The Stranger (edition 1942)

by Albert Camus (Author), Matthew Ward (Translator)

Series: Cycle of the Absurd (1)

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skavlanj's review

I need to amend the category I assigned The Stranger to; it should be A Book You Can Finish In A Day But Might Not Fully Appreciate. Until the final chapter, this is a book whose first person narrator Meursault relates his personal history as if he were observing, rather than living, his life. He is not even a particularly interested observer, relating many of the events as though he is a reporter covering a slow news day. Although he leads a normal life from the standpoint of activities (friends, work, sex), he is detached from his life - indeed, often bored at the moments other people would be most emotionally invested. He is so disinvested in his mother's death that he is uncertain as to whether she died the day he received the telegram or the day before, and takes no interest in determining which day it occurred on. He does not even know his mother's age. He agrees to marry the woman he is sleeping with (you cannot describe his involvement with her in romantic terms) but readily admits he probably doesn't love her and would marry another woman that asked. Even his killing of a man he has no reason to kill is a mechanical act related in purely clinical fashion.

In Part Two we watch the events of the first part spun into a sinister tale by the prosecutor, leading to a sentence of death. Yet even this outcome doesn't change Meursault's demeanor. It is only a priest's attempt to get him to repent that finally provokes him to anger and an outpouring of his nihilistic outlook on life. The book's summation is both incredibly well written and incredibly morose. I find Meursault's acceptance of "the benign indifference of the universe" and his belief that we are all equally condemned regardless of our actions a poor excuse of a philosophy. My copy included an insert written by Camus over a decade after the book's publication. In it he characterizes his antihero as dying for the "truth", which I interpret (and reject) as: only by accepting the meaninglessness of life can we live to the fullest.

An interesting book that I enjoyed in spite of my disagreement with Camus' personal beliefs. (

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skavlanj | Dec 28, 2019 |

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ReadAroundTheWorld. Algeria

The Stranger was written in 1942 by Nobel prize-winning Algerian author Albert Camus and has been translated from French. It is hailed as a literary classic and masterpiece of existential philosophy and absurdism.

The story is set in Algiers. It begins with the narrator, a man called Meursault, going to pay his respects to his mother who has just died in a nursing home. In the second half of the book his friend Raymond gets into a fight with some Arabs on the beach. One of the Arabs is brother to Raymond’s ex-girlfriend, who Raymond beat up for cheating on him. Meursault talks Raymond out of shooting them, takes the gun, but later ends up shooting one of the men himself. He is put on trial, but the trial seems to focus more on his lack of emotion around his mother’s death than the events of the shooting.

Although I can appreciate the quality of the writing and depth of thought, I would have to honestly say I did not enjoy this book. The characters were not likeable, were repulsive even, and the story not particularly gripping. Maybe it was just too clever and sophisticated for me. (

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mimbza | Apr 22, 2024 |

141

PlayerTwo | Apr 20, 2024 |

120

PlayerTwo | Apr 20, 2024 |

Dafür, dass das Buch so kurz war, hat es sich ganz schön lang angefühlt. (

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idkwhattodo | Apr 20, 2024 |

The Stranger is cool and edgy existentialism if you're 15 years old. (

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trrpatton | Mar 20, 2024 |

Albert Camus en su cúspide literaria. La indiferencia como estilo de vida. (

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franhuer | Mar 19, 2024 |

The Stranger has arguably one of the best commentaries on the subject of amorality. It establishes a clear link between the protagonist and his surroundings while showing a complete sentimental detachment between them, providing a perfect setup for the second half of the book. The seemingly mundane state of affairs described in the first half serves as an incredible contrast to the state described in the second book, and The Stranger relies heavily on this contrast to reflect on the perils of being sociable while being amoral. (

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shadabejaz | Mar 18, 2024 |

I wish i could be more like the main character. To think more about myself, the immediate context, the moment. To let go all the complexity you can't control anyway. Reading the slightly detached thoughts of the character feels like flying on a fresh breeze along a sandy shore. (

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rubyman | Feb 21, 2024 |

i found the character intros in pt. 1 to be hilarious.

