The concept of the absurd and the relationship between the absurd and suicide are the themes of this essay. Once a person acknowledges the gap between their rational desire for understanding and happiness and the silence of the world, can they truly judge whether life is worth living? This is a fundamental question of philosophy.

However, if the absurd seems evident to me, I must maintain it with a clear effort and accept to live by experiencing it. My rebellion, my freedom, my passion, will be its consequences. A person, sure that they will die utterly, yet refusing death, liberated from the supernatural hope that bound their hands, will be able to know the passion of life in a world given to its indifference and its perishable beauty.

Yet creation is for them the best opportunity to keep their consciousness awake in front of the brilliant and irrational images of the world. The struggle of Sisyphus, who scorns the gods, loves life, and hates death, becomes the symbol of human fate.

[Excerpt from the text on the back cover of the edition]