Time Essay: Camus: Normal Virtues in Abnormal Times

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This revival has its haunting implications. In his truest and most tragic self-analysis, Camus notes, "My whole work is ironic." True because he always places fact alongside theory to dramatize the distance between humane ideals and human failure. Tragic because he also confesses, "The sole effort of my life [was] to live the life of a normal man." A generation after his death, Albert Camus's Notebooks continually show that the "normal" virtues of courage, of decency, of uncompromising accuracy are, in fact, as vulnerable as great writers — and as rare as great writing. — Stefan Kanfer