The Adulterous Woman

by Albert Camus

She was waiting, but she didn't know for what. She was aware only of her solitude, and of the penetrating cold, and of a greater weight in the region of her heart. The author's writing confronts the great philosophical dilemmas of our time with piercing clarity

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Philosophy, Classics, Literature, France, French Literature

80 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1957

About the author

Works, such as the novels The Stranger (1942) and The Plague (1947), of Algerian-born French writer and philosopher Albert Camus concern the absurdity of the human condition; he won the Nobel Prize of 1957 for literature.

Origin and his experiences of this representative of non-metropolitan literature in the 1930s dominated influences in his thought and work.

He also adapted plays of Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Lope de Vega, Dino Buzzati, and Requiem for a Nun of William Faulkner. One may trace his enjoyment of the theater back to his membership in l'Equipe, an Algerian group, whose "collective creation" Révolte dans les Asturies (1934) was banned for political reasons.

Of semi-proletarian parents, early attached to intellectual circles of strongly revolutionary tendencies, with a deep interest, he came at the age of 25 years in 1938; only chance prevented him from pursuing a university career in that field. The man and the times met: Camus joined the resistance movement during the occupation and after the liberation served as a columnist for the newspaper Combat.

The essay Le Mythe de Sisyphe (The Myth of Sisyphus), 1942, expounds notion of acceptance of the absurd of Camus with "the total absence of hope, which has nothing to do with despair, a continual refusal, which must not be confused with renouncement - and a conscious dissatisfaction."
Meursault, central character of L'Étranger (The Stranger), 1942, illustrates much of this essay: man as the nauseated victim of the absurd orthodoxy of habit, later - when the young killer faces execution - tempted by despair, hope, and salvation.

Besides his fiction and essays, Camus very actively produced plays in the theater (e.g., Caligula, 1944).

The time demanded his response, chiefly in his activities, but in 1947, Camus retired from political journalism.

Doctor Rieux of La Peste (The Plague), 1947, who tirelessly attends the plague-stricken citizens of Oran, enacts the revolt against a world of the absurd and of injustice, and confirms words: "We refuse to despair of mankind. Without having the unreasonable ambition to save men, we still want to serve them."

People also well know La Chute (The Fall), work of Camus in 1956.

Camus authored L'Exil et le royaume (Exile and the Kingdom) in 1957. His austere search for moral order found its aesthetic correlative in the classicism of his art. He styled of great purity, intense concentration, and rationality.

Camus died at the age of 46 years in a car accident near Sens in le Grand Fossard in the small town of Villeblevin.

Chinese 阿尔贝·加缪

Reviews

[فايز غازي Fayez Ghazi · Rating 3 out of 5]

- Le titre trompeur, ainsi que la présence de l'officier qui souriait à "Janine" laisseraient croire au lecteur que l'acte de trahison aurait lieu entre les deux, mais ce n'est pas le cas.

- "Janine" une belle image dans le mauvais cadre! Elle a été contrainte de faire un voyage avec son mari. Son mari, qui l'a épousé sans amour mais pourtant pour la stabilité et le peur de solitude.

- La chambre d'hôtel sombre et froide était symbolique de la prison de "Janine", une prison psychologique et auto-juste, et la montée au Fort était un symbole de libération.

- Janine a peut-être songé à trahir son mari, et peut-être était-elle disposée à le faire, mais elle n'a pas réussi ou n'a pas eu de chance, mais à la fin, elle ne l'a pas trahi et est restée coincée entre liberté et restrictions, entre le mariage et sa liberté personnelle, entre rest et amour!

- Il peut y avoir un autre aspect de la signification de "trahison" dans cette histoire, une trahison de Janine pour elle-même, pour elle-même lorsqu'elle voulait épouser "Marcel" et vivre dans cette prison appelée "mariage"!

الترجمة:
"
- إن العنوان المضلل ، ووجود الضابط الذي ابتسم لـ "جانين" قد يوحي للقارئ أن فعل الخيانة سيحدث بين الاثنين ، ولكن ليس هذا هو الحال.

- "جانين" صورة جميلة في الإطار الخطأ! كانت مضطرة للذهاب في رحلة مع زوجها الذي تزوجته دون حب بل من أجل الاستقرار والخوف من الوحدة.

