The Myth of Sisyphus, and Other Essays

Albert Camus

1942

August, 2023

9/10

Camus takes a very logical and organized approach to the subjects of both life and living. However, I felt that a lot of his time was spent specifically addressing absurdism. While this made sense in the context of his "absurdism survey," I didn't feel like it contributed all that much — though I say that being more interested in what he has to say rather the background/context for his arguments. The same can be said for the other philosophies touched on.

Apart from this, The Myth of Sisyphus argues against suicide through various philosophical viewpoints. I particularly appreciated that Camus recognized his own inability to perceive life from beyond his humanity — thus suggesting that the truth can never really be known or understood.

Camus goes on to discuss various topics including the role of art. "Expression begins where thought ends," he says. His discussion of literature is equally thoughtful and evocative. As difficult as the beginning of the book is to comprehend, Camus "gets it" and speaks wise, lucid words on creativity and expression. However, I do find he consistently assumes that the reader has knowledge of other people/works — though this is necessary to discuss literature, of course.

As for the other included essays, they are well-written and interesting, to an extent, but I can't say I got much from them. They were a very sudden shift away from The Myth of Sisyphus. I will ignore them for the sake of review.