HomeGroupsTalkZeitgeist
Search Site
This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.

Results from Google Books

Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.

Loading...

The Stranger

by Albert Camus

Other authors: See the other authors section.

Series: Cycle of the Absurd (1)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingConversations / Mentions
33,65548169 (3.95)1 / 728
When a young Algerian named Meursault kills a man, his subsequent imprisonment and trial are puzzling and absurd. The apparently amoral Meursault--who puts little stock in ideas like love and God--seems to be on trial less for his murderous actions, and more for what the authorities believe is his deficient character.… (more)
  1. 331
    The Trial by Franz Kafka (chrisharpe, DLSmithies)
    DLSmithies: Two protagonists on trial without really understanding what they're being accused of - it's just a question of degree.
  2. 231
    Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (chrisharpe, DLSmithies, edelpao)
    DLSmithies: A compare-and-contrast exercise - Raskolnikov is all nervous energy and hypertension, whereas Meursault is detatched, calm, and won't pretend to feel remorse. Two masterpieces.
  3. 80
    The Meursault Investigation by Kamel Daoud (Philosofiction, JuliaMaria, kjuliff, kjuliff)
    JuliaMaria: Meursault ist der Protagonist in dem existentialistischen Roman "Der Fremde", auf den sich Daoud in seiner Gegendarstellung bezieht.
  4. 114
    A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (SanctiSpiritus)
  5. 94
    Nausea by Jean-Paul Sartre (roby72, kjuliff)
    kjuliff: Existentialism
  6. 40
    The Man Who Watched Trains Go By by Georges Simenon (thorold)
    thorold: Respectable bourgeois discovers absurdity of life and commits motiveless crime.
  7. 62
    No Exit / Dirty Hands / The Flies / The Respectful Prostitute by Jean-Paul Sartre (HollyMS)
    HollyMS: I read both works in French class. Though Albert Camus denied being an existentialist, both L'Étranger (The Stranger) and Huis Clos (No Exit) have some common themes and are among some of the most important 20th century French works of literature.
  8. 30
    Barabbas by Pär Lagerkvist (Troddel)
  9. 41
    The Fall by Albert Camus (chrisharpe)
  10. 30
    No Exit by Jean-Paul Sartre (rretzler)
  11. 41
    Whatever by Michel Houellebecq (sanddancer)
  12. 10
    She Came to Stay by Simone de Beauvoir (JuliaMaria)
  13. 00
    The Pigeon by Patrick Süskind (P_S_Patrick)
    P_S_Patrick: Short, deeply existentialist novels of literary character.
  14. 00
    Homesick for Another World by Ottessa Moshfegh (j_aroche)
    j_aroche: If you ever feel like an alien in the wrong planet.
  15. 00
    The Execution: A Novel by Hugo Wilcken (sparemethecensor)
    sparemethecensor: Similar in style, theme, narration and execution. The Execution is a more modern version of the tale.
  16. 00
    The Adversary: A True Story of Monstrous Deception by Emmanuel Carrère (bertilak)
  17. 11
    The Family of Pascual Duarte by Camilo José Cela (thatguyzero)
  18. 01
    Cosmos by Witold Gombrowicz (Bitter_Grace)
  19. 12
    At the Existentialist Café: Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails with Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Albert Camus, Martin Heidegger, Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Others by Sarah Bakewell (JuliaMaria)
  20. 14
    The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick by Peter Handke (lewbs)

(see all 23 recommendations)

1940s (3)
Wanted (1)
AP Lit (97)
Find (4)
100 (31)
Loading...

Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.

» See also 728 mentions

English (422)  Spanish (11)  French (10)  Italian (9)  Dutch (5)  German (3)  Finnish (2)  Portuguese (2)  Danish (2)  Portuguese (Portugal) (2)  Catalan (2)  Portuguese (Brazil) (1)  Hebrew (1)  Swedish (1)  Norwegian (1)  Esperanto (1)  All (1)  Basque (1)  All languages (477)
Showing 1-5 of 422 (next | show all)
Straniero del mondo, insensibile e votato a un'oggettività vuota, almeno per chi lo circonda e decide di vivergli accanto e di giudicarlo. Una riflessione sul concetto di responsabilità e sul civile consesso che chiamiamo società. Difficile non parlar bene di un classico, eppure la prima parte scorre ricca e piena, la seconda (dopo l'arresto) più lenta e monotona. Una frase su tutte: «In fondo non c'è idea cui non si finisca per far l'abitudine». ( )
  d.v. | May 16, 2023 |
Strange. Unsettling ( )
  drmom62 | Apr 21, 2023 |
Reading this book in 2022, it’s about a man that we would probably classify as a psychopath or sociopath who murders a native person in the land he’s actively colonizing. His victim was arguably just trying to keep his sister away from harm at the protagonist’s friends hands as well. But this isn’t the “intended” reading of this book.

