The Myth of Sisyphus
by Albert Camus (1942)
"I leave Sisyphus at the foot of the mountain. One always finds one's burden again. But Sisyphus teaches the higher fidelity that negates the gods and raises rocks. He too concludes that all is well. This universe henceforth without a master seems to him neither sterile nor futile. Each atom of that stone, each mineral flake of that night-filled mountain, in itself, forms a world. The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy."
It would be unfair to give this anything less than four stars, even though at times it felt like a three-star read. But that would be my own fault, since Camus pretty much assumes you know a good amount of many philosophers before him. Does this mean the book is not worth reading? I certainly don’t think so. I just knew that I needed to have my phone at the ready to get a quick history lesson in case Camus name-dropped someone nonchalantly.
As far as content, though, it really does an excellent job of getting to the point (eventually). By that, I mean I would find myself reading a few pages, wondering where things were heading, only for it to all click at a later point in time. The first section and the last section were probably my favorite, with being a little drier in the middle. Overall though, a great read to get to the core of Camus’ ideas, and the best way (other than maybe reading The Stranger) to understand absurdism at its core.