Penguin Modern Classics: The First Man

The unfinished manuscript of ‘The First Man’ was discovered in the wreckage of the car accident in which Camus died in 1960, yet it was not published for over thirty years.

The “first man” of the title is Jacques Cormery, whose poverty-stricken childhood is made bearable by his love for his silent and illiterate mother, and by the teacher who transforms his outlook on the world.

The most autobiographical of Camus’s novels, ‘The First Man’ gives remarkable insights into his life and the powerful themes underlying his work.