The Stranger by Albert Camus
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Book Reviews of The Stranger
Book Review: Remarkable Imagery
Summary: 5 Stars
***SPOILER INCLUDED****
The story based around the deaths of Meursault's mother, a distant acquaintance of his, and his execution is ludicrous, yet the mindsets of the characters are strikingly real and fitting considering the situations that they are faced with.
The plot is just plain ridiculous. Meursault, the protagonist, subsequent to partaking in his mother's funeral, kills a man because the sun gets in his eyes and he blunders, clicking the trigger, and then letting the barrel pop four more times.
After spending months in jail awaiting a trial, the magistrate tells Meursault that he can be forgiven for his crime, with the help of God. Meanwhile, the presiding judge believes that Meursault has no soul. Therein lies the theme of the novel: are Meursault's qualities attributed to an underdeveloped way of thinking and expressing himself, or do his actions speak for themselves, proving that he is all but inhuman, a man, or even a spectacle, with no soul? What makes this argument so compelling is that it is easy to identify with Meursault, but his actions take on a role of their own. He is seemingly indifferent to just about everything, with exception to being imprisoned. But even that he gets used to. His carelessness may be due to subconscious depression. Is he hiding his true feelings? There's plenty of evidence to argue this point..
When Meursault visits his mother's funeral home, he falls asleep in an abnormal position, possibly so that he doesn't have to deal with his thoughts of his loss. When he arrives at the home, he notices minute details of all of the old men and women there, including those of the caretaker, the funeral home manager, and Mr. Perez. He distracts himself from thinking about his mother. He clearly has feelings for her, however, because later in the novel, when he's in trial, he can't help but be infuriated at himself for not crying on the day of the burial. When Meursault shoots the Arab five times, he envisions knocking on the door of unhappiness with each hit. Is he doing himself in because deep down he thinks he deserves it? Is his crude indifference towards the world mistaken for his open mind and lack of understanding of others, and of himself?
On the other hand, may be merciless and hard headed. He doesn't know how old his mother was when she died, or exactly when she died, and he is under the impression that being at her funeral is a bother, because he could be doing other things, and later he admits that he deserves to be killed.
Meursault's relationship with his girlfriend, Marie is essential in this novel. Whether Meursault has a soul or not is debatable, but his admiration for Marie is not. He uses love as a distraction from his worries, and the pairing of the couple is perfect fit. Marie appears to be as open minded as Meursault, and while Meursault voices that he doesn't seem to care about much of anything, which might be perceived as an immature viewpoint, Marie demonstrates the same notion through her innocent laughs. But neither Meursault nor Marie are really innocent. Marie wants to be with Meursault in bed, and, like Meursault, doesn't seem to have much else on her mind. Meanwhile, Meursault writes a letter for his friend threatening his friend's girlfriend, and later he hears them fight without intervening. Yet, in a way, the two still are innocent until they face Meursault's prison sentence and execution.
Meursault is a criminal, whether or not it was his intention, but he has feelings, just like everyone else. And his thought process makes more sense after his prison sentence than anywhere else in the novel. The reality of his emotions, during the time he spends in lock up, jump out of the page. I don't believe this work would have earned Albert Camus the Nobel Prize without the detail in the final pages. Suddenly, Meursault sees the world in a different light. He had taken his life for granted when he was a free man, wasting time watching passer-bys in the street from his porch, keeping anything important from lingering on his mind. And now the only thing he can think about is his anticipitated death, the most important thing in his life. Why hadn't he learned more about the guillotine? he wondered. Why didn't he read books on escaping prison? Impetuously, Meursault began thinking, but it was too late. Even without knowing his fate, Meursault could have imagined potential decision based outcomes, such as going through with marrying Marie. But he had decided not to think, because he didn't have to. He didn't think when he committed murder. He didn't even have the ability to think about why he did it. Was Meursault gutless and cold hearted or did his thoughtlessness become a danger to himself? The moments leading up to his execution represented a new life for him, as he finally began to think about his previous actions and the tolls they took on himself and everyone who he knew, all of whom testified in court. He was finally able to see the light, but it was too late. Even while seated in the courtroom, where there was no way to see the sun, Meursault was able to sense what time of day it was by the sounds outside. The sun had haunted Meursault throughout the book. Everywhere he went, he was too hot. As he killed the Arab, he was attempting to get out of the sun. But the light is exactly what he needed. And that's the irony of the novel.
This is not a novel to read for its story. The plot has little significance in the beauty of "The Stranger." In fact, if someone explained every detail of the book before you read it, they wouldn't be giving much away. It's the style of Camus's writing, even after surviving a translation, that captures the mind of his readers. "The Stranger" is a must read masterpiece of literature.
