The Stranger by Albert Camus
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Book Reviews of The Stranger
Book Review: It was very thought-provoking, raised interesting questions.
Summary: 5 Stars
When I first started reading it, or rather, more precisely, about 3 quarters of the way through it, I was somewhat puzzled, hoping that each new page I turned would reveal something that would point to the actual PURPOSE. I didn't think it was necessarily a BAD book, simply that i didn't see any real point to it. 'Why would anyone write a book like this?' i thought to myself. 'I mean this M. Meursault is just a comnpletely self-centered loser, indifferent to life itself.' By the last chapter, however, when he is thinking over his ever-looming beheadment, the writing and descriptions of the concept of life and death to an ordinary person with no real biases whatsoever, was so thought-proking and beautiful that i could've cried. After finishing it, however, i was still a little confused as to what the point was. About 3 days later, i was still thinking about it, mulling each chapter over in my head--a definite sign of a good book. (After all, even if one can read a book, give it a shallow label of "good", but never thinks about it again or probes it for meaning, how good was it?) Finally, (I think) I came to a conclusion: M. Meursault's thoughts as he was awaiting his execution finally resulted in a basic gist of "well, we all gotta die sometime, so really, no big deal." I think the contrasting, implied meaning that Camus was trying to bring out was, "yeah, we all gotta die sometime, THUS, it's not death--how it's carried out, or when it occurs--that's important, but rather, what you do on this earth in LIFE." I believe M. Meursault's last remark, "For all to be accomplished, for me to feel less lonely, all that remained to hope was that on the day of my execution there should be a huge crowd of spectators and that they should greet me with howls of execration", summed that very idea up well, indeed. It sort of leaves one (or at least ME) with an impression that M. Meursault has one last resolve to make something memorable and extraordinary out of his life, if it be only his execution; one last attempt at trying to live out the life he remained passive and indifferent toward during his time on earthBook Review: A Fabulous and Disciplined Novella
Summary: 5 Stars
Camus primarily explores two issues in THE STRANGER. These are the "gentle indifference of the world" and the element of the absurd--that is, A could occur and your life would move of this path; or B could occur and your life would be completely different.
These issues are embodied in the experience of the Meursault, the narrator of this two-part novella. In Part I, Meursault appears oddly detached from life. He is distant and unemotional at the wake and burial of his mother, does not mourn her death, and has superficial social interactions. Then, when walking with two men who he barely knows, he participates in a brief brawl, where one of his acquaintances is knifed. Meursault and his acquaintances leave. But he returns to the scene of the fight where he, perhaps inadvertently, encounters the perp with the knife. For a moment, anything might happen. But then, the immediate contents of his life--the death of his mother, his anger at the fight, his need to defend himself, and the bright and brutal sun of North Africa where he lives--explode in his act of murder, which is sensationalized in the newspapers.
In Part II, Camus explores what has happened. Is the murder the action of a detached psychopath, as the prosecutor contends. Or, is this the act of an ordinary man, who in an emotional outburst kills someone. As Meursault's lawyer retorts as the prosecutor builds the case against his client, "...everything is true and nothing is true."
Meanwhile, Meursault's acquaintances testify on his behalf, credibly attributing the murder to chance or bad luck. And, Meursault, alone in his jail cell, begins to reveal a sensibility that, while apparently detached from life, also richly values the commonplace qualities of mundane experience. He is a lover and poet of the ordinary, who like the world, is "gently indifferent."
The final chapter of THE STRANGER is absolutely great, with Meursault affirming his commitment to life's beauty and gentle indifference, not capitulating to pressure to endorse Christian dogma to lessen his ordeal.
Not a thought out of place and highly recommended.
Book Review: 29-year-old Albert Camus's seminal contribution to modern literature
Summary: 5 Stars
The edition of THE STRANGER I own is an old Vintage paperback, with a "V-2" Vintage designation in the lower-left corner and a $1.25 price tag in the lower-right corner. The translator is Gilbert Stuart, not Matthew Ward.
This is the third or fourth time I have read the Stuart translation of THE STRANGER. (I really don't care which translation is better; by now the Stuart one is for me definitive.) When I first read THE STRANGER, in my teens, it was obligatory reading for the young aspiring intellectual and I am sure that my response to it was heavily influenced by what I understood to be the received wisdom. When I read it about ten years ago, I was put off by the self-centered indifference of Meursault, and I tended to think the novel was intellectually puerile. (For years, after all, I had been hearing that Camus was over-rated.) Now, frankly, I am impressed by it. The tale is deceptively simple, yet upon analysis, the novel becomes surprisingly complex; it is almost mythical in its potential interpretations and "messages".
