Exile and the Kingdom by Albert Camus. Short summary

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A collection of six short stories. The main theme of the stories is human loneliness and a sense of being a stranger and isolated. The author writes about the inhabitants of Algeria, who are between the Muslim world and France.

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«The Unfaithful Wife.» A married couple rides a bus through Algeria. Marcel and Jeanine have been married a long time and their relationship is stable. The husband is bored and the woman wants new emotions.

«The Renegade, or A Confused Spirit.» A French missionary goes on a mission to an African tribe. Here he is imprisoned and, after torture, is converted to a new faith.

«Silence». The cooperage workers went on strike, but achieved nothing. Now the men are immersed in silence, showing their displeasure to their master.

«Guest. Gendarme Balducci brings an Arab prisoner arrested for murder to his teacher acquaintance. The teacher is instructed to take the Arab to town, but he lets him go.

«Jonas or the painter at work.» The artist Jonas is obsessed with his work. Seeking solitude, he first moves to a small room, then to a bedroom, and then closer to the ceiling.

«Growing Stone.» D’Arrasta, a French engineer, comes to a Brazilian town to build a dam. Here he finds himself at a festival dedicated to the ancient gods.