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khargaotte's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
gwalt118's review against another edition
2.0
I couldn't get into this book. I love the idea behind the work, and I understand and support what Daoud is trying to do...but the writing. Oh man, the writing. It's all over the place, very stream of consciousness, and it's very difficult to follow. It's written like a never-ending monologue, and there's really not a lot of plot development. I suppose people who like character-driven novels might enjoy this, but I like character-driven novels and I still couldn't get into this one. I just was not a fan of how Daoud put his vision on paper.
gingerliss's review
5.0
Note for people planning on reading this: make sure you've read Camus' The Stranger (it's skinny!) first or you will probably not manage to make much sense of what is going on.
Furthermore: this novel takes a critical look at the way colonial novels such as The Stranger and the way in which the natives of the colonised lands are treated. In the case of The Stranger, which is an interesting work in itself, (although I would give it less stars now after reading this) it contains a character who is not named and is only ever called The Arab, I am not going to tell you anymore about said character, no spoilers, but Daoud criticizes the fact that this person has no name. He gives him one, as well as a brother and a mother and a story (well the idea of a story, we mainly get the brother's story) and a background.
The writing felt slightly clunky, but this may be because of the translation so I'm not going to deduct any stars for that. I would hugely recommend as the viewpoint is a critical one.
Furthermore: this novel takes a critical look at the way colonial novels such as The Stranger and the way in which the natives of the colonised lands are treated. In the case of The Stranger, which is an interesting work in itself, (although I would give it less stars now after reading this) it contains a character who is not named and is only ever called The Arab, I am not going to tell you anymore about said character, no spoilers, but Daoud criticizes the fact that this person has no name. He gives him one, as well as a brother and a mother and a story (well the idea of a story, we mainly get the brother's story) and a background.
The writing felt slightly clunky, but this may be because of the translation so I'm not going to deduct any stars for that. I would hugely recommend as the viewpoint is a critical one.
menestrelle's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
samwreads's review against another edition
3.0
Rating is based on enjoyment. As far as accomplishment goes, though I'm not qualified to judge from a literary or historical standpoint I do think it's higher, probably 4 or 5.
The most obvious touchstone for me is Season of Migration to the North, in that both play with the repercussions of colonialism and reverse colonialism, though this novel is clearly more influenced by Camus' original novel and the existentialist aesthetic. I love the writing in this and some of the descriptive phrases and juxtaposition are absolutely beautiful. I think this is an important modern incarnation in this genre vein and I'm glad it's getting the attention it is.
It's down to three stars for me because the slow pace just isn't doing it for me right now, and the portrayal/references to and of women are confused and muddled a bit (wrong word but I can't think of a better one right now). Recommended to those looking to understand and appreciate an earlier era whose imagined voices are starting to be heard now, through new and exciting lenses.
The most obvious touchstone for me is Season of Migration to the North, in that both play with the repercussions of colonialism and reverse colonialism, though this novel is clearly more influenced by Camus' original novel and the existentialist aesthetic. I love the writing in this and some of the descriptive phrases and juxtaposition are absolutely beautiful. I think this is an important modern incarnation in this genre vein and I'm glad it's getting the attention it is.
It's down to three stars for me because the slow pace just isn't doing it for me right now, and the portrayal/references to and of women are confused and muddled a bit (wrong word but I can't think of a better one right now). Recommended to those looking to understand and appreciate an earlier era whose imagined voices are starting to be heard now, through new and exciting lenses.
pages_n_puzzles's review against another edition
3.0
Went back and forth between the paperback and the audiobook.
I really struggled with this book. I think the idea was excellent but the book itself was lacking. I really enjoyed the last two chapters, when the narrator's love interest is introduced - I feel like it summed up the rest of the book in a succinct, interesting way.
It has been 15 years since I read "The Stranger" so hard to compare to that really.
I really struggled with this book. I think the idea was excellent but the book itself was lacking. I really enjoyed the last two chapters, when the narrator's love interest is introduced - I feel like it summed up the rest of the book in a succinct, interesting way.
It has been 15 years since I read "The Stranger" so hard to compare to that really.
dee9401's review against another edition
5.0
I first read the Stranger by Camus in high school. Then again after college, then once more, this time in French. I fell in love with his writing, consuming everything he produced. I read biographies of him. But then, I started to see the disconnect he had between what he wrote and how he viewed his birthplace in Algeria, the French colony where the native population didn’t have the same rights as the French colonizers. It complicated him for me and made me want to explore it more.
Kamel Daoud’s The Meursault Investigation, is just what I needed. He offers a take on Camus’s defining novel. It turns the story around, to look at the situation from the perspective of the murdered character’s brother. It’s eye-opening, to say the least. I never really thought about this when I read the Stranger, but the person Meursault murders is only called “The Arab.” He never gets a name or any humanity. Even at Meursault’s trial, the focus is more on the main character’s lack of sympathy regarding his mother’s death than the murder. Daoud’s novel calls that out and tries to re-inscribe the dead man, Musa, into the book of humanity. Through a wonderful re-use of The Stranger’s opening paragraph and the narrative device used in Camus’s later novel, The Fall, Daoud explores the murder of the narrator’s brother and what it does to him, his mother and his country.
