Rating: 
Summary: Eloquent and Enlightening
Review: Camus' The Rebel is the first book of his that I had the great pleasure of reading. Eloquent and enlightening, The Rebel speaks to me in a way that no other 20th century philosophical work has, at least in its entirety.The Rebel is both an introduction of new ideas and a history of previous ideas and events: Camus' scholarship is unbelievable in the area of revolt. It spans from early greek history and earlier all the way through to the French Revolution and beyond. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone concerned with spiritual, historical, or any kind of rebellion - and really to anyone who concerns themself over the human condition.
Rating: 
Summary: The Most Comprehensive of Camus' Beliefs
Review: Critics of Albert Camus consider L'Homme Révolté, or The Rebel to one of Camus' most important non-fiction works. While Le Mythe de Sisyphe is far more polished, The Rebel is the most comprehensive exploration of Camus' beliefs. There are weaknesses in The Rebel, as in most rhetorical works, but the public found the work accessible and, as a result, made it a bestseller. The book begins as an essay "Remarque sur la révolté," written in 1945. This "Commentary on Revolt" attempted to explain Camus' definition of the word, "revolt." In the essay, Camus' explains that a revolt is not the same as a "revolution." Camus' lexicon define "revolt" as a peaceful, evolutionary process. He had hoped that mankind would evolve toward improved societies. In his ideal, socialism is the result of a natural historical process that does require effort and leadership, but not violence. "Remarque sur la révolt" begins with a civil servant refusing an order. For Camus, revolt begins with a single person refusing an immoral choice. Laws and rule are not defensible for Camus unless they are meant to help society at all levels. The civil servant in the opening parable is an existential hero, though Camus would have rejected such a label. The bureaucrat makes a decision based not upon what is easiest for him but what is best for him and society as a whole. This man's revolt is resistance, not violence. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel's works are the primary target of The Rebel. While not a perfect treatment of Hegel, Camus argues that Hegel's works glorified the state and power over personal morality and social ethics. Worse, according to Camus, Marxism co-opts Hegel and extends his theories to allow any means to an end. In Marxism, as embodied by the Soviet Union and its Communist Party, the state is always "right." Humanism and equality were important to Camus, not an artificial organization. Camus further offended some leftists by opposing what he considered a trend toward nihilism in European thought. Life was "meaningless" for Camus, but each person did have the opportunity to define a role for himself or herself in life. Nihilism rendered living pointless, which Camus could not accept. Mankind, by its very existence, was in the unique position of defining itself through choice. Attacking Hegel, Marxism and nihilism resulted in a resounding rejection by the left. Leftist critics hated The Rebel and described it as an act of intellectual treason. The May 1952 issue of Les Temps Modernes featured a review of The Rebel by Francis Jeanson. The review affected Camus deeply. Camus found himself described as a traitor to the left and Jeanson suggested no one should be critical of progressive ideas, even when the actions of the left might be "wrong." The review in Les Temps Modernes marked the end of Camus' relationship with Jean-Paul Sartre. As editor, or director, of the magazine, Sartre exercised a great deal of control. Camus knew that Sartre must have agreed with the review at some level. Camus was compelled to write a response to Jeanson. In his response, Camus tried to explain his belief that the ends, or at least the goals, do not justify the means in many cases. Sartre then published an open letter to Camus. Sartre, himself, wrote nineteen pages, including some very personal attacks. As a result, the friendship was over forever. While not the primary work cited, the 1957 Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded to Camus in part due to The Rebel.