From a slightly different historical lens, the book is about a man who’s largely “harmless” but doesn’t conform to, or think about things the way everyone else does. The circumstances under which he kills someone are supposed to be extreme and forgivable enough to not be a big deal (I guess…) but it’s his lack of conformity that does him in.

If you’ve read Malcom Gladwell’s “Talking to Strangers”, it’s essentially the same logic that condemned Amanda Knox (except she was actually innocent), but explored more in-depth and played out in fiction.

As for being “absurdist”… maybe for some definition of “absurd”. I was expecting something more like the absurdism of “Don’t look up” (the movie) and its critique on society, but this was a little more… apathetic nihilism in my mind. ( )
  nimishg | Apr 12, 2023 |
when you die, it's a good moment to convince yourself that everything is meaningless, so you won't feel left out ( )
  hk- | Apr 12, 2023 |
What a brilliant book. Simple yet touched so deep in you! Loved it. Now I want to read all his books! ( )
  hongjunz | Feb 20, 2023 |
Showing 1-5 of 422 (next | show all)
It is quite a trick to write of life & death, as Camus does, in terms of an almost total social and moral vacuum. He may get philosophical satisfaction from it. Most readers will call it philosophic doodling.
added by Shortride | editTime (May 20, 1946)
 
"The Stranger,” a novel of crime and punishment by Albert Camus, published today, should touch off in this country a renewed burst of discussion about the young French writers who are at the moment making more unusual literary news than the writers of any other country.
 

» Add other authors (60 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Camus, Albertprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Bree, GermaineEditorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Brenner, Hans GeorgTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Cohen, Marc J.Designersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Davis, JonathanNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Davison, RayEditorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Dunwoodie, PeterIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Flower, J.E.Editorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Gilbert, StuartTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Goyert, GeorgTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Hall, BarnabyPhotographersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Laredo, JamesTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Laredo, JosephTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Lionni, LeoCover designersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Lynnes, Carlos, Jr.Editorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Mitchell, SusanArt directorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Morriën, AdriaanTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Stolpe, JanTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Urculo, EduardoIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Valente, José ÁngelTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Ward, MatthewTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Watkins, LiselotteCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Yentus, HelenCover designersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Zevi, AlbertoTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed

Is contained in

Has the adaptation

Is parodied in

Is replied to in

Has as a study

Has as a supplement

Has as a commentary on the text

Has as a student's study guide

You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.
For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.
Canonical title
Original title
Alternative titles
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Related movies
Awards and honors
Epigraph
Dedication
First words
Mother died today. (Stuart Gilbert translation)
Maman died today. (Matthew Ward translation)
Aujourd'hui, maman est morte. Ou peut-être hier, je ne sais pas.
Quotations
And I, too, felt ready to start life all over again. It was if that great rush of anger had washed me clean, emptied me of hope, and, gazing up at the dark sky spangled with its signs and stars, for the first time, the first, I laid my heart open to the benign indifference of the universe. To feel it so like myself, indeed, so brotherly, made me realize that I'd been happy, and that I was happy still.
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Original language
Canonical DDC/MDS
Canonical LCC
When a young Algerian named Meursault kills a man, his subsequent imprisonment and trial are puzzling and absurd. The apparently amoral Meursault--who puts little stock in ideas like love and God--seems to be on trial less for his murderous actions, and more for what the authorities believe is his deficient character.

No library descriptions found.

Book description
The day his mother dies, Meursault notices that it is very hot on the bus that is taking him from Algiers to the retirement home where his mother lived; so hot that he falls asleep.

Later, while waiting for the wake to begin, the harsh electric lights in the room make him extremely uncomfortable, so he gratefully accepts the coffee the caretaker offers him and smokes a cigarette. The same burning sun that so oppresses him during the funeral walk will once again blind the calm, reserved Meursault as he walks along a deserted beach a few days later-leading him to commit an irreparable act.

This new edition of Camus's classic novel The Stranger portrays an enigmatic man who commits a senseless crime and then calmly, and apparently indifferently, sits through his trial and hears himself condemned to death
Haiku summary
Je suis étranger.
Aujourd'hui, maman est morte.
Et je ne pleure pas.

Popular covers

Quick Links

Rating

Average: (3.95)
0.5 10
1 113
1.5 21
2 427
2.5 90
3 1521
3.5 361
4 2950
4.5 368
5 2487

Is this you?

Become a LibraryThing Author.

Penguin Australia

3 editions of this book were published by Penguin Australia.

Editions: 0141182504, 0241950058, 0141389583

Recorded Books

An edition of this book was published by Recorded Books.

» Publisher information page

 

About | Contact | Privacy/Terms | Help/FAQs | Blog | Store | APIs | TinyCat | Legacy Libraries | Early Reviewers | Common Knowledge | 188,244,706 books! | Top bar: Always visible