The Myth of Sisyphus

One of the monuments of 20th-century philosophy, The Myth of Sisyphus, by Nobel Prize-winning author Albert Camus, delves deeply into the emptiness of life and how to cope with it. Published in France in 1942, during the darkest days of World War II, the book resonated strongly with French readers and soon had a worldwide following. The 2018 edition of the 1955 English translation by Justin O’Brien forms the basis for this study guide.

The book’s premise is that humans yearn deeply for something they can never have: the certainty that life is worthwhile and meaningful. The huge gap between that craving and life’s actual sterility is an absurd condition that can’t be pushed aside but must be faced squarely. The tragic Greek figure Sisyphus—a rebel whom the gods punish by forcing him to push a boulder up a mountain only to watch it fall back down, over and over forever—symbolizes the absurd human condition.

Though he deserves acclaim as a representative of existentialism, a philosophy that grapples with life’s meaninglessness, Camus rejected that term and instead called himself an absurdist. He criticized existentialists for peering into the abyss of life’s emptiness and backing away in fear, believing it better to stare at absurdity unblinkingly and defiantly.