As a parenthetical, I also am now struck by how colonial the attitude of the novel is. Not only do the Arabs appear in stereotype as the menacing "Other" and not only does Meursault more or less cold-bloodedly murder one. But - something that hadn't registered on me before - not one Arab is called as a witness at Meursault's trial. In pre-WWII French Algeria, the Arabs were indeed a sub-class, part of the fauna of the territory, and Meursault truly is sentenced to death for not displaying conventional grief upon the death of his mother rather than for shooting a human being on a stiflingly hot, blindingly sunny beach.
Although THE STRANGER is not a perfect novel, it is somewhat astonishing to realize that it is the work of a 29-year-old, and it need not give anyone pause to see it listed as one of the seminal works of literature of the 20th Century. Indeed, it is one of those books that might profitably be read every 15 years or so, to help the reader judge how he is coming to terms with his place in the universe.
Book Review: perfect freedom
Summary: 5 Stars
"The stranger(L'etranger)" is a story of someone named, "Meursault", but at the same time of ourselves. I first
felt him strange, then gradually familiar with myself. This is
perhaps because he is not a real "stranger."
When Meursault's mother dies, his reactions are not what
other people expect from him, such as mourning or at least
weeping in front of the dead. However, he is too tired to
satisfy those expectations and smokes a cigarette,instead.
After that he meets his girlfriend, has sex with her, goes to
the beach and kills a guy due to the burning sun who is trying
to attack his companion. That's all. There isn't any evil
intention or hostile motive in his attitude.
From my point of view, the most remarkable part of this book
is when Meursault looks at the sky and the moon through the
small hole in ceiling of the prison. According to him, he feels
the repletion full of happiness that he could never have
before, recollecting all the memories from the past. For the
short moment, he is freed from everything and everyone and
becomes the perfect sole. I would call this, the "Perfect
freedom."
A man made up of apathy,indifference, and selfishness is
Meursault. He is not interested in anything related to others
and doesn't try to turn their attention to him. That's why I
cannot hate him but synpathise with him. He is not a cruel
murderer,undutiful son,unfaithful lover or liar. All we need to
know about him while reading this book is to understand him as
the way he is. And then look at ourselves. There is not much
difference between him and us. He is our reflection and
representative of what we cannot easily express ouside. I would
rather be a "Meursault" than the judge or the jury. The
word, "Stranger" leads to the feeling of some rejection. People
usually call something strange if it is different or unfamiliar
with them. However, from the person's point of view they all
are the "Strangers."
Book Review: Camus' truths are 'Stranger' than fiction.
Summary: 5 Stars
Nobel Prize winner, French author and philosopher, Albert Camus's (1913-1960) The Stranger (L'Étranger) (1942), tells the story of an alienated man, Meursault, who commits a murder and waits to be executed. The novel is set in Algeria, and opens with Meursault attending his mother's funeral where, in his resignation, he does not express any emotions. A few days before the funeral he helped a neighbor, Raymond Sintès, dismiss an Arab mistress. When the two are later confronted by the woman's brothers on a beach, Meursault shoots one of them, and then shoots the dead "Arab" four more times. "And it was like knocking four quick times on the door of unhgappiness" (p. 59). At his trial, lawyers take interest in Meursault's lack of emotion at his mother's funeral, and suggest he is incapable of remorse and, therefore, poses a danger to society. Consequently, he is sentenced to death. While waiting for his execution, a chaplain visits Meursault, and encourages him to turn to God. Mersault says he only has a little time left, and doesn't want to waste it on God. He instead opens himself "to the gentle indifference of the world . . . so like a brother, really" (pp. 122-23).
The story may be simple, but it has great philosophical depth. Whereas The Stranger is often referred to as an existential novel, Camus rejected any ideological associations, and stated, "No, I am not an existentialist. Sartre and I are always surprised to see our names linked." Nevertheless influenced to some extent by his friend, Jean-Paul Sartre's ideas, Camus' novel is based on his own philosophy of the absurd. There is no Truth, only relative truths. Truths in science (empiricism/rationality) and religion are ultimately meaningless. The only real things are those that we experience physically. Only after being tried and sentenced to death does Meursault acknowledge his own mortality and his responsibility for his own life. A powerful, highly-recommended classic.
G. Merritt