Rating:
Summary: The Most Comprehensive of Camus' Beliefs
Review: Critics of Albert Camus consider L'Homme Révolté, or The Rebel to one of Camus' most important non-fiction works. While Le Mythe de Sisyphe is far more polished, The Rebel is the most comprehensive exploration of Camus' beliefs. There are weaknesses in The Rebel, as in most rhetorical works, but the public found the work accessible and, as a result, made it a bestseller. The book begins as an essay "Remarque sur la révolté," written in 1945. This "Commentary on Revolt" attempted to explain Camus' definition of the word, "revolt." In the essay, Camus' explains that a revolt is not the same as a "revolution." Camus' lexicon define "revolt" as a peaceful, evolutionary process. He had hoped that mankind would evolve toward improved societies. In his ideal, socialism is the result of a natural historical process that does require effort and leadership, but not violence. "Remarque sur la révolt" begins with a civil servant refusing an order. For Camus, revolt begins with a single person refusing an immoral choice. Laws and rule are not defensible for Camus unless they are meant to help society at all levels. The civil servant in the opening parable is an existential hero, though Camus would have rejected such a label. The bureaucrat makes a decision based not upon what is easiest for him but what is best for him and society as a whole. This man's revolt is resistance, not violence. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel's works are the primary target of The Rebel. While not a perfect treatment of Hegel, Camus argues that Hegel's works glorified the state and power over personal morality and social ethics. Worse, according to Camus, Marxism co-opts Hegel and extends his theories to allow any means to an end. In Marxism, as embodied by the Soviet Union and its Communist Party, the state is always "right." Humanism and equality were important to Camus, not an artificial organization. Camus further offended some leftists by opposing what he considered a trend toward nihilism in European thought. Life was "meaningless" for Camus, but each person did have the opportunity to define a role for himself or herself in life. Nihilism rendered living pointless, which Camus could not accept. Mankind, by its very existence, was in the unique position of defining itself through choice. Attacking Hegel, Marxism and nihilism resulted in a resounding rejection by the left. Leftist critics hated The Rebel and described it as an act of intellectual treason. The May 1952 issue of Les Temps Modernes featured a review of The Rebel by Francis Jeanson. The review affected Camus deeply. Camus found himself described as a traitor to the left and Jeanson suggested no one should be critical of progressive ideas, even when the actions of the left might be "wrong." The review in Les Temps Modernes marked the end of Camus' relationship with Jean-Paul Sartre. As editor, or director, of the magazine, Sartre exercised a great deal of control. Camus knew that Sartre must have agreed with the review at some level. Camus was compelled to write a response to Jeanson. In his response, Camus tried to explain his belief that the ends, or at least the goals, do not justify the means in many cases. Sartre then published an open letter to Camus. Sartre, himself, wrote nineteen pages, including some very personal attacks. As a result, the friendship was over forever. While not the primary work cited, the 1957 Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded to Camus in part due to The Rebel.
Rating:
Summary: the last time
Review: i dont know if my last review came through, so i am just writing this one to see if this comes through it is just a test
Rating:
Summary: Still a Timely Insight for Movers and Shakers
Review: I first read "The Rebel" while on guard duty in basic training in 1963, and then later upon my discharge and protests against the Vietnam War, and racial injustice. It is like having a good friend to share coffee with on a long summer night and become renewed for the struggle ahead. Camus does not offer a very fair world, or one with divine enlightenment. But he does offer struggles, hard work, and rebellion in the name of the humanity we all share. Robert Kennedy often quoted Camus, including The Rebel, before he was killed. The final pages of the book give some prime rallying calls: "Real generosity toward the future lies in giving all to the present." and "At this meridian of thought, the rebel thus rejects divinity in order to share in the struggles and destiny of all men." and "With this joy, through long st ruggle, we shall remake the soul of our time." Struggle on rebels around the world, and read this book as you march, and speak out! In these days of war in Iraq and the Patriot Act, we need you more than ever!
