
If there were any books that made an impression so strong, it would be this! Prior to reading Carnets,1942-1951, i had a faint inkling of Camus as the author of 'The outsider'. This book here, which was a notebook with his rough ideas/sketches for his novels is an extremely rich source of quotes and an insight into his mind.
When he writes somewhere, 'If there were no passion, there would be no virtue, and yet our century has reached this supreme misery where it lacks both passion and virtue; it does good and evil, passive as matter itself' - he is writing not only of his time back then, but something that we know is relevant and reflects today's living from the 21st century.
He quotes Delacroix, Keats, Chesterton, Tolstoy, Dostoievski, Gobineau, Richelieu, Stendhal and one realizes how little we've read and know of this world.
Self reflection: I have tried with all my strength, knowing my weakness, to be a moral person. Morality kills.
To live is to verify.
Albert Camus made me reflect on the way i've lived so far.
"Kad?na, erkeklerin a?k?n?n b?yle oldu?unu, ho?lanmaya de?il iradeye ba?l? oldu?unu, ve erke?in kendi kendini fethetmesi oldu?unu s?yl¨¹yordu. Kad?n, bunun a?k olmad???na yemin ediyordu. . . Adam bunun kendisi i?in ?l¨¹m oldu?unu hayk?r?yordu ama kad?n bundan etkilenmiyordu."
Camus okurken tek ¨¹z¨¹ld¨¹?¨¹m ?ey art?k k¨¹lliyat?n? bitirmeye yak?nla?mam. Yoksa sonsuza kadar okuyabilirim. Hepimizin kendisi i?in b?yle ?zel olan yazarlar? var. Bazen bir bazen de birden fazla. Defterler'i okurken kendi i?imde bir yolculu?a ??km?? gibi hissediyorum. Biri benim mahrem hislerimi yazm?? ve ben bunu sonradan okuyormu? gibi.
Very exciting to read the journals of the existentialism master. A chance to see his raw ideas and thoughts before they crystalized into a finished work.
when you read the notebooks of writers and philosophers you get to know all the granularities of their thoughts and how they think about the world and life. what a great start of the year for me to begin it by reading Camus.
¡°Det f?rsta en f?rfattare har att l?ra sig ?r konsten att transponera det han k?nner till det han vill f? andra att k?nna. De f?rsta g?ngerna han lyckas ?r det av en slump. Men sedan m?ste talangen ta slumpens plats. P? s? vis finns det ett m?tt av tur i geniets tillblivelse.¡± (s. 39)
¡°D?den ger k?rleken dess form, liksom den ger livet dess form ¨C genom att omskapa den till ?de. Din ?lskade dog under tiden du ?lskade henne och k?rleken fixerades en g?ng f?r alla ¨C utan detta slut skulle den ha l?sts upp. S? vad vore livet utan d?den, en r?cka former som f?rsvinner och ?teruppst?r, en ?ngestflykt, en v?rld som inte kan fullbordas. Men lyckligtvis finns den d?r, den best?ndiga. Och den ?lskande som gr?ter ?ver sin ?lskades kvarlevor, som Ren¨¦ inf?r Pauline, f?ller den rena gl?djens t?rar ¨C allt ?r fullbordat ¨C mannen ser att hans ?de ?ntligen har f?tt gestalt.¡± (s. 64)
¡°Att ha kraften att v?lja det man helst vill och h?lla sig till det. F?r annars kan man lika g?rna d?.¡± (s. 66)
¡°Hj?rtat som ?ldras. Att ha ?lskat och ?nd? ingenting r?ddat.¡± (s. 94)
¡°Politiska antinomier. Vi befinner oss i en v?rld d?r vi m?ste v?lja mellan att vara offer eller b?del ¨C ingenting annat. Det ?r inget l?tt val. Mig har det alltid f?refallit som om det i sj?lva verket inte fanns n?gra b?dlar, bara offer. Sist och slutligen, naturligtvis. Men det ?r en sanning som ?r f?ga spridd. (...)¡± (s. 99)
¡°Frid vore att ?lska i tysthet. Men s? finns samvetet och personen; vi m?ste tala. Att ?lska blir ett helvete.¡± (s. 183)
¡°Vi lever p? allvar bara ett par timmar av v?ra liv ¡¡± (s. 193)
¡°Ett d?ligt rykte ?r l?ttare att b?ra ?n ett gott, ty ett gott rykte ?r tungt att sl?pa p?, man m?ste leva upp till det, och varje svaghet r?knas som ett brott. Har man d?ligt rykte r?knas svagheten till godo.¡± (s. 195)
Som titeln redan vittnar om ?r detta allts? den andra delen av Albert Camus samlade anteckningar. Det ?r lika tankspritt och fragmentariskt som tidigare; korta och n?stan pl?tsliga insikter varvas med djupare reflektioner ?ver mer vardagliga h?ndelser. Tankarna ?r fria att komma och g?, att mots?gas eller utvecklas, och de till?ts vara flytande ?ver tid. Sm? livs?gonblick och tankem?nster som bildar en mosaik ?ver livet. S? fint att f? ta del av.
¡°Personne ne se rend compte que certaines personnes d¨¦pensent une force hercul¨¦enne pour ¨ºtre seulement normales ?
? Celui qui d¨¦sesp¨¨re des ¨¦v¨¨nements est un l?che, mais celui qui esp¨¨re en la condition humaine est un fou ?
? Je dirai moi que, pessimiste quant ¨¤ la condition humaine, je suis optimiste quant ¨¤ l¡¯homme ?
? L¡¯homme que je serais si je n¡¯avais pas ¨¦t¨¦ l¡¯enfant que je fus ?
? A trente ans, presque du jour au lendemain, j¡¯ai connu la renomm¨¦e. Je en le ne regrette pas. J¡¯aurais pu en faire plus tard de mauvais r¨ºves. Maintenant, je sais ce que c¡¯est. C¡¯est peu de chose. ?
? Que vaut l¡¯homme ? Qu¡¯est-ce que l¡¯homme ? Toute ma vie il me restera , apr¨¨s ce que j¡¯ai vu une m¨¦fiance et une inqui¨¦tude fondamentale ¨¤ son ¨¦gard ?