Meursault pretty much only cared about his current mood and direct setting. During pt. 2, he acts in a textbook "external locus of control" demeanor. (

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1ucaa | Feb 12, 2024 |

A strange look into the mind of a condemned man.
At first the story of a man who returns home when his mother dies - then his story when he is tried and convicted for shooting a man at the beach. In prison awaiting his death he ponders the meaning of his life mainly concluding it is absurd. (

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waldhaus1 | Dec 19, 2023 |

I reread this book so that I could remember what happened before reading The Meursault Investigation, by Daoud. I still don't find this book particularly fantastic. The main character is ok, just a dude who is not particularly emotional and who is matter-of-fact about everything. But he is also really clueless about how people react to him, and he and everyone around him seem to like overreacting to stuff, beyond what I found realistic. The nonchalant way the main character goes about murdering the Arab on the beach was interesting and also the way he just accepts his death sentence the way he's accepted everything else. But I did not find anything much to make me think this book was amazing enough to be on major booklists. (

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JBarringer | Dec 15, 2023 |

Meursault's mother has died, so he travels to her funeral at an assisted living facility outside of the city. When he returns home to Algiers continues drifting through life without any real motivation or preferences, until he ends up, for no reason he or anyone else can fathom, fatally shooting a stranger on the beach. He is then put through a rather futile murder trial.

This book has basically the vibes I was expecting, having read Camus before, but not the plot. It's hard to feel much sympathy for the narrator. He seems to genuinely have trouble engaging with the world but he also tacitly endorses animal abuse, domestic abuse, assault, racism, and lying to the police even though we know that he knows they are wrong. Oh, and the part where he shoots a stranger 5 times for no reason! The trial is slightly absurdist, as the prosecutor focuses on Meursault's relationship with his mother instead of his actions, but it's hard to argue he shouldn't be convicted for killing a person without any reason or remorse.

This edition was translated by Stuart Gilbert. The beginning of the book is very short choppy sentences, which led me to feel very removed from the narrator. That certainly could have been purposeful, based on the plot, but there's no translator's note so I'm not sure if it's just a translation quirk.

This book is not one I'm going to revisit, but I do still have a lot of thoughts. (

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norabelle414 | Nov 15, 2023 |

I admit part of this is me kneejerking against its reputation, although I genuinely didn't find much that made it worthwhile - it IS kind of interesting, although it's hard to understand the emphasis on "oh he doesn't react properly!" as opposed to him being a murderer and immediately joining in with a stranger's plot to violently assault a woman he's been pimping out. The narrator gives an affect of not caring but the enthusiasm with which he joins in with Raymond's violence is shocking - he refuses to help a long term neighbour find his dog, he refuses to care about his girlfriend's feelings, but a violent, racist pimp? Mersault is WAY up for that.

I suppose the like, deeper moral contrast is with Mersault killing a random Arab man supposedly because "it was hot" and the state killing him because he didn't properly fulfil his role as a French citizen. As someone pretty wholly opposed to the death penalty, there is something there. But it's hard to take the philosophising of Mersault seriously in the context that he did very much kill someone in cold blood, and if he had got away with it it would be because French settler society is horrifically racist.

I think there's a few interesting things to stew on but primarily Mersault is just like so many other racist, violent, misogynist men. I can imagine some of it was innovative at the time but similar ideas since make it seem shallow. There's something to be said for a portrait of an unpleasant man in a racist society but Camus doesn't really want to go into it. Frustrating book whose reputation surprises me. (

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tombomp | Oct 31, 2023 |

Fun fact: While I was reading the book, a lot of the behaviours and reasonings of Merault made me think of a person with Aspergers,and after doing some research it turns out that there is evidence that the character was based on Camus' friend who had Aspergers.

In The Stranger, the main character Meursault is a nihilist who believes that life has no meaning. He lives detached from the people around him and does not care about his life, family, or friends. He does not abide by society's rules or expectations. This ultimately seems not to be a choice he makes,but rather a lack of understanding on this part.

