Explore an existentialist reading list, featuring works by Albert Camus, Franz Kafka, Søren Kierkegaard, and more.

Existentialism isn't confined to philosophical texts. Some of the movement's figureheads, like Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre, were also novelists. Christina Howells, Professor of French at the University of Oxford, suggests this is because existentialism, as a philosophy, requires human stories to be fully understood, and literature makes the experience of the human condition more present and immediate.

“Existentialism” was first introduced in 1943 by philosopher Gabriel Marcel. Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir readily adopted the term, but others, such as Albert Camus and Martin Heidegger, rejected it. Earlier philosophers, like Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche, were long dead by the time the word was in vogue.

The writers and thinkers often characterized as “existentialist” sometimes contradict one another. Considering that, boiling the philosophy down to a set of tenets can be difficult. Generally, those associated with existentialism were inspired by the 19th-century works of Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche, and they believed that individuals needed to defy conformity and define the meaning of life for themselves.

Paul Megna, a scholar of literature and philosophy, notes that the existentialist ideas of Kierkegaard (and, to a lesser extent, Sarte and Camus) had their roots in much earlier texts, which posited that "fear of the Lord" was "the beginning of wisdom."

Camus' most famous work of nonfiction is this collection of philosophical essays. Perhaps the most resonant entry is the title essay, which reimagines the Greek myth of a man condemned to roll a boulder for all eternity. Rather than presenting the story as a cautionary tale about defying the gods, as the original myth intended, Camus considered Sisyphus an "absurd hero" for his actions and imagined him smiling as he endlessly toiled at his repetitive punishment.

The two writers, who would later be considered two of the biggest names associated with existentialism, wrote positive reviews of each others' early work, with Camus praising Sartre's novel "Nausea" and story collection "The Wall" and, later, Sartre favorably compared Camus' "The Stranger" to Franz Kafka and Ernest Hemingway. Still, their reviews included some critiques, hinting at the larger disagreements that would come much later.

The writer's final complete novel is a series of dramatic monologues from Jean-Baptiste Clamence, who tries to explain to a stranger the sound of laughter that began following him. As the "Philosophize This!" podcast argues, the book is Camus' attempt at wrestling with some of the thornier aspects of existentialism in a form that's more digestible than a dense philosophical tome.

Camus' book's themes—alienation, transgression, and existentialism—continue to resonate with adolescent reader. That's also true of other popular teenage touchstones, like Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World," George Orwell's "Nineteen Eighty-Four," and Sylvia Plath's "The Bell Jar," which are still widely read—and assigned by high school teachers.

During a unit on existentialist literature and philosophy, one teacher at Massachusetts’ Phillips Academy asked students to surrender their cell phones to test Kierkegaard’s thoughts on the danger of conformity and Sartre’s belief that humans are “condemned to be free.” Many of them were surprised to find how liberated they felt once they left behind social media.

He didn't use "absurd" as we often do—meaning something silly—but instead to describe humans' desire to ascribe meaning and transcendence in a world that provided neither. Camus believed we needed to acknowledge and accept this absurdity rather than hopelessly believing we'd one day overcome it.

He didn't use "absurd" as we often do—meaning something silly—but instead to describe humans' desire to ascribe meaning and transcendence in a world that provided neither. Camus believed we needed to acknowledge and accept this absurdity rather than hopelessly believing we'd one day overcome it.

“The Father of Existentialism” published over 40 texts and 40 articles during his life and used several pen names throughout them. The pseudonyms allowed him to present relevant opinions in a relatable, first-person manner without the reader believing that Søren Kierkegaard earnestly held them.

Although the Theater of the Absurd was primarily a 20th-century trend, a similar kind of existentialist-minded comedy still exists in popular culture. Films like “Everything Everywhere All At Once” and television shows like “BoJack Horseman” tackle the same issues that existentialist thinkers like Sartre, Beauvoir, and Camus explored, transforming those profound questions into thought-provoking and crowd-pleasing works of comedy.

The writer and philosopher Jonathan Rée notes that part of the reason why the book was so popular was that it was an easy pick for students learning French to translate. What's often lost in translation, though, is that the book's narrator, Meursault, who murders a man, is not intended to be a role model.

The existentialist figurehead argued that humans are not born with an identity or purpose; instead, they develop them throughout their lives. For Sartre, this meant making meaning for oneself rather than relying on authorities (like religion or government) to provide it.

The author of “Black Boy” and “Native Son” left the United States in 1946 to escape his home country’s racial inequality. In Paris, he explored existentialist ideas and spent time with Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre. “The Outsider,” a novel he wrote while living in France, embraced many of the philosophy’s central themes.

In addition to writing philosophy and fiction, Jean-Paul Sartre was also a literary critic. His 1939 essay on Faulkner's "The Sound and the Fury" focused on the way the American novelist commented on time, favorably comparing him to Marcel Proust. Ultimately, Sartre argues Faulkner's "despair" about a "closed future" is a result of the "social conditions of our present life." Ever the existentialist, though, Sartre suggests this reality is something that should inspire rather than depress.

Kamel Daoud's "The Meursault Investigation" exists in the same universe as Camus' famous novel, but it expands the world to imagine the story from the Arab Algerian perspective, showing the impact its main character's actions had on real people. Rather than focusing on the existential awakening of one man, it considers the longtail impact of colonialism in Algeria.

