ABSTRACT

Martin Esslin’s appropriation of the term for theatre and its subsequent success is unfortunate in one way, namely, because it has obscured the widespread use of the word ‘absurd’ in other contexts. Both of these novels, The Conquerors and The Royal Way, share a basic fable, and a basic theme, Absurdity. Andre Malraux described The Conquerors as ‘an adolescent book’ and omitted his second novel, The Royal Way, entirely from the Pleiade edition of his novels. Although The Royal Way contains no revolution, it has basically the same theme. The legend of Malraux has made biography difficult. He was noted, when young, for making trips to the Far East; he was a member of the Communist Party; and he was involved in the Spanish Civil War. Malraux is clearly interested in ideas, but he is not a philosopher, and therefore is less committed to the logic of discourse and more to a passionate, even poetic, presentation of ideas.