The Myth of Sisyphus

Albert Camus · 1913–1960 · Algeria / France

Originally Le Mythe de Sisyphe (French)

Why it matters

Published the same year as The Stranger, this essay asks whether life's meaninglessness makes suicide the only honest response, then answers no: push the boulder anyway. Camus's clearest statement of the absurd, ending in Sisyphus imagined happy.

At a glance

Dense philosophical argument ranging across Kierkegaard, Husserl, and Dostoevsky.