I have recently become fairly interested in Camus. I'm not really that familiar with philosophy, but I do know the difference between nihilism and existentialism. I've been wondering what Camus thought about the two in relation to each other.
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1See Camus and Existentialism; Camus was an existentialism and not a nihilist : "“Does the absurd dictate death” (The Myth of Sisyphus)? the main concern of the book is to sketch ways of living our lives so as to make them worth living despite their being meaningless."– Mauro ALLEGRANZACommented Sep 16, 2016 at 5:59
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The difference between nihilism and and existentialism is that nihilism proclaims that there is no meaning, whereas existentialism (mostly) states that each individual must decide their own meaning.
The Myth of Sisyphus written by Camus speaks of rolling a rock up a hill over and over only to have it fall back down. This is an interesting metaphor and Camus' argument against nihilism. The last two lines of the story I have quoted below, but you shoulds really read the entirety in a sitting when you have time.
The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.
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I did read it, but at the time I had not really understood the difference or even the concepts of nihilism and existentialism.– PhilipCommented Sep 18, 2016 at 21:05