Born in Algeria in 1913, Albert Camus is one of the foremost writers of his era and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957. He grew up in relative poverty and came to live in France in 1940 having worked as a journalist in Algeria. His career as a writer took shape and he also went on to write for Combat, the French underground resistance newspaper.
His notable works include L’Etranger (1942), translated into English as The Stranger (1946), La Peste (1947) (which is translated as The Plague (1948)) and the influential Le Mythe de Sisyphe (1942). The latter is also known as The Myth of Sisyphus (1955) and uses this myth to explore the existential and absurdist ideas that accept the indifference of the universe, but also condone the argument of living in good faith, and affirming the value of existence.
Such philosophical views color Camus’ work and are, therefore, evident in TheStranger. When the anti-hero Meursault finally comes to accept that he like everybody else is condemned to death, he learns to hope to experience the rest of his life to the fullest. He is also known as a playwright, as well as a novelist and writer of short stories and died in a car accident in 1960.
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