"He wanted, as he said in 1949, to be able to write as Mozart composed music. This is an ambition which he still has, but one which he knows cannot be realized by turning his back upon the human tragedy. It is from Camus's awareness of this tragedy, coupled with his integrity both as a thinker and as an artist, that we can confidently expect many more admirable works of art from one of the greatest humanists of our day"

Philip Thody wrote this in 1957 as the conclusion to his review of Albert Camus published works. He did not of course realize that Camus would die in an automobile accident in 1960 without publishing anything else of significance. In effect Thody's [A Study of his Work] is a complete critical biography and one that has been written while Camus was still alive. Therefore this is a contemporaneous text written with a feel for the times in which Camus lived and which I think adds much to our understanding of Camus thoughts and reflections of that world and milieu.

Thody emphasises that the ideas and themes behind Camus works are as important as his artistry and literary techniques and therefore to really appreciate this writer the reader needs to understand both these aspects. Thody leads us through the works chronologically demonstrating how Camus thoughts/philosophy develops as his writing matured. Camus as we know was off to a great start with his first novel [The Stranger] and Thody explains just what Camus was getting at with his ideas on the "absurd world" in which he believe we all lived, pointing out the effects of the Second World War on the intellectual climate and on Camus writing his book in 1940-42. Thody also explains how important this novel was to intellectual thought in France at the time. He also discusses the plays and the essays in [The Myth of Sisyphus] pointing out how Camus ideas of "revolte" would lead to a difference of opinion with the leading existentialists. Thody's chapter on [The Plague] is excellent as he develops further his ideas on Camus answers to the absurd world and how humans can resist that plague. He also brings out themes of exile and separation and how people at the time of the novel's publication believed the plague was a metaphor for the Nazi's invasion of Paris. Thody continues to lead the reader by the hand as he attempts to come to terms with the ideas held in Camus difficult third novel: [L'homme revolte] (the Rebel). There are again excellent chapters on the short stories, essays and Camus final masterpiece [The Fall]

Throughout this book of literary criticism Thody takes a fair minded view of Camus achievements and his final chapter entitled "achievements and limitations" is a fine piece of writing summing up just how much Camus had accomplished. For me Thody pitches his analysis perfectly, his explanations are clear and fairly concise and he lets Camus speak for himself whenever it is appropriate, using passages form his books as examples. I gained much from this relatively short book of 120 odd pages which in addition has a postscript and plenty of notes which include passages from the works of Camus in their original language. It serves as a very good guide for the general reader and I would rate it at 4.5 stars ( )