Comments | undead_authors: Off-topic: The Outsider by Albert Camus

thatgirlsylvia in undead_authors

Off-topic: The Outsider by Albert Camus

Sep 12, 2005 23:30

I just finished reading The Outsider by Albert Camus today. While the book was short and in pretty simple language, I found it absolutely beautiful.

Has anyone else read this book?

It reminded me of The Trial by Franz Kafka.

What's the next Camus book I should read?

Comments 4

Camuuuu! biteexpenditure September 13 2005, 15:02:48 UTC

Hi! I've read two books by Camus: The Stranger (aka The Outsider) and The Myth of Sisyphus. Well, I've read snatches of The Plague too, but not enough for it to count.

The Myth of Sisyphus is more philosophy than fiction, and it can be confusing if you're not used to really dense things; at least that's what I thought. It's an essay on why you shouldn't commit suicide, but more broadly, it's an outline of his theory on the absurd quality of the universe. It sort of sets him apart from your run-of-the-mill existentialists.

Failing that, what I read of The Plague was pretty interesting.

Re: Camuuuu! thatgirlsylvia September 13 2005, 15:06:44 UTC

Heh, I was actually curious as to whether The Stranger and The Outsider are the same book. Well now I know.

Yeah I did a search on my local library's database for Camus books, and came up with a lot of essays by him. I'm interested in philosophy, but I really don't think I could deal with readinh heavy novels right now because I just started classes.

What's The Plague about?

Re: Camuuuu! biteexpenditure September 13 2005, 15:24:21 UTC

Amazon.com will probably do a better job explaining this than I:

The Plague

but from what I gathered, it's a commentary on the power of the mob during a crisis, and the danger of the power of government. More generally, it's about a plague.

no1inthehoodg September 13 2005, 17:40:19 UTC

I'm reading The Trial right now and a few months ago I read The Myth of Sisyphus and I've read The Stranger a couple years ago.

I read A Happy Death last year and if you liked The Stranger you will probably like that, too.

You might want to try some Dostoevsky as well. Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov and both exceptional. Camus cited Dostoevsky and Kafka as exemplary portrayers of existentialist novelists and Kafka as the premier absurdist novelist.