The Nazis invaded France in May 1940. Sartre, as a member of the French Army, was taken prisoner that June. While he was in captivity, he studied Martin Heidegger and worked on "Being and Nothingness," one of his most famous philosophical works.

O’Connor was a rabid reader and a prolific letter writer, often suggesting (and sometimes criticizing) books to friends and admirers. This list distills those recommendations into a compact list, praising Henry James, Edgar Allan Poe, and National Geographic. It’s a good reading list and a fascinating window into O’Connor’s influences.

Although they’re primarily known for Ozzy Osbourne’s distinctive singing and Tony Iommi’s singular riffs, the metal icons Black Sabbath also have a body of work that explores existentialist questions about mankind’s purpose. Philosophy professor William Irwin unpacks the band's lyrics and applies them to some of existentialism’s major themes, drawing comparisons between the band and philosophers like Friedrich Nietzsche, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Albert Camus.

The philosopher and novelist was one of the youngest writers to win the award, at just 44. In his acceptance speech, he spoke on the role of an artist in a world that seemed increasingly bleak. "Each generation doubtless feels called upon to reform the world," he said. "Mine knows that it will not reform it, but its task is perhaps even greater. It consists in preventing the world from destroying itself."

The play, originally staged in 1953, is notorious for its lack of action. For the most part, its two principal characters, Vladimir and Estragon, spend the majority of the play wondering whether a mysterious Godot will ever appear. By the end, Godot has still not arrived, yet Vladimir and Estragon do not move, a choice that reflects the existential notion that humans often hope in vain for meaning that does not exist.

In "Existentialism is a Humanism," Sartre argues that humans are "condemned to be free"—they are not confined to a divine fate, which means they must take the responsibility of creating their own destinies. Those who reject this freedom, by his estimation, are living in "bad faith."

The two were close friends, sometimes collaborating throughout the 1940s, but the release of Camus' 1951 book, "The Rebel," led to a schism over differing views on communism.

The paper, called "Combat," was aligned with the French Resistance fighting against the Nazi occupation. Like his fiction, his journalism was clear-eyed: When Hiroshima and Nagaski were bombed, he criticized the many writers impressed with the destruction, writing, "our technical civilization has just reached its greatest level of savagery."

The writer was born in Algiers, wrote fondly of his home, and is perhaps the most well-known Algerian-born writer of all time, but his works are no longer taught. In 2010, a series of events to commemorate the 50th anniversary of his death was not permitted by the authorities. Scholars say that's because Camus believed the North African country should remain a French colony; after it gained independence in 1962, Camus' work fell out of fashion.

Philosophers often argue the counterintuitive view that there's actually nothing to fear about death. How do they come to this attitude of acceptance toward fate? This video articulates the views on death from Socrates, Epicurus, and Zhuangzi in a breezy, digestible way.

Rather than a theory of physics, the idea is designed as a moral argument. While Nietzsche famously eschewed the Christian afterlife, he wanted to avoid the nihilism that results from no longer having such an ultimate horizon. In a mystical moment, the philosopher came to believe that the fleeting moments of our lives would be repeated, presenting a test: would you want to relive this moment? If not, he would argue, you're not living well.

He loved the work of writers like William Faulker and Ernest Hemingway, and loved drinking whiskey and listening to jazz. He also admired the actor Humphrey Bogart and his striking performance in the noir classic "The Big Sleep." He was delighted when his wife gave him a Burberry raincoat, thinking it made him look more like Bogart.

Although primarily known as a philosopher, Beauvoir wrote the play "The Useless Mouths," which debuted in Paris in November 1945. The work is about a government allowing "useless" citizens—women, children, the elderly—to starve during a food shortage. While it's not widely staged, some Beauvoir scholars believe it's a significant text that explores many of the existential themes she explores in her other work.

Add a few new titles to your lengthy TBR collection with this Seattle Times interactive. Click one or more of the emotions from the mood bank, and a series of recommended titles and related reviews will pop up for you to peruse (and maybe, one day, read).

Just because something's considered a "classic" doesn't mean it's universally loved. Even the world's most respected writers don't agree on what defines great literature. Look no further than this list of writers criticizing canonical texts, like Charlotte Brontë deriding Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" or Virginia Woolf on James Joyce's "Ulysses." The most succinct might be Aldous Huxley on Jack Kerouac's "On the Road": "I got a little bored after a time. I mean, the road seemed to be awfully long."

The Marginalian's Maria Popova curates a collection arguing our culture has learned to dread aging while forgetting it is a privilege, and that the antidote is sustaining passions strong enough to keep us from turning inward. Voices include Simone de Beauvoir, Joan Didion, Pablo Casals, and Kahlil Gibran.

Jean-Paul Sartre worked as an American correspondent for Combat, the newspaper edited by Albert Camus. While he was in the States, J. Edgar Hoover's FBI kept tabs on him, concerned that Combat was publishing unfavorable portrayals of the US.

The novel's first sentence thrusts readers into the narrator Mersault's world, but its meaning can shift depending on the translation. A 1988 translation by Matthew Ward attempted to "Americanize" the text, removing some Britishisms and bringing it closer to what Camus intended in the original French manuscript. That included changing "Mother" to "Maman," a more familiar—and childlike—name.

The two figureheads of existentialist thought were romantic partners, though they had a publicly open relationship and never lived together. As de Beauvoir says in the interview below, "third persons knew our relationship dwarfed any we could have with them."

-Ralph Ellison, from "Invisible Man" (1913-1994)