This was another profound read despite it's brevity. I would wonder if the protagonist would be classified as neuro-diverse in our more contemporary society and hence receive a more compassionate sentence. Death by guillotine is frankly, abhorrent. ( )

my man just didnt give 2 Fs goddamn ( )

Albert Camus asks the reader to ponder if there is meaning to be found in a cold, unforgiving universe in his novel titled The Stranger. Camus explores his own thought process by declaring human existence to be not only irrational but aso purposeless, in which the novel becomes a platform for his philosophy of absurdism. The novel follows an apathetic man by the name of Meursault who receives news that his mother is deceased, in which he responds to callously by stating that wasn’t sure if she died the day he received the news or before it. In Algiers’ sweltering summer heat, he bides his time with activities that do nothing to stave his apathy and detachment. He is embroiled into a conflict between a group of men and his seedy neighbour, whomst he vouched for earlier when he got arrested for abusing a woman related to one of the men within the group.

His coincidental embroilment leads to the part the book is most famous for, his shooting and subsequent murder of a man for no reason other than being frustrated by the summer heat. Camus lays the foundation for his take on the nature of our existences in this quote: “We [Raymond and Meursault] stared at each other without blinking, and everything came to a stop there between the sea, the sand, and the sun, and the double silence of the flute and the water. It was then that I realized that you could either shoot or not shoot.” Meursault faces the potential of murder with startling detachment, measuring both potential decisions with the same weight.

The Stranger makes itself an engaging read whilst also exploring philosophical thought in an appealing and accessible manner. The world in which Meursault resides is one that believes that there exists a rational explanation for our existence or something to believe in. Meursault’s crime and lack of remorse takes a provocative stance as it rebels against the foundational ideals of the society that everyone abides by; the idea that there is a meaning in our existence. Meursault, or more accurately Camus, rebels against the idea of a higher power or purpose which threatens the readily accepted status quo. This can be seen in a passage shortly before Meursault is executed:

“Nothing, nothing mattered, and I knew why […] what did other people’s deaths or a mother’s love matter to me; what did his God or the lives people choose or the fate they think they elect matter to me when we’re all elected by the same fate, me and billions of privileged people like him […]? Couldn’t he see, couldn’t he see that? Everybody was privileged. There were only privileged people. The others would all be condemned one day.”

Camus takes the stance that all of our lives are equal because of the fact we will all eventually die, or in other words, we are all equal in death. It doesn’t matter what we do when the ending is exactly the same. I believe Camus’ writing style only enhances my enjoyment of the novel, as it's written with simple, direct language that makes the concepts that he employs within his writing easier to understand. I believe this book should be read by all people who are interested in the philosophy of existentialism or absurdism, as Camus is able to tackle the topic masterfully whilst maintaining the digestibility of a typical literary novel.

The same reasons I recommend the book to others is the same reason I am rating it 4.5 stars. I have always had an interest in philosophy but had difficulty getting into dense books with convoluted language. Camus was able to bypass this by writing a novel exploring the issue with metaphors and direct language. The only critique I have for the novel is that its beginning is very slow-paced as its purpose is to set up for the larger themes of the story. All in all, I believe The Stranger to be a very enjoyable and thought-provoking read that I would not be opposed to rereading later. ( )

The world of The Stranger no longer exists. There is no more French colonial north Africa. Algeria is independent and the concept of colonies no longer makes sense to anyone. But we live with its legacies. We still have others, strangers. Camus's message is still relevant. Frenchmen were still dominant. Camus pushes the concept even further. The central character is disconnected from everyone and everything,

The story begins with a classic line – mother is dead. We learn that the central character has been estranged from his mother. He can't afford to care for her so he sends her to a state home. He doesn't seem to know that she had a relationship with a man, another resident of the state home. He shows no emotion in the preparation for and at her funeral. Clearly not a warm guy.

We learn he has a girlfriend, Marie, who wants to marry him. If that's what she wants he'll go along with her. Again his detachment is prominent. He seems to just go along. What does he want? No one knows. He merely seemed to want to get along. He has a friend, Raymond, who is angry with an Arab woman who he believes has cheated on him. He asks him to write a letter to her enticing her to come back to him, knowing the intent was really to get her to return so his friend could punish her. So he writes the letter, she returns and his friend hits her repeatedly. He's an accessory. The girl complains to the police but they do nothing. He backs up Raymond's claim she cheated on him. Raymond gets off with no charges. Things get worse.

They go to a beach house of a friend of Raymond's. They see a small group of Arab men, one of them Raymond identifies as the girl's brother. They get into a fight which Raymond initiates but Raymond gets cut by a knife. This seems to even the score but it does not end there. The Arabs are later seen on the beach seemingly exerting their right to be there. Raymond gives him a gun just in case he needs to defend himself. Instead he goes to beach, sees the brother and kills him. Not emotionally, just settling things in some sense.

He is arrested and seems to think he'll be released as what he did was in some sense justified. Again he seems not to be in touch with his surroundings. His detachment immediately works against him. Why did he abandon his mother? Why had he shown no emotion at her funeral? Why did he take Marie to see a comedy just after the funeral? The judge considers him a monster. He is convicted and sentenced to death. He wants there to be a crowd at his execution, greeting him with cries of hate, so he won't feel alone. Chilling. ( )

While not of a nature as many of the novels that I frequent, this was worth the short weekend in which I read it. ( )