About this title: Camus's philosophical essay, published in 1942, begins with the statement: "There is only one really serious philosophical question, and that is suicide. Deciding whether or not life is worth living is to answer the fundamental question in philosophy. All other questions follow from that." Camus compares the absurdity of existence to the labours of the mythical character Sisyphus, who was condemned through all eternity to push a boulder to the top of a hill and watch helplessly as it rolled down again. Camus takes the nonexistence of God for granted, arguing for the necessity of finding ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Very Good
Publisher: Vintage Books, NY
Date Published: 1955
Description: Good++ No Jacket. Paperback Used paperback book, covers show some wear, underlining to some pages, otherwise, book pages are clean with no other markings, creases, rips, tears or writing to them. Translated from the French by Justin O'Brien. read more
Edition: Third Printing
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Vintage Books, New York
Date Published: 1991
ISBN-13:9780679733737ISBN:0679733736
Description: Good with no dust jacket. 0679733736. Softbound, light wear/soil, crease starting at spine, ding/crease at mid-spine, pgs clean/white; 12mo 7"-7½" tall; 212 pages. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Vintage Books
Date Published: 1955
Description: Good++ Size: 12mo-over 6¾"-7¾" tall; Paperback, Good Plus to Very Good Minus condition, Mild coverwear, lightly bumped spine edge. 150 clean, crisp and tight pages. read more
Edition: Number Line 9B8
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Vintage Books, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 1991
ISBN-13:9780679733737ISBN:0679733736
Description: Very Good. No Jacket. 8 X 5 1/4. 212 pages Pages are bright, tight and clean. Binding firm and straight. Covers, edges and corners good+. If needed for reference, research, analysis, dissertation, lucubrations or just enjoyment, this is the one. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Vintage Books
Date Published: 1955
Description: Very Good. Binding is tight and square. Text is clean and bright. P/O name is on FFEP. No creases in cover or spine. Careful packaging and fast shipping. We recommend EXPEDITED MAIL for even faster delivery! read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Vintage Books USA
Date Published: 1991
ISBN-13:9780679733737ISBN:0679733736
Description: New. No dust jacket as issued. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 224 p. Vintage International (Paperback). Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Vintage Books USA
Date Published: 1991
ISBN-13:9780679733737ISBN:0679733736
Description: Fine. No dust jacket as issued. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 224 p. Vintage International (Paperback). Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Vintage Books USA
Date Published: 1991
ISBN-13:9780679733737ISBN:0679733736
Description: New. No dust jacket as issued. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 224 p. Vintage International (Paperback). Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Vintage Books USA
Date Published: 1991
ISBN-13:9780679733737ISBN:0679733736
Description: New. No dust jacket as issued. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 224 p. Vintage International (Paperback). Audience: General/trade. read more
Edition: [American ed.]. 4th Printing
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Knopf, New York
Date Published: 1961
Description: Fine. No dust jacket. Ex-library. Other than usual former library notations, the book is in perfect condition. 212 p. 22 cm. Black cloth over boards with gilt title, author and publisher on spine. A former library book, it has the usual library number on spine, pocket at the back and stamps on the sides but is otherwise in near perfect condition. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Alfred A Knopf, New York
Date Published: 1955
Description: Very Good in Fair jacket. Hard cover with dust jacket; jacket s; lightly soiled, chipped a bit at the top of the spine; pencil writing on front free end paper; tight binding; clean interior; 212 pgs. read more
Edition: 9th Printing
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Date Published: 1955
ISBN-13:9780394437606ISBN:0394437608
Description: Very good in fine dust jacket. Ex-library. HB: DJ has plastic and label attached. Book has shelf wear/fraying, missing 1st cover page, stamps. 212 p.; read more
Description: Good. 1955, stated 1st US, black cloth spine over yellow paper covered boards, corners are bumped, interior is clean and sound, dust jacket is edgeworn and price clipped. read more
"This is the book that profoundly changed me as a young adult. I used to carry it with me everywhere I go; I could not go anywhere if I do not have it in my knapsack. Camus, like Nietzsche and Dostoevsky, is for me an essential author that has indispensable things to say about life and being alive.
Camus has a penetrating eye that surveys through our attitudes and the values that we give to existence. In his world, things are always stripped down to the basics, hence the results are bleak. Pain, misfortune, and all our hypocrisies, are looked upon with unflinching eye and rigorously examined.
What saves Camus in the end (and saves us) from the rancor and meaninglessness of existence is the strange melancholy and happiness that he wrings out of the small things of life, like the beauty of the sea, the sweeping color of the sky when it turns to green, and the joy of observing people in their interactions with each other amid the wretchedness of life.
If Sartre found a wall at the end of his philosophical journey and beat his head against it, Camus pulled out a paint brush and inks of magnanimous colors from his bag, and painted on the wall a sublime picture of happiness - difficult and fleeting, but moving nonetheless.
I don't carry this book around anymore. But no need, I have it within me."
"This was a required college read. Specifically, the Myth of Sisyphus is a commentary on life and I have to admit that I have thought about it constantly throughout my adult life as I add experience with aging and frustration. Much of this connection I get with the Myth is due to an almost unrealistic high expectation of myself and others. However, as I add up the grand total of what I am and what others have achieved who I have influenced, I think I can say that it's been worth the attitude. Still, pushing the boulder up the hill with tanacity and determination, is always bound toward a fight because the force of gravity is often stronger than I am. I can really relate to this frustration and I have far too often."
"I'm only giving this book three stars, because I found much of the main essay to be incoherent. Yet what I did understand resonated so much that if I'd read it in my early 20s or late teens, I would now call it one of the most influential books I've ever read. Since I read it just now, I can't say that it's influenced anything at all, though it may in the future. Camus' idea of the absurdist way of looking at the universe, as opposed to the religious or the nihilistic, captures how I see things much of the time.
But I think I liked the Wikipedia entry on The Myth of Sisyphus more than the book itself. The Wikipedia entry teases out Camus' ideas more clearly than Camus does. But I'd recommend reading both, because Camus does get into some interesting examples that you won't find in the Wikipedia entry, like the absurdism of actors.
I found the rest of the essays in the book not worth reading at all, another reason this is three and not four stars."
"This was a required college read. Specifically, the Myth of Sisyphus is a commentary on life and I have to admit that I have thought about it constantly throughout my adult life as I add experience with aging and frustration. Much of this connection I get with the Myth is due to an almost unrealistic high expectation of myself and others. However, as I add up the grand total of what I am and what others have achieved who I have influenced, I think I can say that it's been worth the attitude. Still, pushing the boulder up the hill with tanacity and determination, is always bound toward a fight because the force of gravity is often stronger than I am. I can really relate to this frustration and I have far too often."
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