A outstanding read in 1993 (purchased the book in 2009)

Albert Camus set this book in his birthplace of Algiers in the old French colony of Algeria. His existentialist beliefs are reflected through the life of Meursault. Although the diversity of positions associated with existentialism precludes a precise definition, certain themes are common to virtually all existentialist writers: the stress on concrete individual existence and, consequently, on subjectivity, individual freedom, and choice.

Meursault and his friends get into a fight with a group of Arabs on a day out at the beach. Later, Meursault accidentally kills one of them, is tried by the Courts and sentenced to death on the Guillotine "in the name of the French people".

Initially, Meursault recieves a telegraph informing him of his mother’s death. The news has little emotional effect on him, he sees the funeral as an inconvenience because he must miss work. He believes death is inevitable, so there is no need to grieve. It is rare that Meursault describes his feelings but when he does they tend to be physical sensations rather than inner emotions. Meursault is greatly sensitive to the sun and on the day of his mothers funeral its heat, brightness and intensity occupy his thoughts.

Meursault gives a detailed account of his trial. Under questioning, he refuses to cover up the deed with a lie or show remorse he does not feel. He maintains an everyday antipathy to religion, even under sentence of death, and so questions what traditionalists hold to be morally correct.

The reasons for the killing are barely touched on but Meursault is greatly condemned for the 'heartless' way he behaved at his mother's funeral. He is punished for being an 'outsider' and this in turn provides the Court with enough evidence to pronounce him guilty of murder. The judgment is based more on his lack of remorse than with reference to the actual events.

This is a very powerful novel, not one word wasted. Camus’ skill as a writer is demonstrated in the way the novel manages to accomplish its aim in such a short and easy to digest length. The outsider is condemned because he is different not because he is wrong.

Classic Fiction Novel
First published in French as 'L'etranger' in 1942. ( )

Plot Synopsis
Meursault tells readers about the time right before and the time right after he murdered an Arab on a beach.

My Thoughts
Meursault has to be the most emotionally detached main character I've ever read that wasn't autistic or in some other way mentally Other. And this complete lack of feeling for other people or even the world in general, made it practically impossible for me to identify with him or like him. Unfortunately, I am a character-driven reader. A plot can be relatively mundane and dull, but if the characters are complex, dynamic (meaning they "grow" during the story), and interesting, I'll still love the book. This is not the case with The Stranger.

Fortunately, however, after characters my second point of interest in reading is philosophy and theme, and Camus is certainly no stranger to philosophical discussions as the basis for his writings. Meursault, while in my opinion completely ridiculous, does offer readers a look into the life of a man who believes unflinchingly that life is something that is happening to him. When his recently acquired girlfriend, Marie, suggests the two get married, Meursault explains to her "that it didn't really matter and that if she wanted to, [they] could get married". He doesn't care one way or another; he'll just go with whatever life throws at him. The death of his mother gets as little emotional attention as the proposed marriage. He can't even fake emotion, and eventually it is this inability that is both his downfall and his transcendence.

Philosophically this text is packed with items for contemplation. For me, Meursault's only saving grace (which still didn't make me particularly like him) is his refusal to contradict his own personality and belief system. Even when his very life hangs in the balance, he doesn't budge an inch. He will not pretend to a belief in God, Justice, or Remorse. This is admirable to me.

Camus' writing is quite simplistic (or at least the translator's is), and I don't mean this is a negative way, just descriptive. The sentences are short and generally follow the conventional structure of subject-verb (predicate). The events and the telling of these events are straightforward and clean-cut. No flowery prose detracts from what is essentially part of the theme of the book itself: meaninglessness (absurdism) and the creation of meaning by the individual (existentialism). ( )

I disagree with the philosophy of this novel completely..I find it juvenile..BUT it's written so well that I don't care. Very thought provoking as far as person responsibility, the justice system, absurdity, and meaning. ( )

This is not a good choice for audio. First off, it was four discs but only took up about two and a half (the rest was some talk on existentialism I didn't listen to), meaning that George Guidall said "the end" almost two hours before I was expecting him to. Luckily, I had a paper copy so I reread the last few pivotal pages of the story. I could sum up the story but that's not really the point. There's a guy and a murder and lots of absurdity. By and large I think I enjoyed it, though it was quite slow to start. I probably would have appreciated it more as a student, with a teacher there to tell me when to pay attention. Perhaps I'll read it again someday. ( )

An interesting quick read. Very thought provoking. ( )

Mersault picks up a girl on the day that he learns of his mother's death. It is this fact more than any other that determines that a jury finds him guilty of shooting an unnamed Arab on the beach. He is guilty and we are faced with the casual racism of African France but here is also the unsettling challenge of the existentialists. What morality says that you should react in a socially acceptable way to events?

