Albert Camus, Ryan Bloom (Translator)

Caligula and Three Other Plays

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Summary

In brand new translations by Ryan Bloom, four theatrical masterpieces from the Nobel Prize-winning author of The Outsider and The Plague are brought together for the first time in English, alongside deleted scenes and alternate lines of dialogue

Caligula/The Misunderstanding /State of Emergency/The Just

Although renowned for his novels, Albert Camus described the theatre as 'one of the only places in the world I'm happy', and staged the four plays gathered in this collection in Paris between 1944-49. Caligula, his first full-length dramatic work, portrays the monstrous emperor who destroys men, gods and ultimately himself. Here too are The Misunderstanding, a murderous tangle of longing; State of Emergency, where 'The Plague' appears as a central character; and The Just, which explores the limits of political conviction. This new translation brings together Camus's final versions of the plays, along with deleted scenes and alternate lines of dialogue.

About the author

Albert Camus

Albert Camus (1913-60) grew up in a working-class neighbourhood in Algiers. He studied philosophy at the University of Algiers, and became a journalist. His most important works include The Outsider, The Myth of Sisyphus, The Plague and The Fall. After the occupation of France by the Germans in 1941, Camus became one of the intellectual leaders of the Resistance movement. He was killed in a road accident, and his last unfinished novel, The First Man, appeared posthumously.

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