- ISBN13: 9780679733843
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
By one of the most profoundly influential thinkers of our century, The Rebel is a classic essay on revolution. For Albert Camus, the urge to revolt is one of the “essential dimensions” of human nature, manifested in man’s timeless Promethean struggle against the conditions of his existence, as well as the popular uprisings against established orders throughout history. And yet, with an eye toward the French Revolution and its regicides and deicides, he shows how ine… More >>
The Rebel: An Essay on Man in Revolt
“The Rebel” is a book of tremendous, though unfulfilled potentials. Though it contains a wealth of factual data, Camus’s examination of the paradoxes of revolt misfires on account of the faulty premise of its argument: that revolt is an act by which the individual rebel somehow invokes, in the intention behind his deed, the welfare of others. Any other form of revolt that licences the murder or enslavement of a fellow human being as a means to and end, violates, in Camus’s view, this human bond implicit in the genuine act of rebellion. The rest of the book is an elaboration on this theme and the result is a splendidly written, frequently opaque and – (what is most regrettable) – barely coherent and sometimes pretentious treatise. Camus offers some valuable insights on how movements laying claim to liberal ideals degenerate, once they are established, into monolithic despotisms. It is interesting how this work, written in the aftermath of the Second World War, which witnessed the genocide of millions, marks a dramatic change of attitude in Camus, from being the out-and-out existential nihilist of “The Outsider” to becoming a humanist “value-nihilist”. It is a pity that the convictions of such a profound and individual thinker were not strong enough bulwarks against the enemy of all clear thought: – sentimentality.
Rating: 2 / 5
Though faulty in places, Camus’s historical assessment of rebellion and revolt provides useful insights into the psychology, and dangers, of both.
Rating: 4 / 5
Although I have not yet read the original French publications of these essays, I must express my dissapointment with this translation. Whoever did this job simply must have a far better understanding of the language than they do! As a native English speaker and as a student of the French language for four years now, I implore that far better work be done in the future to bring to the English speaking world the beauty of Camus!
Rating: 1 / 5
The rebel is on of camus’s best books .It stresses the need to rebel and its relation to human nature .But the part of “HIstorical Rebillion” needs a careful readin .Camus made a lot of generalizations and mistaks handeling the issue of marxism and communism .It is a good book any way
Rating: 4 / 5
Camus may be lacking in the fineries of a more developed intellectualism but that is what makes this work dear to me. It is not for reading but for absorbing.
Rating: 5 / 5