- كانت غرفة الفندق المظلمة والباردة رمزية لسجن "جانين" الداخلي، وهو سجن نفسي، وكان الصعود إلى القلعة رمزًا او كناية عن الرغبة في التحرر.

- قد تكون جانين فكرت في خيانة زوجها، وربما كانت مستعدة للقيام بذلك، لكنها لم تنجح أو كانت غير محظوظة او الظروف لم تؤاتيها، لكنها في النهاية لم تفعل ذلك وبقيت عالقة بين الحرية والإنصياع، بين الزواج والحرية الشخصية، بين الراحة والحب!

- قد يكون هناك جانب آخر لمعنى "الخيانة" في هذه القصة ، خيانة جانين لنفسها عندما أرادت الزواج من "مارسيل" والعيش في هذا السجن المسمى "الزواج"!
"
- قرأت هذه القصة بالعربية في البداية، فكانت ثقيلة ومملة، على عكس ما جاءت باللغة الفرنسية، لذلك فنصيحتي بقرأتها باللغة الفرنسية.

[Tamoghna Biswas · Rating 3 out of 5]

EDIT: As I went through this review right now, after more than 2 years, I feel really ashamed that I took such an offensive side on adultery, but I hope the readers will excuse that if they can. I'm keeping the review as it was because rewriting it won't change the fact that I once believed every form of adultery to be a heinous offence. Maybe because I'm legally (almost) an adult now, and understand that there do exist tangible reasons and causes for dissatisfaction, and anything in the world shouldn't be judged in terms of black and white? (Of course, that's not inclusive of murder, rape and stuff like that). Well, enough blabbering now. Please take the rest of the review with a grain of salt. And thank God I can add this part now. (Dated 09-08-2022)

______________________________

"Camus's purpose is not to explore the garden variety slinking off to a motel on the edge of town with the neighbour's spouse. He is instead sounding the depths of the cry for freedom that is so often dormant in the human heart until some impetus crashes meteor-like into the sleepwalking that often passes for our everyday lives.'

Adultery is nowadays such a 'common thing' that ironically even kids know what it means( they did, back at the time when Tolstoy wrote Anna Karenina too, so that's not saying something). But the other aspect (alias spoiler) for this story is it doesn't deal with the known concept of adultery, but want lies in the Mariana Trench of the issue, which is simultaneously relieving and disturbing (for me, obviously).

I read something quite some time ago:

"What long-term partner doesn't occasionally, in quietude, wonder about exploring other flesh, other expressions and exchanges of love and ardour? We would hardly be human—or else living in deep denial—if it weren't so. This is true even as we subjugate those urges—most of us, most of the time, that is—to the commitments and obligations and deep care for another that we have willingly taken on in this one life we have been granted."

I remember this for one reason and that's because I don't agree with it and consider it, partially an act of treason with one's true self. But that's solely my opinion and the world won't accept it. And in life, you have to pay ears to the thoughts of all types of men, for that's life.:)

Well, undeniably every long-term marriage has to contend with familiar and well-charted peaks and values. Doesn't everything? But should that legalize each and every category of extramarital affairs? I mean, aren't we civilized for at least some reasons?

However, the brilliance of the story is that Camus wasn't intent on exploring some "garden variety" that involves the unsatisfied one sneaking off to some random place with the neighbour's spouse. Janine doesn't even dream of that sort, whatever the former hints may imply. Her thoughts were 'merely' some reflection of yearning for some sort of eternal, ecstatic, self-enhancing affirmation...that acts as a satirical duality between scream for freedom and Autophobia.

The one aspect of Camus that is heavily, and easily overshadowed is, his taking time to portray the surroundings such that even when he describes a public place, you can visualize the protagonist(s) as if in a bokeh. Here, his description of the rugged Algerian deserts through that aesthetic outlook is, probably incomparable concerning the context.

It deserves 5 stars, but at some point, the minute point I felt I quite disagree with the author. I find the whole matter quite ludicrous and cringy actually, unless for this one. Yet:

"It's nothing, dear. It's nothing.”

