Albert Camus' "The Stranger" (1923)

Elisabeth Haueter: Philosophy

United States on Feb 18, 2024

Vince Nicoara: The writing style is very simplistic, kind of reminds me of Ernest Hemingway - which isn't my favorite writing style, but the themes of the book are very interesting.

I think the meat of the book is condensed in a relatively small number of pages at the end of the book, so if you're reading it and not super enthusiastic about it, I would recommend finishing it since its such a short book and gets more rewarding at the end and uncovers some of the main themes more explicitly.

I think the author doesn't do a good job of steelmanning the Christian's viewpoint at the end of the novel, which makes it less convincing in my opinion, but maybe that was his point - that most people wouldn't be able to accurately explain why you should follow their morality.

United States on Feb 07, 2024

shon: I enjoyed the simplicity of the language and how easy it is to read, great story and message.

United States on Feb 04, 2024

EsraEsra:

Sweden on Sep 04, 2023

Teo saruga: This book isn't very hard to read and is therefore very accessable to anyone. even those who don't usually read. It conveys a very interesting POV from the protagonist in the way that it is written. Everything feels intentional which makes it a well rounded book overall. Can only recommend!

Germany on Aug 17, 2023

Sara: The media could not be loaded.  es el tamaño que esperaba, todo bien con el pedido y llegó más rápido de lo planeado.

Mexico on Jun 12, 2023

Dominika Dominika : Książka przyszła cała pogięta

Poland on Mar 22, 2023

Karl Janssen: Albert Camus, winner of the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature, was born in Algeria to French parents when the North African nation was ruled as a colony of France. Algeria also serves as the setting for his 1942 novel The Stranger. Its protagonist, Meursault, was born in France and has settled in North Africa with his mother. In his adopted homeland, Meursault lives as a Frenchman and only associates with other European settlers. This makes him “L’Étranger”—the French title of the work, which can be translated as the “foreigner,” “The Outsider” (the book’s British title) or “The Stranger” (its American title). Only a few Arab citizens of Algeria appear in the book, and they remain unnamed, referred to only as “the Arab,” thus emphasizing Meursault’s (and France’s) detachment from his colonial home.

Meursault’s indifference, however, is not directed at any particular race or demographic, but rather at the world and life in general, making him somewhat of a stranger to humanity. Under almost all circumstances, he demonstrates himself peculiarly incapable of feeling empathy or emotion, whether anger, fear, or love. Meursault...

United States on Jun 28, 2021

Pedro: Camus’ The Stranger is a very short, weird, and powerful book. It tells the story of Meursault, a man that just buried his mother and lives an ordinary life in French Algeria. Towards the middle of the book the main event of the story takes place, with the second part presenting some of the deepest questions I’ve ever read as a result of this action.

Without spoiling the MacGuffin, what struck me the most was Camus’ writing style and choice of words. Everything seems detached, foggy: Meursault is certainly a weird character but its difficult not to empathize with him in some parts of the book. The brief, staccato style, especially in the first half of the book reinforces this detachment and the overall weirdness one feels about everything that is being told. His relationship with the characters and the expectations that others put on him serves as a weird critique of our current customs.

The last two chapters of the book struck me enormously. The predicament of Meursault and the way Camus frames this is masterful and very deep. The way the author presents the futility of it all is haunting. As with the rest of the book, it must be experienced:...

Brazil on May 26, 2021

D. F. Whipple: This is not light reading. Despite its length of 123 pages, The Stranger is a literary endurance test: exhausting, exhaustive, excruciating ... and excellent.

Meursault is nobody special. A pied-noir residing in pre-World War II Algeria, he guns down an Arab in cold blood on a blistering summer day. The protagonist is thrust into the limelight, and a man who once took life at face value finds himself examining a vacuous life.

Such is the plot, but this author's main interests lies elsewhere. Is life not absurd, Camus challenges us through his anti-hero Mersault, when human life is so terminal and soon-forgotten? If yes, why not thrash it and mock it? This question of the absurd has drawn many comparisons with Kierkegaard and Dostoevsky, but Camus shook off the existentalist moniker, and this is a tribute to the Frenchman's intellectual honesty. For the idea of the absurd in this novella contrasts sharply with those of classic existentalists, and Camus's artistic technique differs as well.

My reading of The Stranger hinged on whether, like existentialists, Camus intended to create humor or artistic distance, and in the end, finding no such...

United States on Feb 29, 2008