Book Review: A bleak, haunting world without hope
Summary: 5 Stars
Although Camus' The Stranger completely goes completely against my entire belief structure; it is a simple masterpiece of human indifference. It illustrates how many people in this world think, react, and feel about the purpose of life and whether any of it has meaning. The Stranger explores issues such as irrationality in the universe, the meaninglessness of human life, and how important the physical world is. Camus was himself a proclaimed atheist and these bleak issues shine through in the most haunting way.
The Stranger is told in first person by a character named Meursault. He is attending his mother's funeral. He really doesn't care too much that his mother has just passed away. Merusault has a cold indifference concerning everything around him. He feels nothing most of the time, but he still feels very much like a real human being and not a cardboard narrator. On the day of the funeral, he mostly notices the weather and how hot it is, instead of what he should be focusing on: the death of his mother.
The day after the funeral, life is back to normal again. Nothing has changed for Meursault. He meets a girl, takes her to a movie, and spends the night with her. This is a key sequence describing how logic never seems to grab hold of him. Where did he develop this attitude from? The novel never really explains, but our belief structure can never totally be explained.
Meursault, soon after, develops a friendship with a man named Raymond. Raymond has a furious temper and has been known to assault women. On one occasion he beats up his Arab mistress rather badly. This leads to revenge that is attempted on him and Meursault later on in the novel by the mistress's brother and his friend.
The climax of novel occurs on a sun drenched beach. Raymond has invited Merusault and his girlfriend Marie to spend the day there with a couple of friends. The morning starts out well enough. This small group of people goes swimming, talk, and eat a pleasant lunch together.
After lunch Merusault, Raymond, and another fellow named Masson decide to go out walking. They spot the Arab brother of this mistress Raymond assaulted. He is with a friend, walking towards them. As they grow closer towards one another a fight breaks out, Raymond is stabbed, and the two Arab's flee. It turns out Raymond didn't suffer any major blows, however, and his is patched up at the hospital within a couple of hours.
Later on that afternoon, Merusault and Raymond spot the two Arabs again on the beach. They stare at each other coldly, but no outbreak occurs and the Arabs walk away, Raymond and Merusault continue walking and Raymond decides he needs a rest. Merusault asks him for his gun and heads back in the other direction.
Merusault soon spots one of the Arabs lying down on the beach, and in one of the most explosive and tense scenes in all of literature, guns him down.
Part two of the novel deals with Merusault's time in prison, the trial of his crime, and the delivery of his sentence. This is philosophical section of the novel and possible the finest. Merusault is left alone with his thoughts which become increasingly urgent with impending doom weighing down upon his mind.
The tone of The Stranger is appropriately detached and empty, much like its narrator. Notice how Merusault doesn't acknowledge anything by using judgment or emotion.
He simply points out the "physical" things that people do around him. The weather being hot... the nice skin on a girl...the sand on the beach. He never states emotional things such as: I really loved being with her.....I liked the way she made me feel.....He had a good personality. Things like this are not noticed. Only the physical aspects of the world around him are. This is an underlying symbol of his detachment with God and the emotional side of the world he lives in. Merusault never breaks character. Camus molds him into the symbol of his own beliefs and never once strays from that path.
It ironic that at the moment Merusault gives up all hope is the moment he is at peace and happy. As long as he clings to hope he is miserable. There is a key sequence at the end of the novel between him and the Chaplin. The Chaplin cannot accept that Merusault will not turn to God in his hour of need, but Merusault cannot understand why the Chaplin can believe in something that is illogical and unreal. When we die, that is all there is. Human life has no greater meaning.
That is the central issue of the novel. There is no logic in the universe. There is no God, no higher being, no fate, destiny, or any outside force acting upon us. We are simply creatures of chance and coincidence. Personally, I feel that is a very bleak way to describe the world, but nevertheless it is a view many people believe in.
The Stranger didn't change any of my beliefs, but it gave me a greater understanding into the minds of others. It unflinchingly went against all that I hold sacred. But it made me think long and hard. It helped shed some light on why people are the way they are, and at the same time strengthened the beliefs that make me who I am. That is one right we all have and no one can take from us: our beliefs and values. I felt like I was right there with Merusault in his hopeless little world he lived in. What makes a novel great is not whether or not you agree with the issues presented by an author, but rather the way the author presents them....and there aren't many greater at doing that then The Stranger.
Grade: A
Book Review: A Novel that Illustrates a Different Way of Thinking
Summary: 5 Stars
+++++
(This review is for the paperback "The Stranger," translated by Matthew Ward, and published by Vintage in 1989.)
This particular book has four major sections:
(1) Introduction (15 pages). It is excellent and I highly recommend reading it carefully before reading the novel itself. It explains, among other things, how the entire novel is related to existentialism. Even though not explicitly stated, this introduction also tells us about the nihilistic aspects of this novel.
