Reviews

Read this for my 1940s decade read. Very quick book and I found it hard to put down. The story is split into two parts- Part I tells of the narrator's life after his mother's death but before he murders someone. Part II revolves around the aftermath of this random murder.

The narrator is completely detached from reality which made his narration of his life and feelings about things simultaneously off-putting and compelling. It appears there's disagreement as to whether or not this work is an example of existentialism, but it is at the very least extremely absurd with heavy streaks of nihilism thrown in.

I can't say I "enjoyed" this book, and I definitely am not the right audience for nihilism, but the narrator certainly kept me turning the pages.

crickedcactus's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

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