The narrator beautiful states one core element of his thesis: “You can’t easily kill a man when he has a given name” (Ch. 5, p. 52). Camus called the murdered man “the Arab” or “an Arab”. But the narrator says “Arab. I never felt Arab, you know. Arab-ness is like Negro-ness, which only exists in the white man’s eyes” (Ch. 6, p. 60). Later, “He was Musa to us, his family, his neighbors, but it was enough for him to venture a few meters into the French part of the city, a single glance from one of them was enough to make him lose everything, starting with his name, which went floating off into some blind spot in the landscape” (Ch. 6, p. 61). From these three quotes, I felt a resonance with what is going on today in Baltimore, Ferguson, Sanford, Charleston and others cities across the US. My jaw just dropped, thinking how this Algerian, writing in French, in 2013, so nailed the events and discourses going on today in America.
The author also deals with religion and atheism throughout the novel. One line that stood out for me was: “How can you believe God has spoken to only one man, and that one man has stopped talking forever?” (Ch. 7, p. 69).
The Arab Spring is also touched upon, I believe. While talking about the newly independent Algeria of 1962, I feel he was also talking about today’s Libya, Tunisia, etc. Rebel groups, some extreme, some poor, some illiterate, came together to overthrow a bad government. But, once it was gone, they didn’t seem to want to go back underground, or dissolve. They like their newfound power and are unwilling to give it up so easily. Something to consider, both for countries that underwent these revolutions and for Western nations, especially the US, which want to dive into yet another war, arming anyone who will overthrow the tyrant du jour. A warning: remember that the US, in its proxy war with the Soviet Union, funded and backed extremist in Afghanistan. That didn’t work out too well in the long term for anyone on our planet.
This is an amazing read and one for people to read for so many reasons. And, if politics, religion, philosophy, etc. aren’t your thing, it’s still a really good story, well-paced, well-written and nicely translated.
Kamel Daoud’s The Meursault Investigation, is just what I needed. He offers a take on Camus’s defining novel. It turns the story around, to look at the situation from the perspective of the murdered character’s brother. It’s eye-opening, to say the least. I never really thought about this when I read the Stranger, but the person Meursault murders is only called “The Arab.” He never gets a name or any humanity. Even at Meursault’s trial, the focus is more on the main character’s lack of sympathy regarding his mother’s death than the murder. Daoud’s novel calls that out and tries to re-inscribe the dead man, Musa, into the book of humanity. Through a wonderful re-use of The Stranger’s opening paragraph and the narrative device used in Camus’s later novel, The Fall, Daoud explores the murder of the narrator’s brother and what it does to him, his mother and his country.
The narrator beautiful states one core element of his thesis: “You can’t easily kill a man when he has a given name” (Ch. 5, p. 52). Camus called the murdered man “the Arab” or “an Arab”. But the narrator says “Arab. I never felt Arab, you know. Arab-ness is like Negro-ness, which only exists in the white man’s eyes” (Ch. 6, p. 60). Later, “He was Musa to us, his family, his neighbors, but it was enough for him to venture a few meters into the French part of the city, a single glance from one of them was enough to make him lose everything, starting with his name, which went floating off into some blind spot in the landscape” (Ch. 6, p. 61). From these three quotes, I felt a resonance with what is going on today in Baltimore, Ferguson, Sanford, Charleston and others cities across the US. My jaw just dropped, thinking how this Algerian, writing in French, in 2013, so nailed the events and discourses going on today in America.
The author also deals with religion and atheism throughout the novel. One line that stood out for me was: “How can you believe God has spoken to only one man, and that one man has stopped talking forever?” (Ch. 7, p. 69).
The Arab Spring is also touched upon, I believe. While talking about the newly independent Algeria of 1962, I feel he was also talking about today’s Libya, Tunisia, etc. Rebel groups, some extreme, some poor, some illiterate, came together to overthrow a bad government. But, once it was gone, they didn’t seem to want to go back underground, or dissolve. They like their newfound power and are unwilling to give it up so easily. Something to consider, both for countries that underwent these revolutions and for Western nations, especially the US, which want to dive into yet another war, arming anyone who will overthrow the tyrant du jour. A warning: remember that the US, in its proxy war with the Soviet Union, funded and backed extremist in Afghanistan. That didn’t work out too well in the long term for anyone on our planet.
This is an amazing read and one for people to read for so many reasons. And, if politics, religion, philosophy, etc. aren’t your thing, it’s still a really good story, well-paced, well-written and nicely translated.
johndiconsiglio's review against another edition
2.0
You could call this fiercely angry little book a companion to The Stranger, but it reads more like a repudiation. The author, an Algerian journalist, comes not to praise Camus but to bury him—particularly for his colonialist egotism. The narrator is the brother of the nameless Arab impulsively murdered by Meursault, Camus’ existential anti-hero. Here, the Arab (& Algeria itself) not only gets a name, but a backstory. Unfortunately, it can’t match its ambitions. Inventive, but slow, long-winded & essentially plotless. Camus may have been cold-blooded, but he wasn’t dull.
sophiebethy's review against another edition
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75