By conventional thinking Mersault is showing himself to be callous when he goes swimming after learning of his mother's death. But why are we sentimental about death - he can not change the fact - he is not living with his mother. Why are we so critical of the unfeeling being? Does being human mean being sentimental? Camus explores and probes our consciences in this slight but important novel. ( )

Not typical of the style I usually read, The Strangers was nonetheless beautifully written and thought provoking. Many opposites seem to coexist, and the point of the story seemed to be only slightly tied to the story line. It is fascinating to read a book where the brevity in length and simplicity in language result in such a huge statement. I like how the social political climate is portrayed; there is definitely a lot more going on than meets the eye. ( )

Curiosity led me to reading 'L'etranger' (two months before my fortieth birthday) and being bilingual I decided to give the original French text a try. I wasn't too sure what to expect - it's hardly my usual taste in literature; but, for some reason which I still can't quite put my finger on, I enjoyed it immensely! It was much the same feeling as I got from reading J. D. Salinger's 'The Catcher in the Rye' - neither book, I thought, were particularly ‘mind blowing’, and yet there is definitely something there which stays with you! Meursault could be any one of us at one time or another during our lives - Lost and lacking any direction in life, drifting from day to day, situation to situation; he just allows fate to take him over and carry him blindly to it’s inevitable conclusion.
I’ve heard it said that ‘Life is a beach’. So consider this: No one should walk into the ocean and allow the waves to toss them about helplessly without putting up a struggle; or they shouldn’t be surprised to find themselves battered and drowning before very long - even on a seemingly calm sunny day.
That's what I got out of the book - anyway. But I am sure everybody has there own take on it. ( )

One of my favorites!!! ( )

Haunting. I know that Camus was against the death penalty and it comes through in this book, I think. I need to reread it, though.

A outstanding read in 1993 (purchased the book in 2009)

Albert Camus set this book in his birthplace of Algiers in the old French colony of Algeria. His existentialist beliefs are reflected through the life of Meursault. Although the diversity of positions associated with existentialism precludes a precise definition, certain themes are common to virtually all existentialist writers: the stress on concrete individual existence and, consequently, on subjectivity, individual freedom, and choice.

Meursault and his friends get into a fight with a group of Arabs on a day out at the beach. Later, Meursault accidentally kills one of them, is tried by the Courts and sentenced to death on the Guillotine "in the name of the French people".

Initially, Meursault recieves a telegraph informing him of his mother’s death. The news has little emotional effect on him, he sees the funeral as an inconvenience because he must miss work. He believes death is inevitable, so there is no need to grieve. It is rare that Meursault describes his feelings but when he does they tend to be physical sensations rather than inner emotions. Meursault is greatly sensitive to the sun and on the day of his mothers funeral its heat, brightness and intensity occupy his thoughts.

Meursault gives a detailed account of his trial. Under questioning, he refuses to cover up the deed with a lie or show remorse he does not feel. He maintains an everyday antipathy to religion, even under sentence of death, and so questions what traditionalists hold to be morally correct.

The reasons for the killing are barely touched on but Meursault is greatly condemned for the 'heartless' way he behaved at his mother's funeral. He is punished for being an 'outsider' and this in turn provides the Court with enough evidence to pronounce him guilty of murder. The judgment is based more on his lack of remorse than with reference to the actual events.

This is a very powerful novel, not one word wasted. Camus’ skill as a writer is demonstrated in the way the novel manages to accomplish its aim in such a short and easy to digest length. The outsider is condemned because he is different not because he is wrong.

