Representative Works of Camus (4 Volumes)
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Summary
A Happy Death is the debut novel that Nobel laureate Camus wrote at the age of 24. Drawing on his own experiences and his sense of the "absurd" as raw material, Camus created the protagonist Meursault, and the book is his first exploration of the meaning of life. The questions Camus would ponder throughout his life find their origins and answers in A Happy Death!
The Stranger: Meursault, a minor office clerk, is tried for murder, yet is ultimately sentenced to death for "not weeping at his mother's funeral."
The Plague: A sudden outbreak of plague sweeps through an ordinary small city. The rising death toll shatters the townspeople's ordinary lives: panic spreads, rumors run wild, and chaos replaces calm as the daily norm...
The Myth of Sisyphus: First published in 1942, this is Nobel laureate Camus's comprehensive reflection on the meaning of life.
The book confronts the predicament of human existence and has become an influential philosophical essay in twentieth-century Western literature.
Editor's review
Who it's for
A good fit for
- Readers new to Camus who want a systematic introduction to his philosophy of the absurd and his fiction
- University students interested in existentialist literature who want to approach the ideas through the works
- Secondary-school language teachers who need supplementary modernist literature reading outside the classroom
- Book lovers who enjoy in-depth reading on themes of disaster and the individual's predicament
Not a good fit for
- Readers who prefer light, sweet romance or fast-paced web novels
- Readers who want to finish a single complete long novel without switching between genres
- Readers with little patience for philosophical essays who want only plot
Reading tips
- Start with The Stranger to build a feel for the narrative, then read The Myth of Sisyphus to understand its philosophical background.
- Read The Plague during a period of public debate, noting characters' choices and group reactions as you go.
- Save A Happy Death for last, looking back at Camus's early probing of happiness and death.
- After finishing all four, write a 300-word note comparing how Meursault and Rieux face the absurd.
About the publisher
Jiangsu Phoenix Literature and Art Publishing House focuses on literary publishing while also covering the humanities, social sciences, and books on art and daily life. Its approximately 1,535 titles in the database span social novels, world history, design, science fiction, classic works, and film and television: they include modern Chinese literary classics by Lu Xun such as A Madman's Diary: The Complete Short Stories of Lu Xun, Call to Arms, Four Generations Under One Roof, and Teahouse, as well as foreign literary memoirs like Stefan Zweig's The World of Yesterday. In science fiction it offers Asimov's Galactic Empire series, while in architecture and art it publishes Liu Dunzhen's Classical Gardens of Suzhou and design titles from Phoenix Space. Its authors are concentrated among classic writers such as Lu Xun, Zweig, and Asimov, with translators including Liang Xijiang, Zhong Haonan, and Ye Lihua. Its overall character is built on classic works while embracing genre fiction and visual culture. Public information is limited, and this introduction is based on the titles in the database.
Contents
- 版权信息
- 局外人
- 第一部分
- 01
- 02
- 03
- 04
- 05
- 06
- 第二部分
- 01
- 02
- 03
- 04
- 05
- 《局外人》后记
- 导读：作为起点的《局外人》
- 加缪在诺贝尔颁奖晚宴上的演讲
- 快乐的死
- 第一部分 自然死亡
- 第一章
- 第二章
- 第三章
- 第四章
- 第五章
- 第二部分 有意识的死
- 第一章
- 第二章
- 第三章
- 第四章
- 第五章
- 三个圈独家文学手册
- 导读 世间壮丽的这一天
- 图文解读 和加缪对话：没有对生活的绝望，就不会热爱生活
- 鼠疫（读客经典文库）
- 第一部 只见电文上写道：宣布鼠疫流行。全城封闭。
- 一
- 二
- 三
- 四
- 五
- 六
- 七
- 八
- 第二部 我们的同胞在不安的情绪当中，仍保持原来的印象，觉得这无疑是个严重事件，但也只是暂时现象。
- 一
- 二
- 三
- 四
- 五
- 六
- 七
- 八
- 九
- 第三部 到这一刻，八月中旬，可以说鼠疫已经席卷了一切。
- 一
- 第四部 统计数字表明，疫情减退了。
- 一
- 二
- 三
- 四
- 五
- 六
- 七
- 第五部 鼠疫似乎离去，返回它悄然出来的不为人知的巢穴。
- 一
- 二
- 三
- 四
- 五
- 导读：《鼠疫》，决定性的进步
- 附录：加缪生平与创作年表
- 影响人类文明的病毒
- 读客经典文库：西西弗神话
- 加缪自序
- 荒诞推理
- 荒诞与自杀
- 荒诞之壁
- 哲学式自杀
- 荒诞的自由
- 荒诞人
- 唐璜主义
- 戏剧
- 征服
- 荒诞的创作
- 哲学与小说
- 基里洛夫
- 没有前途的创作
- 西西弗神话
- 附录 弗兰茨·卡夫卡作品中的希望与荒诞
- 《西西弗神话》 独家文学手册
- 导读 在荒诞中弃绝希望，挺身反抗
- 存在主义发展脉络图
- 存在主义文学作家作品
- 《西西弗神话》深度阅读书单
FAQ
Is there a recommended reading order for the four volumes?
Can I understand The Myth of Sisyphus without a philosophy background?
Is this set suitable for secondary-school students as extracurricular reading?
Comments
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About the author
Albert Camus (1913–1960) was a French novelist, essayist, playwright and philosopher. Born in Mondovi, French Algeria, he died in a car accident in 1960. His work spans fiction, essays and drama, with major titles including The Stranger, The Plague, The Myth of Sisyphus and The Rebel; he received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1957. Camus's writing often explores human choice and revolt in the face of the absurd, combining literary power with philosophical reflection. This site holds 77 of his works, covering categories such as foreign literature, classic works, Western philosophy and world classics.
Jin Yi: publicly available information is limited, and no clear details about nationality, birth or death dates are available. Judging from the eight works included in the database, however, Jin Yi's work centers on the translation and introduction of foreign literature and classic masterpieces. Represented works include the four-volume Representative Works of Camus, The Stranger, A Happy Death, The Little Prince Trilogy, Jules Verne's Classic Science Fiction (nine volumes), Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Around the World in Eighty Days, and The Essence of Comedy. These titles span French existentialist literature, children's literature, and science-fiction adventure novels, suggesting a broad range: Jin Yi handles both the cool, spare philosophical narration of Camus and the dense scientific detail and adventure plotting of Verne, while also doing justice to a work as clear in language and rich in implication as The Little Prince. Many of these translations appear in popular classic series such as Dook Classic Library and Guomai Classics, serving as a bridge for Chinese readers encountering foreign literature.
Li Yumin (born 1938) is a renowned Chinese translator of French literature. A graduate of Peking University's French program, he later became a professor at Capital Normal University. In 1964, he went to France as one of the first publicly sponsored students of New China. He has devoted himself to translating French literature for decades, producing more than 200 translated works totaling over 30 million characters, about half of them first translations in China. His representative works include Notre-Dame de Paris, Les Misérables, The Three Musketeers, The Plague, The Stranger, and The Little Prince, spanning foreign literature, world classics, and Western philosophy. He has received the Fu Lei Translation and Publishing Award. His translations are known for accuracy, fluency, and readability, offering Chinese readers an important window into classic French literature and thought.