07-07-2022

[Agir(آگِر) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Adulterous Woman:

خیلی وقت پیش بود؟ بیست و پنج سال پیش. بیست و پنج سال سال چیزی نبود. انگار همین دیروز بود که برای انتخاب بین زندگی مجردی و تاهل دچار تردید شده بود، انگار همین دیروز بود که به خاطر نگرانی از این که در تنهایی پیر شود، تن به ازدواج داده بود. حالا تنها نبود و آن دانشجوی حقوقی که دوست داشت همیشه با او باشد در کنارش بود. عاقبت او را پذیرفته بود

ژانی احساس می کرد عشق واقعی همسرش فقط پول است و بدون اینکه دلیلش را بداند از این کشف خود چندان خوشنود نبود

آن ها در تاریکی عشق می ورزیدند، بدون اینکه یکدیگر را ببینند. آیا در تاریکی عشق دیگری وجود دارد که در روشنایی ناپدید می شود؟ نمی دانست

منتظر بود، اما نمی دانست برای چه. فقط از تنهایی، سرمای نافذ، و وزن بیشتری که روی قلبش احساس می کرد آگاه بود

ژانی نمی توانست نگاهش را از فضای تهی پیش چشمهایش بردارد. مردمانی که هیچ چیز نداشتند، اما برده ی کسی هم نبودند، علی رغم فقر شدید پادشاهان سرزمین بیگانه ی خویش بودند. می دانست که این قلمرو روزی به او تعلق داشته و دیگر هرگز به او باز نمی گردد. به نظرش آمد جهان از گردش باز ایستاده و در آن لحظه کسی نه پیر می شود و نه می میرد. در آن لحظه همه چیز متوقف شده بود، مگر شور و هیجان قلب او، کسی در درونش با رنج و پریشانی می گریست

می خواست آزادی را تجربه کند، حتی اگر به قیمت از دست دادن مارسل و دیگران تمام شود


:مرد خاموش

گاهی شدت خشم و درماندگی چنان انسان را آزار می دهد که حتا توان فریاد کشیدن هم ندارد

:میهمان

مردانی که در یک اتاق می خوابند، مثل سربازان و زندانیان، بین خودشان اتحاد عجیبی به وجود می آورند. مثلا شب ها سلاح و لباس جنگی خود را دورتر از خود می گذارند و هر روز برادری خود را نشان می دهند، تفاوت ها و اختلافات دیگر اهمیتی ندارد، در جوامع باستانی نیز چنین بوده است

[Joey · Rating 3 out of 5]

“ She was waiting, but she didn’t know for what. She was aware only of her solitude, and of the penetrating cold, and of the greater weight in the region of her heart.”

Suddenly I was bothered by the title when I reached the climax of the story. I had expected that the story would center around the scenes that a woman would commit a “crime”, getting into an amorous affair, that she would rat out on her faithful husband in an abject misery, that there would be a passion-of-crime scene. However, it turned out to be the other way around; the title itself could be understood in different perspectives. What do you mean by the word “adulterous”? When can you say that a woman is adulterous?

All my dictionary references are in accord with the definition of adultery as a sexual affair between a married person with someone who is not his/ her spouse. The word is synonymous with infidelity, unfaithfulness, disloyalty, cuckoldry, extramarital sex- you name it. So, in law, a woman is said to commit adultery when she does so ; a man, concubinage.

On the other hand, when the word inflects into “adulterous”, the word can be misleading. Since the suffix –ous means having a particular quality, therefore, you can describe someone adulterous that it is the character of that person to engage in a sex affair with someone who is not his/ her spouse. Thus, I found out that the title has no complete relevance to the story. I do not find any crime committed by the main character , Janine unless you may call it a prima facie manifestation.

Janine is married but childless to a man who is so preoccupied about his business. Taken along by her husband to an Arabian land on business, she was attracted to an Arabian soldier who offered her some lozenges on the bus. She realized then that despite her mid-life-look age, she is still physically attractive. However, it occurred to her that the man was not interested in her after all upon meeting him in the market; the man just ignored her. And there was an instance that she was even engulfed by a group of men when she decided to air out in the middle of the night, leaving her husband asleep.

