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The First Man

by Albert Camus

Childhood, family, and Algeria

Regular price $20.60 USD
Regular price $34.34 USD Sale price $20.60 USD
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Awards & Recognition

  • Author recognition

    Nobel Prize-winning author

    The metadata describes the credited author as a Nobel Prize-winning author.

  • Critical praise

    “A work of genius” — The New Yorker

    Attributed praise calls the book “a work of genius.”

AlbakiReads Editorial

Childhood, family, and Algeria

Jacques Cormery’s childhood is shaped by poverty and the death of his father, alongside a deep attachment to his mother and to Algeria’s landscapes and sensory details. The publisher describes the boy’s life as closely resembling Camus’s own, giving the novel an autobiographical frame. Published decades after the manuscript’s discovery following Camus’s death, the book brings together family history, memory, and a particular sense of place. David Hapgood translated it from French.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Readers interested in fiction with an autobiographical frame.
  • Readers drawn to stories of childhood, family bonds, and loss.
  • Readers exploring classic fiction connected to Algeria and French literature.

Themes

Childhood and memoryPoverty and familyLoss of a fatherAttachment to place

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

From the Nobel Prize-winning author comes the story of Jacques Cormery, a boy who lived a life much like his own, with the sights, sounds and textures of a childhood steeped in poverty and a father's death yet redeemed by the beauty of Algeria and the boy's attachment to his mother.

"A work of genius." --The New Yorker

Published thirty-five years after its discovery amid the wreckage of the car accident that killed Camus, The First Man is the brilliant consummation of the life and work of one of the 20th century's greatest novelists. Translated from the French by David Hapgood.

"The First Man is perhaps the most honest book Camus ever wrote, and the most sensual...Camus is...writing at the depth of his powers...It is
"Fascinating...The First Man helps put all of Camus's work into a clearer perspective and brings into relief what separates him from the more militant literary personalities of his day...Camus's voice has never been more personal." --The New York Times Book Review
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