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gothhotel's review against another edition
4.0
ive read this in english and in french and while i'm pretty sure it's a good book i also remember nothing about it
rezdog's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
bookingit1033's review against another edition
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
The entirety of the book seems to follow the idea of absurdity. While I can understand the underlying concept and somewhat agree it is taken to such a degree that it makes the narrator and the entire book unenjoyable for me. I’ve never enjoyed characters who feel there is nothing to the actions they take and who view everything as a nonsensical decision that means nothing in the end.
At the end of the book our narrator is sentenced to death with seemingly no real thoughts about it. The one emotional “outburst” he has is to the chaplain at the end of the book and even that he doesn’t seem to care about. While I can agree that life is absurd and yes the only assurity we have in life is that death is absolute and will take all of us one day; that doesn’t then say that every decision we make is null and void or that we have no meaning for life.
Life is what you make of it and we can see that our primary voice in the book clearly has no perception of this. He has a girlfriend named Marie who he later asks to marry him and in which he responds yes to, on a whim. Later on in prison he thinks of her only a handful of times and it is as though he does not care about her. I’m sure all of these things she picks up on and still she stays with him, she is standing at his side through this trial but must realize his attitude to this whole thing. Why does she decide to devote herself to him in such a large way?
The problem with absurdity is that you then assert that nothing matters and that simply isn’t true. We wake up everyday and we interact with people and everyday we have choices that we make. All of these choices then lead to an outcome neither bad nor good but an outcome that then results in a situation that we can deem as favorable or unfavorable. We decide our life's purpose as we move through it. To view the breath we have as anything other than a blessing is completely futile and then at that point the narrator might as well have died if he was going to have such an intensely negative attitude towards the whole thing.
Through the generations there are inherent changes; big and small that then affect the next generation and so on. To say that life means nothing when we can analyze these changes within our own families or others is quite absurd in itself. Incremental changes begin and if we were never there making our own little changes then the big ones could simply never occur. Meaning, no two brains are the same therefore no changes can be the same. By an individual not being born you have then ceased to allow that change to occur. Again for the better or for the worse but life is not simply meaningless because we can’t determine if it is in fact for the better or for the worse.
isthisalice's review against another edition
5.0
Meursault is initially painted as this absurd societal outcast, but as the book progresses, you start to realize your own absurdity as well as everyone (and everything) else’s. You almost begin to sympathize with him, in a way, after seeing all the ways he’s been villainized and misunderstood. Very much enjoyed Camus’ writing in this one. Great book :D
teeny88's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.75
mari259's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
andotherworlds's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 // re-read for class
4 // this has a lot to unpack and i am quite lazy so bare with me until i feel ready enough to write properly structured sentences describing what i got out of this book
4 // this has a lot to unpack and i am quite lazy so bare with me until i feel ready enough to write properly structured sentences describing what i got out of this book
peh27's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0