*A Happy Death* by Albert Camus Publisher: Zhejiang Literature and Art Publishing House

About the Content · · · · · ·
To act, to love, to feel pain

—This is what it truly means to live

★The debut work of Nobel laureate Camus, the prelude to the "Absurd Trilogy"

★The predecessor to "The Stranger", a nascent work of Camus's existentialist thought, never published during his lifetime

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“A Happy Death” is the first novel by Nobel laureate Albert Camus, written when he was 24, but only published posthumously (1971). The book is divided into two parts: "Natural Death" and "Conscious Death." The former reveals the absurdity of modern life, while the latter explores the ultimate question of existential meaning. The protagonist, Patrice Mersault, is an Algerian clerk trapped in mechanical work. He conspires with the wealthy disabled Zagareus to commit murder and obtain wealth, attempting to find happiness through money and freedom. However, wealth does not dispel his loneliness and emptiness, and he ultimately chooses to end his life through a "conscious death." The book's reflections on loneliness, time, and death are consistent with "The Stranger" and "The Myth of Sisyphus," showcasing the early germination of Camus's existentialist thought.

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As an artist and a moralist, he, through an existentialist's perspective on the absurdity of the world, vividly embodied the moral conscience of modern man, dramatically expressing fundamental questions of human existence such as freedom, justice, and death. —Nobel Prize in Literature Citation, 1957

In this century, he stood against the tide of history, single-handedly inheriting the long-standing tradition of cautionary literature, which might be considered the greatest characteristic of French literature. With that stubborn, narrow yet pure, severe yet sensual humanism, he engaged in an unpredictable battle against the enormous and deformed events of this era. —Sartre

Behind the rigorous narrative of his novels lie vast philosophical inquiries and ultimate value pursuits. —William Faulkner

...I can't think of any other modern writer besides Camus who can evoke love. —Susan Sontag

About the Author · · · · · ·
Albert Camus (1913-1960)

French novelist, essayist, and playwright, a master of "existentialist" literature. In 1957, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for "his important literary production, which with clearsighted earnestness illuminates the problems of the human conscience in our times," becoming the youngest Nobel laureate in literature ever. In his works, Camus profoundly reveals human isolation in an alien world, the increasing alienation of the individual from himself, and the inevitability of sin and death. His representative works include "The Stranger," "The Plague," and "The Myth of Sisyphus."