A Happy Death
Albert Camus · 1913–1960 · Algeria / France
Originally La Mort heureuse (French)
Why it matters
Written in his twenties and unpublished in his lifetime, this early novel follows a man named Mersault who kills for the leisure to pursue happiness, prefiguring The Stranger in name and premise. Camus's raw first attempt at the absurd, published posthumously.
At a glance
existentialistautobiographical fiction
Difficulty 4/10medium pace192 pagesMore conventional narrative than Camus's mature work, though structurally uneven as an unrevised early manuscript.