Therefore, Janine did not have sex with any men, but she had the idea of doing so. Rather, we can put it mildly that she has committed MENTAL ADULTERY. Besides, could we opine that Janine is an adulterous woman? The definition of adultery is too broad to conclude that someone like Janine is said to be so unless you define sex as an ACT, which is different from the IDEA. Nevertheless, Janine realized her guilt upon her momentous reflection:


"After a moment...it seemed to her that the sky above her was moving in a sort of slow gyration. In the vast reaches of the dry, cold night, thousands of stars were constantly appearing, and their sparkling icicles, loosened at once, began to slip gradually toward the horizon. Janine could not tear herself away from contemplating those drifting flares. She was turning with them, and the apparently stationary progress little by little identified her with the core of her being, where cold and desire were now vying with each other. Before her the stars were falling one by one and being snuffed out among the stones of the desert, and each time Janine opened a little more to the night. Breathing deeply, she forgot the cold, the dead weight of others, the craziness or stuffiness of life, the long anguish of living and dying. After so many years of mad, aimless fleeing from fear, she had come to a stop at last. At the same time, she seemed to recover her roots and the sap again rose in her body, which had ceased trembling. Her whole belly pressed against the parapet as she strained toward the moving sky; she was merely waiting for her fluttering heart to calm down and establish silence within her. The last stars of the constellations dropped their clusters a little lower on the desert horizon and became still. Then, with unbearable gentleness, the water of night began to fill Janine, drowned the cold, rose gradually from the hidden core of her being and overflowed in wave after wave, rising up even to her mouth full of moans...."


Based on my psychological but hypothetical observations from the general situation among couples, Janine is looking for the real meaning of happiness or connubial bliss as what a typical wife should be. Her husband is a busy businessman. She does not even have a child to bear. I do not have the slightest idea of what the reasons are since the story does not mention anything. As a matter of fact, it suggests that both do not love each other. May be they just need each other. May be Marcel, her husband, depends on her sexually or for the sake of social status while she , emotionally. However, it appears that Janine is not emotionally satisfied. Therefore, she tends to feel as dreary as the dry desert in an Arabian land. What an overacting moment!

As what I had expected, Albert Camus wanted to indicate his philosophy on Absurdism in the story.

Now, should I subjectively conclude that someone is likely to be adulterous when she is childless and not given much emotional attention by her husband? Well, you have the right to pooh-pooh me. ^^

This is now my third Camus book. I am still impressed by his ability to put his philosophical ideas into a story with his exceptional writing skills, particularly by his way of associating them with the mystical world. Much more if I read it in French. I wonder.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm struggling with my desire to read, and realize I want something deeper than entertainment in my present season. I appreciate the stories leaving readers in a resonant state, and thinking, "what did I just read?" Camus did that for me with this story, my first read for this author.

A woman follows her husband into Arabian country and sleeps next to him, gets up in the night while he's sleeping for a poetic encounter in her perspective, feelings, and thoughts. The entire story has a philosophical feel, which attracts me with an irresistable pull. This kind of writing, like Kafka's, has layers of words beneath the words, and they can only be understood with the instinct, the feelings, and you find a pool of meaning in front of you at the last word, and you want to dive in to a story for which you see no bottom. So in the end, you find only a beginning.

[Joselito Honestly and Brilliantly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A childless couple, married for 25 years, their love in its last embers, dying. They are in a place of sand, Arabs, starry night skies and silent evenings.

Don't get excited about the title. We all know Albert Camus's stories are full of somber and unhappy words like death, dying, silence, cold, solitude, emptiness, meaninglessness, bare (walls), meager (light), void, boredom, (vast) melancholy and so on. This ends, in fact, with the woman, Janine, crying in bed, telling her husband "It's nothing, dear. It's nothing."