Existentialism is a twentieth-century philosophical movement whose emphasis is upon personal decision to be made in a world without reason and without purpose. It also emphasizes such things as subjectivity, free will, and individuality.
This movement has spawned a form of psychotherapy called existential therapy that is concerned with the present and not with the past or future.
Nihilism in philosophy is the denial of existence of any basis for knowledge or truth. It is the general rejection of customary beliefs in morality, religion, and so on. As well, it stresses the belief that there is no meaning or purpose to existence.
(2) Chronology (4 pages). Traces in table form the author's life (among other things). The novel is by Albert Camus (1913 to 1960) who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957. The novel was first published in 1942 in French and titled "The Outsider." Camus died in a car accident.
(3) Translator's Note (2 pages). The novel was translated from the French by poet and critic Matthew Ward. Ward states that the "'simplicity' of the text is merely apparent and everywhere paradoxical."
(4) The Actual Novel (115 pages). This novel is divided into two nearly equal parts of six and five chapters respectively.
Part one details the routine, mechanical nature of the main character's everyday life up to the point where he commits a murder. In part two we see how the main character is jolted out of his routine life since he now has to stand trial.
There are only four major characters in this novel:
(1) Meursault. A Frenchman who is the main character or "existentialist hero" of the novel. The entire story is told through his eyes.
(2) Maman, Meursault's mother. She is not a living character but her presence is felt throughout the novel.
(3) Raymond, Meursault's friend. He is indirectly the cause of why Meursault ends up in jail, is convicted of murder, and sentenced to death.
(4) Marie, Meursault's girlfriend. Meursault cares for her, but not in the same way that she cares for him.
There are eleven minor characters. They are all crucial to the story.
The writing in the novel is simple and laconic but powerful. The novel begins with the following: "Maman died today. Or maybe yesterday. I don't know." It ends with the following: "I...only...wish that there be a large crowd of spectators the day of my execution and that they greet me with cries of hate."
The themes or topics that run throughout the novel are many. Some of these are as follows:
Death, detachment, indifference, observation, alienation, spiritual exhaustion, apathy, absurdity, callousness, immorality, unemotionalism, and ambiguity.
I should warn potential readers of this novel that those unfamiliar with and that do not understand the concepts of existentialism and nihilism may respond with anger towards this novel. All the one and two star reviews below this review illustrate this. What this means is that Camus did a good job in writing his novel.
What I did was take a word or a phrase from the first five, one and two star reviews below this one. These words describe existentialism and/or nihilism and express anger. They are as follows:
(1) "[B]ook...sucks" (this reviewer is angry).
(2) "[M]onotonous" book since it elaborates on the routine nature of Meursault's life.
(3) "[A]ll Meursault reacts to are the most basic wants...food, sex, warmth, sleep."
(4) "Meursault was an emotionless, hopeless, and disgusting man."
(5) "I am...angry that I had to read this crap."
In conclusion, this is an exceptional book that describes a different type of thinking. Don't miss this unique story!!
+++++
Book Review: Essential reading, essential Camus
Summary: 5 Stars
This excellent novel is essential reading for students and lovers of literature; especially for those interested in Western philosophy. The Stranger, the first of Camus' three major novels, was written in French in 1942 and first translated into English in 1946. His other two major novels are The Plague written in 1947 and The Fall written in 1956. Camus also wrote numerous essays, plays, short stories, and letters that have been published. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957.Among all his works The Stranger remains his best known and most widely read work. However, it should not be understood as the culmination of Camus' philosophical thought, but rather as a relatively early iteration in its evolution. Likewise, it is not a definitive presentation of existentialism. Rather, The Stranger and his other writings represent Camus' particular existential philosophy; and his view sometimes conflicted with those of others, such as Jean Paul Sartre.
The Stranger's greatness does not lie in the beauty of its prose or in the vividness of its description; but rather in its superb construction, symbolism, and profound philosophical message. The novel is tightly crafted, mostly simple in language and sentence structure, sparse in description, and even sparser in the thought and reflection of its characters. But it does paint a stark picture and creates a disquieting mood in the reader's mind of a world that presses itself into one's senses. The sun and heat are prevalent symbols in this novel. They press against the main character, Meursault inescapably, inexorably, yet indifferently. They symbolize the whole of reality; aspects of which are continually present in our thoughts, feelings, and senses, sometimes pleasantly, sometimes unpleasantly, but always with "benign indifference" and without meaning.
Meursault is also pressed by people and events that are random, meaningless, and absurd. And due to his own indifference Meursault rarely acts, instead he reacts to their wishes and to events happening around him. He even agrees to get married just because his girlfriend asks him in this excerpt:
Marie came that evening and asked me if I'd marry her. I said I didn't mind; if she was keen on it, we'd get married.
