The Work and Thought of Jean Grenier (1898-1971)

Abstract

For some, Jean Grenier is an intriguing philosopher and essayist, for others he is primarily the madter of Albert Camus. A prolific writer, he worked as a teacher until his retirement in 1968, holding posts in Egypt and Italy as well as France, and was for much of his career therefore away from the centre of French literary and philosophical life: away, in fact, from the limelight. It was his memoirs of and correspondence with Camus which brought him into late prominence. Garfitt's study presents a faithful picture of a little-known figure who, in his life and in his writing, was constantly expressing and resolving, with a greater or lesser degree of success, man's basic problems of freedom and choice in a puzzling contingent existence. This book, originally published in paperback in 1983 under the ISBN 978-0-900547-87-4, was made Open Access in 2024 as part of the MHRA Revivals programme.