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American Journals

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Educated Americans share a self-consciousness, a painful awareness that we descendants of mere colonists are probably at best nouveau-riche; in short, that we are not Europeans. Indeed, we struggle to hide our secret gratitude when a European friend--particularly a Frenchman--even shows interest in us. Thus it is a great joy to open these pages and find that one of the greatest products of French letters took the time to set down his thoughts about us and our country. Camus wrote these notes during a lecture tour to this country while he was in his thirties, a time when he was first coming to international attention and when he was deep in preparation of some of his most important literary works. Camus reveals a critical but endearingly tender fascination with our country, with its often crass culture, with its sometimes seemingly naive optimism, and with its lack of awareness of its own inestimable riches. At the same time, serious students of his work will discover the first inklings of insights and ideas that would work their way into his major writings.

Camus kept an extensive literary journal during his life, a very large portion of which (including this small piece) is available in English translation. His journal is deeply insightful and often tender and personal, but written in an elegant and well organized narrative (suggesting his anticipation that his journal would someday be read by the masses). Anyone who loves Camus will be interested in this book, and any American Camus-phile will be enraptured and gratified by it.

this book has value beyond furnishing tidbits for Camus scholars, providing his take on North and South America, notably New York City and cities of Brazil, along with Buenos Aires and Santiago. He seems to have met only a few people he liked, and maybe two or three sites impressed him. He reflects on suicide. No it is not a cheerful work, but it is vivid. Hard to imagine this was the tour of a man at his most successful. For Americans, this work if valuable for he describes our homeland; if you have read the major works, this is worth a gander.