Classic Fiction Novel
First published in French as 'L'etranger' in 1942. ( )

I started reading this book last night and several times I had to put it down because I became so angry over the lack of emotion the central character has. Camus gives us one terrible example after another of our cruelty to others and then someone asks the central character how he feels about that and he answers that he does not care over and over again. Even though this is a small novel I can see it will take me a while to finish it because I find it so disturbing. Abuse to the elderly, to animals, to women are the examples Camus has given in the novel so far and each time I have to put the book down to reflect and calm down. I can see why he is considered a good writer--getting such an emotional response from me, the reader, so quickly and easily. I wonder if he is examining someone who is a sociopath because of his complete lack of engagement with others. ( )

Well this is a book that it is difficult to stop thinking about. I think I need to read it again. ( )

Incredibly interesting tone. Vague yet persistent. ( )

One of those short works that nevertheless leave a profound impression behind. ( )

I've read both this and the Plague, and I must say I find Camus' style boring and unengaging. His characters are flat. However, this book I liked much better than The Plague, which I found had no redeeming qualities whatsoever. This book is a lot about one man's struggle with totalitarianism--not the totalitarianism of a single party state, but of public opinion, what people around you think you should think, do, and feel, and how they judge you if you do not think, do, and feel as they think you should. I still remember the last line of the book, one of the most powerful I've read in literature, and a testament to a man who followed Nietzsche's dictum that "no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself." ( )

The Stranger is a beautifully written, existentialist view of humanity. Its characters, however, are despicable.

It was difficult not to view Merceut's crime, trial, and sentence with the biases acquired as a 21st Century American. The charges did not appear to fit the crime yet he was so detestable that I was unwavering in my feeling that he should be executed.

I was amazed by the passion the book evoked in me. I cannot think of another instance where I loved a book and hated the main characters. I hope never to encounter such a misguided soul on a "hot day." ( )

Albert Camus's The Stranger / edited and with an introduction by Harold Bloom (2001) ( )

The Stranger is really philosophical, and there is a lot in the book that is really open and ambiguous. It lets the reader interpret it how they want to, and in my case, strangely, I identified with the main character. More than anything I enjoyed the detailed descriptions and the food for thought the book gave me. Really a great read. ( )

"Aujourd'hui maman est morte." Fantastisk roman. ( )

Not bad. It appears to have all the quintessential characteristics of the existentialist novel. There truly is no plot.

However its philosophical merits outweigh any lack in entertainment value. ( )

For the first time I've read a book I completely misinterpreted. Or maybe that's the whole point of the short novel The Stranger by Albert Camus. Even now I still don't really know what to think of it. Sure, I've read the Wikipedia entry and the introduction, the foreword, the analysis, companion, etc, but it still doesn't quite sit well with me. It's a good book. In fact it's a superb book and the Nobel Prize for literature that Camus received for his work is more than deserved. But it still doesn't sit quite well with me, and that, I'm convinced, is the entire point.

The short story describes a number of strange events in the otherwise boring life of the main character who we only know as Meursault. It becomes rapidly clear that this personage has a rather peculiar view on life. It's not that he's manic depressive. He can't even be labeled depressed at all, but somehow this man goes through life empty with his only interest the sensory stimuli provided by the beach, the sea and his mistress. Then again he is not a pure hedonist. It is these odd internal conflicts which I believe makes readers quite uncomfortable reading the story. Of course all of this is to prove a point.

At first I believed that the pivotal point in the book revolved around Meursault apparently killing a man without any reason at all other than that the sun was in his eyes. For a while this event appears to represent the theme of absurdity which Camus tried to instill in the novel. Only after reading the later parts a few times did I realize that the responses to the crime of those around Meursault were what constituted the real absurdity. Meursault is questioned about his motives by the representatives of the law but they are more concerned with the fact he did not show the expected emotions at his mother's funeral as they seem to be with the odd murder. All the secondary characters are trying to make sense of the world while the protagonist takes life an sich.

As a reader you feel yourself stepping away from all those characters around the protagonist who are trying to either tell him how he should feel or who are trying to obtain some form of confession or meaning. It is the view of the main character of the events in the later part of the book that makes this such a fantastic story. It is as if you're in a slight psychological earthquake in which you find yourself re-orienting after the tremors stop. In that sense the absurdity of life that Camus first and foremost tried to convey is very well presented and represented. So much so that at some point the irrationality of the crime Meursault commits fades into the background.

Didn't really get it. Did he care? Didn't he care? I don't really know. I think he was a semi-sociopath, if there is such a thing. But, it is a classic and borrowed from a friend, so I thought I should read it. ( )

Classic existential (sic) text.

The results of a study in 2006 revealed that The Stranger was the favourite book of British men. It was revealed that this had less to do with British men suffering from existential angst than it was a short and they had read it as teenagers. I like to think that Camus would appreciate the absurdity of this.

