Albert Camus: A Life

Camus is not the easiest of writers to categorize. Both philosopher and literary figure, his world is fraught with too many pitfalls for the casual glance. On top of everything else, his early personal life was very hard, his father a fatality in the First World War when Camus was one, his mother illiterate, and he tubercular from high school. How then did this frightened child emerge to become the second youngest person ever to win the Nobel Prize? To chronicle this achievement requires manifold skills, which Olivier Todd has in abundance, and with which he succeeds. The only reason for not giving this book five stars is a personal predilection for giving five stars only to the most excellent. This is a good book, an exceptional work. Todd delves into existentialism with gusto, presenting that philosophy and Camus' version of it quite concisely. I think the only place where this book falters is in the psychological, the motive for Camus' writing. One can connect the dots, but sometimes I would have liked just a little bit assurance. Still, not to be missed for anyone who has any proclivity for this person, thought, or era.

If you want camus' angle on his life, read the first man, if you want an outsiders opinion, oliver todd is as good as it gets. Todd is a stickler for detail which is what anyone reading a biography really wants, so it's a must read on my list

This book provides an interesting portrait of someone whom most would now qualify as one of the more interesting (if not most important) authors of the twentieth century. This book documents his early life (somewhat disappointingly for anyone who has read 'The First Man'-- Camus' own account) through his dallainces with careers and women to his litery triumphs. This is a well-written and researched book, with the only negative from me that Camus comes out a lot less heroic and a lot more bitter and stereotypically hepcat and existentialist, which was a disappointment for I, who had raised him toward being a god....A must read for anyone interested in Camus....

If you ever wanted to know anything about Albert Camus, this is the book to read. An exceptional job of research and writing. I hated to see it end. Oliver Todd is an excellent writer and his book a joy to read.

Olivier Todd has compiled an excellent, thorough and captivating account of the life of Albert Camus. I was particularly impressed with this book's detail and accounting of Camus' s life in Algeria before moving to France. If there is any criticism I might have, it is that there is not enough detail about his last years. For a book that is filled with interviews, details and anecdotes from those who knew Camus, wanting even more information is a bit of a complement. I always suspected that Camus's personal life was a complicated one and this book confirmed that. I read it over a ten day period and didn't really want it to end. Wonderful job!