It was indeed nothing which made her cry. Earlier, while her husband was still asleep in bed she went out of their hotel room. She went out into the darkness, into the black sky, its millions of stars with the night's silence broken only by the muffled crackling of stones that the cold was reducing to sand. Then--

"After a moment...it seemed to her that the sky above her was moving in a sort of slow gyration. In the vast reaches of the dry, cold night, thousands of stars were constantly appearing, and their sparkling icicles, loosened at once, began to slip gradually toward the horizon. Janine could not tear herself away from contemplating those drifting flares. She was turning with them, and the apparently stationary progress little by little identified her with the core of her being, where cold and desire were now vying with each other. Before her the stars were falling one by one and being snuffed out among the stones of the desert, and each time Janine opened a little more to the night. Breathing deeply, she forgot the cold, the dead weight of others, the craziness or stuffiness of life, the long anguish of living and dying. After so many years of mad, aimless fleeing from fear, she had come to a stop at last. At the same time, she seemed to recover her roots and the sap again rose in her body, which had ceased trembling. Her whole belly pressed against the parapet as she strained toward the moving sky; she was merely waiting for her fluttering heart to calm down and establish silence within her. The last stars of the constellations dropped their clusters a little lower on the desert horizon and became still. Then, with unbearable gentleness, the water of night began to fill Janine, drowned the cold, rose gradually from the hidden core of her being and overflowed in wave after wave, rising up even to her mouth full of moans...."

A tryst with the mystical. Her guilt was immense.

Postscript:

A literature professor many years ago told us, his students, that had Camus not died prematurely in a car accident he might have become a believer. Was this the story which made him say that?

[Satyajeet · Rating 5 out of 5]

the adulterous woman, because she chose the need of being needed over her liberation from such a need??

this story is one of the first from the book, Exile and kingdom by Camus, which I read last year and this story has remained with me since then.
Will read again sometime.

[Cláudia Monteiro · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars
On ‘The Adulterous Woman’:
The story isn’t about an actual physical affair, but rather an emotional one: during a business trip with her husband, Marcel, Janine ponders over how long it’s been since «she was hesitating between independent life and marriage», her fear of growing old alone and the importance she places on being needed.
Janine’s desire for freedom is unexpectedly awakened, as she finds herself craving for a life that is not the one she leads with Marcel, but one that is her own.

On ‘The Silent Men’:
A group of coopers feel humiliated and despondent as they are forced to go back to work after their strike fails to get them what they want: better wages to face the rise in living costs.
«Yvars knew what he was about to say – and what everyone was thinking at the same time – that they were not sulking, that their mouths had been closed, they had to take it or leave it, and that anger and helplessness sometimes hurt so much that you can't even cry out.»

On ‘The Guest’:
After being left responsible for delivering a prisoner to the authorities, a schoolmaster is faced with a moral dilemma: should he do as he was told, or should he act according to his honour, and help the man escape?
Despite choosing neutrality and allowing the prisoner to decide his own fate, the schoolmaster ends up facing the consequences of the prisoner’s ultimate choice.

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

When sand chokes the carburetor of a bus to a stop, is Camus telling us how this story is going to end, no matter what? And is 'nothing' literally nothing? Is an adulterous nothing a better/worse choice than any of the many men surrounding out titular heroine? I do feel there is more here in this less-than-20-pages work than some massive novels I've read lately, like Thackery's "Vanity Fair." I always say, "Just because one can write an 800-page-novel doesn't mean one should."

[Renu · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Adulterous Woman is a story about a woman whose life is empty, bore and without purpose. She is confused. She wants to ran away from her husband to sleep with other attractive men. But she does not do that. But in her thoughts she does that whenever she gets attention from attractive men. Troubled by all this confusion, boredom and emptiness she is shown crying in the story. I think that in her extreme loneliness at that fort she realizes this agony, the very first time in life, at that much of conscious level that it led her to weep. It may be the story of every man and woman on this earth.

[Andrei Tamaş · Rating 3 out of 5]

Absurdul romanţat...

[Yaneth Suárez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adúltera por necesitar ser necesitada antes que ser libre y fluir con la vida. Ese momento en que la protagonista es plenamente consciente de sus sentimientos rodeada de la simbología de un desierto árido y frío ha sido plasmado por Camus de manera magistral.