We see a transition happen throughout the novel where towards the end, Meursault is no longer indifferent towards the world's indifference. Instead, he embraces it. He realizes that regardless of what people think of him individually, even if they hate him, the human race at large is his companion because every life could turn out every way, and so they are all united even though they happened to turn out this way.

Meurault plays with the idea of human interchangeability. Yet, when he first mentions this idea at the beginning of the book, he does so in an apathetic and indifferent manner. Towards the end however, Meursault describes this passionately, as an ideal of human equality. That is because your life could have turned out any way, but it just happened to turn out this way, and therefore you must treasure it and accept it for what it is.

Aaah There is so much more to this book that I am probably missing. All in all, a powerful narrative that I will undoubtedly revisit in the future (

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enlasnubess | Oct 2, 2023 |

This is a book that deserves multiple readings and means different things to readers. I only read it once, and I am not sure if I understand it. But I think I know how the protagonist feels - the dont-want-to-care about things attitude, and doing things in the heat of the moment. Not to the extent of committing murder in the case of Meursault but sometimes, you don't know why you did certain things and you can't explain. (

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siok | Aug 27, 2023 |

"Like" doesn't really fit for this title. The work is darkly compelling with a man's whole world view outlined by plain sentence structure and chronological unfolding of ordinary horrifying events related in matter-of-fact first person. (

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rebwaring | Aug 14, 2023 |

An old favourite that I finally got round to reading in the original French and while it's faded somewhat for me over the years already as I've grown older and grown away from some of what initially struck a chord with me, I still like it a good deal and had been planning to delve into it from quite early on - surprised it took me this long.

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A really quick and easy read, I must have been close to the golden 98% comprehension while going through this as 200 pages has certainly never been so rapid for me in French. The simple prose meant just a few unfamiliar turns of phrase and some legal terminology required me to use the Kindle look-up, but otherwise this was quite seamless. (

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franderochefort | Aug 9, 2023 |

Is Merseault evil? His behavior and reactions disgust officials of the state, who seem to argue that he's totally lacking in emotion, as evidenced by his failure to weep at his mother's funeral. The central question is whether the reader is supposed to feel this same revulsion. Merseault's girlfriend, Marie, stands by him at the trial, along with his neighbors and acquaintances. But this doesn't change the fact that The Stranger is a world without a moral compass, where a man can abuse his dog and pine for its loss at the same time - similarly to Merseault's feelings about Marie?

I guess the absurdism is that the amoral, godless Merseault is being judged by the morality of a society that Camus sees as being a hollow facade. This novel is provocative for it cynicism about these moral questions. (

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jonbrammer | Jul 1, 2023 |

The sitcom "Seinfeld" is famously known as a "show about nothing." Of course the "Seinfeld" episodes are always about something (though often not immediately obvious) and could also be quite dark.
I think Camus might have enjoyed "Seinfeld." (

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smithart | Jun 8, 2023 |

How is morality determined? Is it possible to cut 'conscience' and 'love' into a formal framework? (

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kyl804 | Jun 4, 2023 |

A quick classic - themes related with those in CRIME AND PUNISHMENT. (

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alrajul | Jun 1, 2023 |

My thoughts on this book are kinda all over the place. i did not enjoy the first half. i mean i sorta like camus’ writing style, the mundanity and simplicity really emphasize how Normal—im just realizing i have no clue what the main dudes name is—but how normal he is. and then he kills the dude and he still is so normal. idk. he has no thoughts or feelings really, not until his trial and his sentence. now his trial was mildly interesting, and i really enjoyed the part where he’s awaiting death, i honestly think camus could have dragged it out to the moment of the execution for more introspection, because that was the best part. so yeah idk. obviously though its one of those books that isnt really meant to be like the #1 coolest story you’ve ever read the whole time. a lot of classics are like this, where its like “why the fuck am i even reading this” for 3/4ths of the book and the end is like OHHHHH, i annotated a little bit and that helped me pick up the symbolism of marie and the motif of heat so yea (

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ftrastism | Jun 1, 2023 |

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». (

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d.v. | May 16, 2023 |

Strange. Unsettling (

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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. (

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nimishg | Apr 12, 2023 |

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