Product Description

The unfinished manuscript of The First Man was discovered in the wreckage of car accident in which Camus died in 1960. Although it was not published for over thirty years, it was an instant bestseller when it finally appeared in 1994. The ‘first man’ is Jacques Cormery, whose poverty-stricken childhood in Algiers is made bearable by his love for his silent and illiterate mother, and by the teacher who transforms his view of the world. The most autobiographical of Camus’s novels, it gives profound insights into his life and the powerful themes underlying his work.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #113019 in Books
• Published on: 2006-07-06
• Original language: French
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

About the Author
Albert Camus was born in Algeria in 1913. The works that established his international reputation include THE PLAGUE, THE FALL, THE REBEL and THE OUTSIDER. Camus died in a road accident in 1960 and is remembered as one of the greatest philsophical novelists of the twentieth century.

Customer Reviews

The First Man's Last Book...
Having read a number of other books by Camus, such as The Fall, The Outsider, A Happy Death, and The Plague, I thought I'd try my luck here, although on picking up the book, I was a little put off at first...
Primarily, it must be noted that the book in question, The First Man, was not finished by Camus. Indeed, on reading the prologue by his daughter, Catherine Camus, we find that the manuscript of this incomplete work was found with the author in the car which he died in following an accident. Consequently, on reading the actual text, there are many footnotes to aid the reader, almost on every page, pointing out that a certain character's name has changed, or that Camus had made a mistake which he had not got round to changing before his death, etc.
Secondly, we find that The First Man, although not an autobiography, is, by and large, autobiographical in relation to the content with regards to the author's own life. However, we only reach the stage of Jacques Cormery's life (ie. Camus), where he is near to completing his education at the lycée in Algiers, and consequently we do not have the blistering accounts of how he was to travel to France under German occupation to aid the Resistence, or of when his literary fame came into being.
So, with all this in mind, why have I given this 5 stars- Why read The First Man?
Firstly, this is a touching book, and although sadly much was not written due to the author's untimely death in 1960, he did manage to get a lot down about his birth in a mall village in Algeria under French rule, about his Franco-Spanish ancestry, about the seering heat of the African sun hanging over the sand and sea of the Mediterranean in the 1920's. We feel the pleasures of a poor family, their hopes and fears and dreams, and share funny glimpses of everyday life (like uncle Ernest picking flees off his dog). We see the playground fights, the tensions between the Arabs and Europeans in the streets and desert, and the daily struggle to survive in general. The characters are real, and the scenary too is brought to life, and this book (even unfinished it has 260 pages) is a real page- turner.
This edition also has, at the 'end', a section of Camus' notes, showing how the novel would have developed, and a picture soon emerges, confirming the readers suspicions from the start that, on visiting his dead father's grave (he had been killed in World War One, when Camus was just one), the author is looking for a man he does not know and will never know; it is not his father, but himself.
One thing I think should be pointed out too, which is not evident at first, is that this edition also includes two letters, one from, and one to, the author's former teacher, who had helped this poor, small wretch of a boy to discover himself, and to gain a proper education, and to go on to become one of the towering figures in world literature in the twentieth century. Both these letters, with thanks and advice, are humbling, and add enormously to what is a blistering and emotive read. Excellent!

An incomplete masterpiece
'The First Man' was a manuscript left,unrevised by Albert Camus. It is impossible to know what the exact novel would have been- but what we have: sketches, notes, outlines- in this edition is more than enough...Strange, but this book deals with the time spent in youth, the period before we met Meursault in 'The Outsider'...The oddest image is that of a son at the grave of his father, technically older than him- this recalls or predicts texts by Samuel Beckett ('Molloy') & Paul Auster ('Leviathan')...This would be the ideal children's book, if it weren't hard to read- due to its incompleteness...This book is very odd and charming nevertheless; probably best read after an appreciation of Camus's other key works. 'The Outsider', 'The Myth of Sisyphus','The Plague', 'The Rebel' & 'The Fall'. He was one of the most important and talented writers of the 20th century and his words still matter. The publication of this manuscript proves that even more so...

a cultural essay as well as a great novel
I could feel the heat and dust, and the blinding sun in my eyes reading this. Camus lets you into his memory of living with his mother as well as creating a novel which must be largely autobiographical. I can still see images in my mind as if I'd seen a movie, not read a page of words. His descriptions are so thorough. I especially like the hunting trip. I thinks this is as good as The Outsider.