[Dania Abutaha]

خيانه الحب ممم لم اشعر به...برود سكون مميت في صحراء الحب الآفل ...ام خيانه الوفاء...ممم ايضا لم احسه ليس هناك شعور غامر بالوفاء و لا عكسه ايضا...برود صحراوي موحش ام خيانه العشره..ممم لا ايضا لم تخن هنا و لا هناك ...زواج تحت ستار كاذب واهن...تساؤلات متاخره جدا...و بعد مضي العمر... عن حياه زوجيه قسريه بموجب عقد بهت لونه و طعمه و مذاقه...علاقه مستنزفه دخلت حاله الاحتضار ...حالها حال الموت...كثافه الاسئله ...تغزوك على حين غره...كصفعه مدويه ...ما الذي يبقي خيط الزواج الرهيف ثابت بلا انقطاع...هل هو التعود..هل هو العوده الى حضن دافىء لا بديل عنه...لماذا تكون الخيانه من الزوجه الانها ممتلئه بفيض المشاعر تخون ود كاذب ميت غير نابض...لماذا اسمعنا نداءات المرأه و احاط الزوج ببرود كامن. تصوير تعاسه زوجيه و خيبه في سطور معدوده....مهاره و حذق كاتب...ربما كانت الخيانه في امتناع المرأه عن خلق السعاده التي تحمل مفاتيح السعاده و التعاسه بيديها و قلبها و مشاعرها و عقلها...لكن هل خانت نفسها؟

[Judy Croome · Rating 5 out of 5]

Three very different short stories from French writer Albert Camus, translated by Justin O'Brien:

- "The Adulterous Woman" poignantly confronts existential loneliness and what we do to avoid it
- "The Silent Men," my favourite of the three stories, shows the complex interaction between the haves and the have-nots. With heart rending simplicity Camus shows how a changing society leaves everyone adrift and alone
- "The Guest" is the most depressing story as it shows how an act of good will by the teacher is misinterpreted and misunderstood with threatening consequences.

Worth the read for Camus' evoctave descriptions and cutting insight into the human condition.

On a practical note, the small size of the book was convenient to pop into my purse and read as I found a chance!

[Danielle Lovesey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I truely love Albert Camus style of writing and his stories

[Hosam · Rating 1 out of 5]

اعتقد اني اعطيت هذه الرواية قيمه عندما اعطيتها نجمه
سيئه وقصيره ولا يوجد بها حبكه ولا شي ء مفيد

[M-L · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m trying so hard to like Camus this year and really failing.

[Lily · Rating 2 out of 5]

*WARNING - You're about to head into Spoiler Town, please turn around if this is not your intended destination*

*Disclaimer - I read the short story "The Adulterous Woman", not the whole collection of short stories, as the short story was only required for my university reading.*

First of all, I have to say I am not really a fan of short stories. I personally think it's very difficult to get readers hooked into a story and resonating with characters they have little time to get properly acquainted with. And that, sadly, was the case here with The Adulterous Woman. From my first (and only reading of this, TRUST me), the adulterous woman in question, Janine, is deeply unsatisified with her life, in particular her husband, who reads as the stereotypical oblivious workaholic. Thus, whilst the couple are on a work trip in Algeria, Janine grabs onto anything she can find to renew the passion she lost long ago.

Now, this "anything" is not a person. It's not actually "anything". Basically, she has this sort of spiritual awakening at the top of a fort, then later that night she returns to the fort and runs around before lying down beneath the stars, all of which Camus pairs with *quite* sensual language. I say quite. I mean A LOT. A LOT A LOT. If you read it, you'll know what I mean.

I'm not saying Camus is a terrible author - he has a beautiful gift with description, so vivid in fact it felt like I was there with Janine - someone, at the end of the day, I did not want to be with. Yes, I could understand her frustrations with life and her husband. It was just the oddness of the plot, the two dimensions of the characters (maybe down to my hatred for short stories, I don't know) and the inexplicably odd jarrring ending (she bursts into tears then tells her husband it's nothing???) made this short story nowhere near as pleasant as it was for Janine to run around a fort at night.

[Klaudia Niwecka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it. Anyone who understands camus will love it.

[Rosa Ramôa · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Au milieu de l'hiver, j'ai découvert en moi un invincible été.”

(Albert Camus)

[Lina · Rating 4 out of 5]

الصراع مع الفراغ.. الليالي الباردة الساكنة و العزلة مع الذات.