Absurdity is vitally important to this short novel because Camus, as was always at pains to point out, was not an existentialist, he was an Absurdist. For Camus, man exists in an Absurd universe - a universe which is cold and silent in response to man's quest for significance and meaning within it. The logical conclusion for Camus was that man had three basic choices in life: suicide - life without meaning is pointless, the easy way out; leap of faith - a rejection of the rational, embracing abstraction, a philosophical suicide; and recognition - embracement of the absurd nature of the universe, freeing man to create his own meaning and purpose.
As Camus put it himself in The Myth of Sisyphus-

Thus I draw from the absurd three consequences, which are my revolt, my freedom, and my passion. By the mere activity of consciousness I transform into a rule of life what was an invitation to death, and I refuse suicide.

To understand The Stranger we must understand Camus' philosophy, for the novel is a fictional representation of that philosophy.
The story is simple. In the first section, Meersault, a young Frenchmen, attends his mother's funeral. He exhibits none of the emotion he is expected to, preferring to have a cigarette and a cup of coffee rather than viewing the body. Returning home, Meersault helps his neighbour, Raymond, by writing a breakup letter for him to send to his Arab girlfriend. He embarks on an affair with Marie On a blisteringly hot day, Meersault, Raymond, and Marie take a trip to the beach. There they are confronted by some Arabs, a knife fight ensues and Raymond is injured. Meersault, having acquired a pistol, stumbles across one of the Arabs on the beach and shoots him repeatedly.
The second section deals with Meersault's trial and stay in prison leading up to his execution. At the trial, Meersault is tried more for his lack of emotion at his mother's funeral than the killing. The suggestion is that he would have been set free for murdering the Arab in self-defence if he had not broken the social taboo of not feeling anything at his mother's death - if a man cannot cry at his mother's funeral then he must be a dangerous misanthrope. While awaiting execution Meersault is visited by the chaplain who attempts to get him to embrace God but Meersault refuses, finally accepting the true state of the universe.

The first section of the novel sets up a scenario where Camus can dramatically portray the question of Absurdism in the second section. Initially, it appears that Meersault has chosen suicide - he lives an unexamined life, a life devoid of meaning being pointless there is no sense in defending himself against the death sentence. Meersault is given the chance of recognition - he has a girlfriend who loves him, wants to get married; he has friends and colleagues who speak up for him - but he can't see the point of anything, he prefers being with Marie than not and agrees to get married but there is no involvement there. He is living without meaning.
The chaplain offers Meersault a leap of faith - embrace God and you will be saved from the cold universe - but Meersault cannot accept this. He knows there is no God and to obtain faith would be a lie. The falseness of the cleric's position is shown by the fact that he will accept Meersault into the faith even if he doesn't truly believe.
In his prison stay, Meersault starts to dwell on his life, and through this process of examination begins to realise that there is meaning in life: that you don't need false idols, that you create your own meaning. Meersault finally achieves recognition on the eve of his execution which results in one of the most powerful last paragraphs in modern literature -

As if that blind rage had washed me clean, rid me of hope; for the first time, in that night alive with signs and stars, I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world. Finding it so much like myself — so like a brother, really — I felt that I had been happy and that I was happy again. For everything to be consummated, for me to feel less alone, I had only to wish that there be a large crowd of spectators the day of my execution and that they greet me with cries of hate.

It is ironic that Camus is now lumped with the existentialists and seen as a writer lost in self-regarding angst for he is a life-affirming writer. Camus is shouting from the pages of his books that we should choose to live, and live with meaning and purpose.

Brilliant.
( )

I could not put down the 140-page novella The Stranger by Albert Camus after I picked it up, despite the fact that it is odd and rather disturbing. Camus’ Nobel Prize-winning writing style was absolutely beautiful. And yet, Camus’ subject showed that life is pretty meaningless.

The back cover gave up the main crux of the story, but reading it was still worthwhile. I’ll try to avoid spoilers: A man living a pretty meaningless, boring life, finds his life changed dramatically. And yet, to him it doesn’t matter. Life is life because he lives it. Does it matter how he lives it?

Albert Camus’ writing was amazing, and while the book was odd and somewhat uncomfortable in its themes, it certainly stayed with me, despite its brevity.

More detailed review on my blog