The StrangerThe Stranger by Albert Camus is a very short novel that can easily be read in an afternoon. However, digesting the content will certainly take much longer as this little novel raises serious questions about morality, society, justice, religion, and individuality. The Stranger is recounted in first person is a very direct, no nonsense style. The narrator is named Meursault and the story opens with him reading a telegram informing him of his mother's death. Meusault is not overly shocked as his mother is old and has been living in a home for the elderly. Outwardly, he doesn't become overcome with grief. At the funeral he doesn't cry as he is actually more overcome with heat due to the hot Algerian summer than with grief. The funeral is followed by more everyday events and an ill-fated growing friendship with a local pimp. Somehow the forces of nature and man conspire to work on Meursault in a manner that causes a sudden outburst of violence that shatters his world. |
