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lonelyasfranz's review against another edition
2.0
Dull and strange and downright bad at times, but I suppose there was an attempt.
I found the sentences irritatingly sparse; the few parts where they were actually longer than five words were the best and most meaningful in the book, and it would have been much better, though still rationally and morally void, if the rest of it had been written as such.
I also found the main character to be much worse than he is generally considered to be. He isn’t an ordinary man at all- he’s a murderer, who has no respect whatsoever for anyone except for the worst people in the book. He really should have been put in an institution.
The idea of the book doesn’t make sense in the context of what he did. He killed a man for no reason and was duly prosecuted for it. It would have made more sense if Raymond had done it and then blamed him for it or if he had done it on accident or something of the like. As it stands, the protagonist was an active participant in the story, not at all an innocent bystander like overzealous readers seem to think. He knowingly aligned himself with a bad person and then did a bad thing in said bad person’s name. How is he the victim?
The only likeable character was the vest woman.
Overall, this certainly not Camus’s finest work. He distorts the idea of existentialism to the point of it appearing, yes, absurd.
I found the sentences irritatingly sparse; the few parts where they were actually longer than five words were the best and most meaningful in the book, and it would have been much better, though still rationally and morally void, if the rest of it had been written as such.
I also found the main character to be much worse than he is generally considered to be. He isn’t an ordinary man at all- he’s a murderer, who has no respect whatsoever for anyone except for the worst people in the book. He really should have been put in an institution.
The idea of the book doesn’t make sense in the context of what he did. He killed a man for no reason and was duly prosecuted for it. It would have made more sense if Raymond had done it and then blamed him for it or if he had done it on accident or something of the like. As it stands, the protagonist was an active participant in the story, not at all an innocent bystander like overzealous readers seem to think. He knowingly aligned himself with a bad person and then did a bad thing in said bad person’s name. How is he the victim?
The only likeable character was the vest woman.
Overall, this certainly not Camus’s finest work. He distorts the idea of existentialism to the point of it appearing, yes, absurd.
pedro_j7's review against another edition
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
mmck123's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
audreyng_29's review against another edition
funny
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
part 1 of the book was a bit tedious to get through but the book quickly jumped from 2 to 4 stars in the second half - suddenly so incredibly thought-provoking
reli's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed the story. The The funeral part got me hocked. Then the second part was very good. Though I feel that I did not get the most out of this book. I'm pretty sure there's more to be gained than what I got!
The question as to why he should feel anything, was very interesting, and slightly disturbing when i couldn't answer it
The question as to why he should feel anything, was very interesting, and slightly disturbing when i couldn't answer it
leggup's review against another edition
3.0
A very quick read. Although I tried to put on my English Lit 101 and Philosophy 101 hat, I couldn't help but see an overlay of auspergers-type behavior and thought patterns.
I tried to detach from that thought pattern and put myself in the mindset of the era and place, which helped some. The hopelessness, apathy... but also inattention. I kept going back to auspergers-type simply because the protagonist keeps zoning out, letting the world wash over him.
He's incredibly suggestable to extremely loose logic (rationalizing that there's no reason to disagree with things), except when it came to religion, which I found funny.
I tried to detach from that thought pattern and put myself in the mindset of the era and place, which helped some. The hopelessness, apathy... but also inattention. I kept going back to auspergers-type simply because the protagonist keeps zoning out, letting the world wash over him.
He's incredibly suggestable to extremely loose logic (rationalizing that there's no reason to disagree with things), except when it came to religion, which I found funny.
tonatyuh's review against another edition
4.0
I genuinely can't remember if I actually read this cause it was in the middle of my Spark Notes era in English BUT I do recall reading one of them and I think it was this one.
I don't agree with everything Camus says, but there is a liberation aspect to viewing life as pointless. Overall, not the most enjoyable but it is entertaining.
I don't agree with everything Camus says, but there is a liberation aspect to viewing life as pointless. Overall, not the most enjoyable but it is entertaining.
flohrin's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5