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The Resource Looking for the stranger : Albert Camus and the life of a literary classic, Alice Kaplan

Looking for the stranger : Albert Camus and the life of a literary classic, Alice Kaplan

Creator
Author
Summary
  • "A National Book Award-finalist biographer tells the story of how a young man in his 20s who had never written a novel turned out a masterpiece that still grips readers more than 70 years later and is considered a rite of passage for readers around the world, "--NoveList
  • Since its publication in France in 1942, Camus's novel has been translated into sixty languages and sold more than six million copies. If the twentieth century produced a novel that could be called ubiquitous, The Stranger is it. How did a young man in his twenties who had never written a novel turn out a masterpiece that still grips readers more than seventy years later? Here, Alice Kaplan tells that story. In the process, she reveals Camus's achievement to have been even more impressive--and more unlikely--than even his most devoted readers knew. Born in poverty in colonial Algeria, Camus started out as a journalist covering the criminal courts. The murder trials he attended, Kaplan shows, would be a major influence on the development and themes of The Stranger. She follows Camus to France, and, making deft use of his diaries and letters, re-creates his lonely struggle with the novel in Montmartre, where he finally hit upon the unforgettable first-person voice that enabled him to break through and complete The Stranger. Even then, the book's publication was far from certain. France was straining under German occupation, and Camus himself was seriously ill with tuberculosis. Yet the book did appear, thanks in part to a resourceful publisher, Gaston Gallimard, who was undeterred by paper shortages and Nazi censorship. It wasn't until after liberation that The Stranger began its meteoric rise. As France and the rest of the world began to move out of the shadow of war, Camus's book became a critical and commercial success, and Camus found himself one of the most famous writers in the world. Suddenly, his seemingly modest tale of alienation was being seen for what it really was: a powerful parable of the absurd, an existentialist masterpiece. Few books inspire devotion and excitement the way The Stranger does, and it couldn't have a better biographer than Alice Kaplan.--Adapted from dust jacket
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Extent
289 pages
Contents
  • Prologue
  • A bonfire
  • From Belcourt to Hydra
  • A first try
  • The novel he didn't know he was writing
  • A reporter on the beat
  • Any person condemned to death shall have his head cut off
  • The absurd
  • A first chapter
  • What he carried
  • Writing part I
  • Already traced within me
  • Exodus
  • Rue d'Arzew
  • A jealous teacher and a generous comrade
  • Resolve
  • The Malraux factor
  • A reader's report
  • Gallimard's war
  • The stranger is born
  • Recovery
  • From the absurd to revolt
  • Above ground
  • Existentialist twins
  • Consecration in New York
  • A book for everyone
  • What's in a name?
  • Epilogue: l'écho d'Oran
Isbn
9780226241678
Instance
Label
Looking for the stranger : Albert Camus and the life of a literary classic
Title
Looking for the stranger
Title remainder
Albert Camus and the life of a literary classic
Statement of responsibility
Alice Kaplan
Creator
Author
Subject
Genre
Language
eng
Summary
  • "A National Book Award-finalist biographer tells the story of how a young man in his 20s who had never written a novel turned out a masterpiece that still grips readers more than 70 years later and is considered a rite of passage for readers around the world, "--NoveList
  • Since its publication in France in 1942, Camus's novel has been translated into sixty languages and sold more than six million copies. If the twentieth century produced a novel that could be called ubiquitous, The Stranger is it. How did a young man in his twenties who had never written a novel turn out a masterpiece that still grips readers more than seventy years later? Here, Alice Kaplan tells that story. In the process, she reveals Camus's achievement to have been even more impressive--and more unlikely--than even his most devoted readers knew. Born in poverty in colonial Algeria, Camus started out as a journalist covering the criminal courts. The murder trials he attended, Kaplan shows, would be a major influence on the development and themes of The Stranger. She follows Camus to France, and, making deft use of his diaries and letters, re-creates his lonely struggle with the novel in Montmartre, where he finally hit upon the unforgettable first-person voice that enabled him to break through and complete The Stranger. Even then, the book's publication was far from certain. France was straining under German occupation, and Camus himself was seriously ill with tuberculosis. Yet the book did appear, thanks in part to a resourceful publisher, Gaston Gallimard, who was undeterred by paper shortages and Nazi censorship. It wasn't until after liberation that The Stranger began its meteoric rise. As France and the rest of the world began to move out of the shadow of war, Camus's book became a critical and commercial success, and Camus found himself one of the most famous writers in the world. Suddenly, his seemingly modest tale of alienation was being seen for what it really was: a powerful parable of the absurd, an existentialist masterpiece. Few books inspire devotion and excitement the way The Stranger does, and it couldn't have a better biographer than Alice Kaplan.--Adapted from dust jacket
Biography type
individual biography
Cataloging source
ICU/DLC
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Kaplan, Alice Yaeger
Dewey number
  • 848/.91409
  • B
Government publication
government publication of a state province territory dependency etc
Illustrations
maps
Index
index present
LC call number
PQ2605.A3734
LC item number
Z6694 2016
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
bibliography
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Camus, Albert
  • Camus, Albert
  • Camus, Albert
  • Camus, Albert
  • Camus, Albert
  • Camus, Albert
  • Authors, French
  • Philosophers
  • BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY
  • HISTORY
  • LITERARY CRITICISM
  • Art appreciation
  • Authors, French
  • Philosophers
  • France
Label
Looking for the stranger : Albert Camus and the life of a literary classic, Alice Kaplan
Instantiates
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 225-264) and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
Prologue -- A bonfire -- From Belcourt to Hydra -- A first try -- The novel he didn't know he was writing -- A reporter on the beat -- Any person condemned to death shall have his head cut off -- The absurd -- A first chapter -- What he carried -- Writing part I -- Already traced within me -- Exodus -- Rue d'Arzew -- A jealous teacher and a generous comrade -- Resolve -- The Malraux factor -- A reader's report -- Gallimard's war -- The stranger is born -- Recovery -- From the absurd to revolt -- Above ground -- Existentialist twins -- Consecration in New York -- A book for everyone -- What's in a name? -- Epilogue: l'écho d'Oran
Control code
ocn936350604
Dimensions
24 cm
Extent
289 pages
Isbn
9780226241678
Lccn
2016008498
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other physical details
maps
System control number
  • (Sirsi) i9780226241678
  • (OCoLC)936350604
Label
Looking for the stranger : Albert Camus and the life of a literary classic, Alice Kaplan
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 225-264) and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
Prologue -- A bonfire -- From Belcourt to Hydra -- A first try -- The novel he didn't know he was writing -- A reporter on the beat -- Any person condemned to death shall have his head cut off -- The absurd -- A first chapter -- What he carried -- Writing part I -- Already traced within me -- Exodus -- Rue d'Arzew -- A jealous teacher and a generous comrade -- Resolve -- The Malraux factor -- A reader's report -- Gallimard's war -- The stranger is born -- Recovery -- From the absurd to revolt -- Above ground -- Existentialist twins -- Consecration in New York -- A book for everyone -- What's in a name? -- Epilogue: l'écho d'Oran
Control code
ocn936350604
Dimensions
24 cm
Extent
289 pages
Isbn
9780226241678
Lccn
2016008498
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other physical details
maps
System control number
  • (Sirsi) i9780226241678
  • (OCoLC)936350604

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Genre

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