{"title":"Albert Camus","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"the-outsider","title":"The Outsider","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFirst published in French in 1942 as \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eL’Étranger\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Outsider\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e (also known as \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Stranger\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e) is Albert Camus’s spare, unsettling portrait of a man estranged from the conventions of society. Set in French colonial Algeria, the novel follows Meursault, a young clerk whose emotional detachment becomes the focus of attention after his mother’s death and, later, a fatal encounter on a beach. As he faces trial, the court seems as concerned with his failure to display expected feelings as with the crime itself.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThrough Meursault’s restrained voice and the stark precision of its prose, Camus examines the absurdity of existence, the demands of social conformity and the human search for meaning in an indifferent world. The novel also invites a difficult reckoning with the colonial society in which it is set, and with the Arab character whose death drives its central events. A defining work of twentieth-century French literature, it belongs to the philosophical current of the absurd that runs through Camus’s writing, and remains remarkable for the clarity and unsettling honesty of its vision.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFrom the book\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“I had only a little time left and I wasn't going to waste it on God.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— Albert Camus, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Outsider\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOn \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Outsider\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“A classic work, a work of order, composed about the absurd and against the absurd.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— Jean-Paul Sartre, “Explication de L’Étranger” (1943)\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardner's EU","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":64183394861386,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}]},{"product_id":"the-plague","title":"The Plague","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFirst published in 1947, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Plague\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is set in Oran, a French-Algerian port city suddenly placed under quarantine after an outbreak of bubonic plague. As the epidemic spreads, Dr Bernard Rieux, the journalist Raymond Rambert, and the enigmatic Jean Tarrou confront the suffering, isolation and uncertainty that transform the life of the town. Through their different responses to the crisis, Camus traces the fragile bonds between individuals and the moral choices that emerge when ordinary life falls away.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWritten in the aftermath of the Second World War, the novel is often read as an allegory of the Nazi occupation and the French Resistance, though its concerns reach far beyond any single historical moment. Camus considers the nature of solidarity, the limits of heroism and the quiet courage of those who refuse to surrender to suffering. One of his most important works, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Plague\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e gives lasting literary form to his belief that, in an indifferent world, human decency remains an essential act of resistance.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFrom the book\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“It may seem a ridiculous idea, but the only way to fight the plague is with decency.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— Albert Camus, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Plague\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOn \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Plague\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“The Plague is Albert Camus’s most successful novel.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— Tony Judt, The New York Review of Books\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardner's EU","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":64183410164042,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}]},{"product_id":"the-myth-of-sisyphus","title":"The Myth of Sisyphus","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFirst published in 1942, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Myth of Sisyphus\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is Albert Camus’s landmark philosophical essay on the absurd: the conflict between humanity’s longing for meaning and a world that offers no clear answer. Beginning with the question of whether life is worth living, Camus examines the temptation to escape this contradiction through suicide or religious faith. He turns instead to the figure of Sisyphus, condemned by the gods to push a boulder up a mountain for eternity, as an image of the human condition.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWritten alongside \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Stranger\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, this work belongs to the heart of Camus’s early philosophical thought and helped establish his enduring influence on twentieth-century literature and philosophy. Yet its conclusion is not one of despair: Camus argues for revolt, freedom and the possibility of living fully without recourse to false consolation. Both lucid and provocative, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Myth of Sisyphus\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e remains a defining exploration of how to face the absurd with honesty and courage.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFrom the book\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“At any street corner the feeling of absurdity can strike any man in the face.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— Albert Camus, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Myth of Sisyphus\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOn \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Myth of Sisyphus\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“Albert Camus’s seminal essay on the Absurd has become […] one of the most influential discussions of atheism of this century.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— The Guardian\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardner's EU","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":64183418159434,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}]},{"product_id":"the-fall","title":"The Fall","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFirst published in 1956, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Fall\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e unfolds over a series of conversations in the bars and streets of Amsterdam, where Jean-Baptiste Clamence, a former Parisian lawyer, addresses an increasingly intrigued stranger. Once admired for his generosity and defence of the vulnerable, Clamence now calls himself a “judge-penitent”, offering a confession that gradually reveals the unease beneath his former virtue. His account turns upon a moment of moral failure: one night in Paris, he heard a woman fall into the Seine and did nothing to save her.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn this darkly ironic novel, Camus examines guilt, vanity, judgement and the uneasy distance between the person we believe ourselves to be and the person we actually are. The city’s canals and fog-bound streets lend the narrative the atmosphere of a modern underworld, while Clamence’s brilliant, unsettling voice draws the reader into his accusations. A companion piece to \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Outsider\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, and the last novel Camus completed, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Fall\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is among his most psychologically intricate works, exposing the contradictions of conscience with formidable wit.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFrom the book\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“Have you noticed that Amsterdam’s concentric canals resemble the circles of hell?”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— Albert Camus, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Fall\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOn \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Fall\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“It does not constitute a novel, but rather a metaphysical search in a barely fictional form.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— Kirkus Reviews\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardner's EU","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":64183422615882,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}]}],"url":"https:\/\/thelamppostparis.com\/collections\/albert-camus.oembed","provider":"The Lamp-Post Library \u0026 Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}