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I'm having a hard time reading the Myth of Sisyphus, is there a more accessible intro to absurdism?
I read some things about the philosophy and I'd really like to go deeper into it, but the book is so hard for me to read! I can't make sense of much of what I'm reading, maybe it's the vocabulary I'm not sure... Is there a more accessible book about absurdism?
Have you read Camus' fiction? I'd go The Stranger -> The Plague -> Sisyphus -> The Fall. His plays are good too!
I was considering reading "The Rebel", I'll look into those too thank you!
I used to find it almost impossible to read too, but then I figured out I was using a terrible French->Chinese translation. I tried later with an English translation first, then read the French in part, and it made much more sense.
The book was written during the WWII, and it probably reflected in its style the chaotic and constantly at-risk bodies and minds caught in the disaster and active in the resistance. It wasn't supposed to be a coherent statement of general ideas, but a manifesto.
In contrast, The Rebel was probably more coherent and fleshed-out. It was basically historical research mingled with art history and philosophy.
I'd also like to recommend the plays Caligula and The Just Assassins (Les Justes). I think they'd be more accessible for looking into the manifestation of his political/philosophical ideas.
His essay collections Noces ("Weddings") and L'Été ("The Summer") were just beautiful and full of a bodily attachment to the land and people, what I consider a substrate of his world view. The unfinished novel The First Man shared this attachment and was as beautiful.
Well, all of them I consider easier to read than the Sisyphus...