Rating:
Summary: Fine Essays on Why Man Rebels in Different Spheres
Review: I wrote my college entrance essay on this book (Let's not say how long ago, but I was accepted.) and just recently went back to reread it and compare my impressions now to my impressions then, when it was one of my favorite books. I found it still holds up as a fine piece of literature as well as an inspiring example of personal courage. As another reader has pointed out, Camus was ostracized, more or less, by the French literary establishment after the book's publication. I still find the chapter on metaphysical rebellion the best. Camus has a fine understanding of the English Romantic poets and what, for many, their rebellion consisted of: "The Byronic hero, incapable of love, or capable only of an impossible love, suffers endlessly. He is solitary, languid, his condition exhausts him. If he wants to feel alive, it must be in the terrible exaltation of a brief and destructive action. To love someone whom one will never see again is to give a cry of exultation as one perishes in the flames of passion. One lives only in and for the moment, in order to achieve 'the brief and vivid union of a tempestuous heart united to the tempest'(Lermentov)" This is as an acute a dissection of the raison d'etre of the "Byronic hero" as I've read in any English criticism (and believe me, I've read a lot!). The passages on Nietzsche are also exquisite. He gets to the root of many of the great thinker's ideas by quoting the lines that come from the heart: "the most painful, the most heartbreaking question, that of the heart that asks itself: where can I feel at home?"-The passages on Milton are exquisite as well.-The whole book is a well-rounded philosophical enterprise that touches both the heart and the mind. This is not sentimentality, as one reviewer contends (such criticisms usually come from those jaded souls who have had their hearts burnt out in grad school). It is decency...unshakable decency, according to the review by the Atlantic on the back cover of my edition. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the wherefores behind man's many different states of rebellion. It is the best and most readable I know of.
Rating:
Summary: Camus never put it in better words
Review: In his novels -- short and to the point -- Camus strove to embody a philosophy. THE REBEL, probably his best, most sustained work, talks about that philosophy at length. He takes something of the same viewpoint as Robert Lindner -- who insisted that the rebellious and protestant in man is what is best in him, not the docile and quiescent -- and explores that viewpoint exhilaratingly and totally. He also does something no modern philosopher or critic has done well, to my mind, which is give de Sade a proper shakedown. (Most intellectuals who have a flirtation with de Sade's writings and pseudo-philosophy -- not all that far removed from Ayn Rand's, come to think of it -- wind up contriving some kind of argument for the man as a martyr of intellectual freedom. Nothing could be further than the truth, and Camus makes a good case for that.) The best thing about the book is its tone -- lofty without being snooty, intellectual without being distant, and passionate without being sentimental. It's not a hard read, and it has the flavor of a conversation with a man who makes you stop and say to yourself, "Yes -- why didn't I think that before, in so many words...?"
Rating:
Summary: The Most Comprehensive of Camus' Beliefs
Review: Of course, this book has not been totally forgotten, but for what a good piece of work this is, it is largely negelected. Flat out, I find this book Camus' masterpiece and if all his other books were destroyed, this one alone would make him seem genius.... Why is this book so good? First, it provided a reading list for me, an American, to learn the basics and the names of some of the most important French and European thinkers in the past five hundred years and an impetus to read them (such that I could agree or disagree with what Camus said about them). Second, the book made me think, and made me question, in the logical, precise, but human way that Camus did (which is an invaluable tool for anyone just starting out in the world). Third, in this book you get to see a great swath of history unfold through one of the greatest writers/minds of the twentieth century. How cool is that? I highly reccomend this book to anyone to read. Especially, though, I recommend this book to anyone just starting out on a path in the social sciences or law (who thinks about 'things that matter....') or to anyone going through post-adolecent pangs of conscience.... This is the first book that I'd read of Camus if I were new to him too....
Rating:
Summary: How has this book been forgotten!?!
Review: Of course, this book has not been totally forgotten, but for what a good piece of work this is, it is largely negelected. Flat out, I find this book Camus' masterpiece and if all his other books were destroyed, this one alone would make him seem genius.... Why is this book so good? First, it provided a reading list for me, an American, to learn the basics and the names of some of the most important French and European thinkers in the past five hundred years and an impetus to read them (such that I could agree or disagree with what Camus said about them). Second, the book made me think, and made me question, in the logical, precise, but human way that Camus did (which is an invaluable tool for anyone just starting out in the world). Third, in this book you get to see a great swath of history unfold through one of the greatest writers/minds of the twentieth century. How cool is that? I highly reccomend this book to anyone to read. Especially, though, I recommend this book to anyone just starting out on a path in the social sciences or law (who thinks about 'things that matter....') or to anyone going through post-adolecent pangs of conscience.... This is the first book that I'd read of Camus if I were new to him too....
Rating:
Summary: excellent analysis of the contemporary european mind
Review: The book highlights the refractories of thoughts ,that the european mind has gone through , over a period from the dawn of history to our times ,in it's process of development to its present form.The classroom language makes it a formal read though.
| 