Then she asked me again if I loved her. I replied much as before, that her question meant nothing or next to nothing - but I supposed I didn't.
"If that's how you feel," she said, "why marry me?"
I explained that it had no importance really, but, if it would give her pleasure, we could get married right away. I pointed out that, anyhow, the suggestion came from her; as for me, I'd merely said, "Yes."
Then she remarked that marriage was a serious matter.
To which I answered: "No."
This is not just empty-headed indifference. It is indifference with a cause. If life is meaningless, even worse than that, is absurd, how can a person care about the pointless activities of people? To ascribe meaning or significance to anything, especially abstract things such as love of another person, is delusion, ignoring the absurdity of life in which death is the only final outcome.
Near the end of the novel Meursault is faced with his own impending death; and he hopes, absurdly, for a way to avoid what is unavoidable. Then when pushed by a priest to turn to God for solace and to save his soul, Meursault, in a fit of anger, has an epiphany. His thinking crystallizes. He sees clearly the inexorable yet benign indifference of the world, his own indifference, and his appropriate intimate connection to it. Thus, he concludes, happily, the way he had lived his life and his view of life are justified and correct. Unlike the priest, Meursault is deeply connected to this world, to reality, and to the present moment. He is not living as if already dead, neglecting the present reality while hoping to live in some abstract future afterlife. Further, abstract ideas and other delusions about reality (e.g. sin, love, etc.) do not determine his choices nor cloud his view of reality.
So, as a result of his epiphany, Meursault is now "on the brink of freedom, ready to start life over again" in each moment of life remaining. And when death does come, with its final absurdity, one may assume he just might die with a smile on his face after all.
Book Review: stranger is all too familiar
Summary: 5 Stars
Our society has a weird setup, which is something that i realized a few years ago. It's one that has morale, values and belief systems that practically everyone accepts in one way or another, but often contradicts. although the fact that moral is a belief is something that we should all get credit for. so what happens if you have a disaffected, amoral non-believer present in the society? that's the question that camus examines in "the stranger" and gives its readers an answer i don't think many were prepared for.the novel has a pretty simple plot. it's about a young man named mersualt who has a job, lives in a flat, has a girlfriend, and committs murder by accident. he's sent to trial and the jury decides to execute him by guillotene.
that's the book on a shallow front but it really folds into a character study of a young man who has been abandoned by morals, values and traditional views by standard society. mersualt is concerned mostly with the present and not thoughtful about the future. he gets excited over jumping on a car, but turns an opportunity to get married, change jobs and move. his concern is mostly over physical sensation and morals take a backseat. he is observant and at times self centered. he doesn't reflect on his views and values until he's forced to and his physical desires are left empty.
camus does a great job in "the stranger" because it examines part of our value system and demostrates that some people may be closer to being amoral than they want to think. when i first read the novel i was about 15 and i thought it was cool odyseey into a character who reveals thoughts and does things that i don't think many people have the gaul to do. i read it a second time in my English class and a lot of people had adverse reactions to it. most people were stuck on the murder, his language, and how dare he hang out with pimps and talk about his girlfriend so carelessly! where are his morals! so during a discussion i happened to say that the character just didn't have a concrete view on what's good or bad, nor were his values determined by society's standards. for example, he doesn't cry during his mother's funeral. well, i didn't cry during my father's and i was 10. does that mean that i am an example of evil? no. mersualt (and i) both see death a natural act, although it's standard convention for someone to be extremely mournful at a funeral. in other words, common morals are sort of a way to bond people and add value to life. if people at least have the belief then they are still people, right? mesualts views are determined by his own standards, and he didn't really have a reason to be concerned about other people and their current state until his life depends on it.
the reason why the stranger was such a profound book is because of the reaction that it got out of people. i can say this, because most of my classmates were disgusted with mersualt and i had to say that people treat others like this all the time. and it's also an examination of the concious that a lot of people are unwilling to admit to. mersualt is not sugarcoated by society's standards, although he is broght to trial for that.
the other characters are central to the story as well. marie is devoted to sensual pleasures as much as mersualt, and the pimp (sorry, i forgot his name) sees mersualt as a good person. other characters saw him as weird. their interpretation of mersualt, who demonstrates camus' rule of absurdity is a representation on society's interpretation of the rule itself.
the stranger is all too familiar in our society and presents an alternative in the rule of absurdity which could be accepted with a few changes. the stranger provokes, assualts and challenges the belief systems of current society, which is a question that will always remain contemporary although the book is about 80 years old. i tip my hat off to camus. this book is not a must read that can easily be discarded. it should be required of everyone in order to gain insight into our world, the validity of our beliefs and understanding of ourselves.