[Mehrnaz · Rating 3 out of 5]

"ژانی نمی توانست نگاه اش را از افق برگیرد.آن جا، حتی دورتر از جنوب ، نقطه هایی که آسمان و زمین در یک خط ساده به هم می رسیدند، انگار چیزی منتظرش بود که عمری کمبود آن را احساس کرده بود ؛ چیزی که تا همان لحظه از آن آگاهی نداشت ..."
سه داستان کوتاهی که خیلی روون و ساده به نظر میومد. اما انگار به اون سطحی ای که فک میکنی نیست. یه موقعایی فک میکنم یه سری کتاب هارو که میخونم ،شاید اگه بعدها ازم بپرسن در رابطه با چی بود یا هدفش چی بود یا در نهایت چی شد نمیدونم چی بگم. اما در حین خوندن داستان بارها حس هایی رو تجربه میکنم که دوست داشتم تجربه کنم یا یا یه روزی تجربه کردم.و این حس فوق العاده و بی نظیریه. هر سه داستان آرامش عجیبی داشتن. من این حس رو با بیگانه ی آلبرکامو هم داشتم...

[Ubaid Talpur · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a nice little book, like all other Albert Camus's books, as the name of this book is but it should not be taken in the meaning of this name, there are other things about this book. It is the story of a married woman who wants to meet herself who is upset and wants people's attention & in a way she wants to live a free life, she wants to try to live her life differently, but then in the end she decides to stay as she is, she learns the secret to being happy in every situation Is. It is difficult to comment or analyze Camus's books. I am writing according to my own thinking, friends who will read it will understand it as they think.

[Grace Crandall · Rating 5 out of 5]

As usual, Camus is beautifully eloquent in communicating a sense of utter existential despair. I’m not sure what I think about that yet. There’s a kind of loveliness in the way he paints a world where everything is just slightly wrong, and unbearable because of it—how he can make you feel, down to your very soul, this painful dissatisfaction with the world; this straining, fruitless reaching for some unknown relief. On that count, I loved this story.

But, it’s also a story that is largely about someone doing very little and being sad about it, which is actually pretty frustrating, and on THAT count, I disliked this story intensely.

[Ariya · Rating 2 out of 5]

Beautiful prose but contaminated by politics. The more I read about Camus, the less his stories convincing. I find the characters and the perception (especially, the colonial's mindset) naive, ambitious and wrong. In every character shares the same traits: suffering in agony, displeased, angst and super emo. I get it. Now, can we move on?

[dea · Rating 3 out of 5]

“She was waiting, but she didn’t know for what. She was aware only of her solitude, and of the penetrating cold, and of the greater weight in the region of her heart.”

“Probably he didn’t love her. Love, even when filled with hate, doesn’t have that sullen face. But what is his face like? They made love in the dark by feel, without seeing each other. Is there another love than that of darkness, a love that would cry aloud in daylight?”

[Maureen Lo · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Silent Man would probably be a better title and I much prefer this story then The Adulterous Woman.

[Callum Priestley · Rating 5 out of 5]

My copy contained three stories.

I found ‘The Silent Men’ very enjoyable, particularly the passages highlighting the comradely spirit between the workers

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

The sauciest of affairs happen with mystical in-temporal gust of wind.

[Urbangenic · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a bit slow finishing this book. Camus, as usual brings us in that world full of 'sorrow', 'loneliness', 'hollow'. He gave meaning in the vast emptiness of the soul. There are 3 stories in this book, one about a woman in a childless marriage, one about an ageing laborer after an attempted strike, and another one about a schoolteacher tasked with transporting a prisoner.
The woman, faced with the reality of the relationship and the truth of the life she has led; found herself on a rooftop gazing at the horizon which ends her weeping on her bed, saying "Nothing, dear. It's nothing."
The labourer, faced with the futility of his efforts, continues to do his work in silence.
And the schoolteacher faced a dilemma whether to return the man to the authority as he was told or to act true to his honor to rescue the man from punishment.

As usual, Camus wrote in an omniscient way he usually use. Maybe because it's a collection of short stories, I can't really be swayed in my reading like when I read The Fall. Perhaps it's because I can't relate that much to the characters, the road is too short for me to know them. So that's the reason why I gave this a 4-stars because, hey, it's Camus! Everyone knows I'm a subjective asshole when it comes to the stuffs I love.