A review by marissasa
The Stranger by Albert Camus

challenging dark reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

The Stranger is absurd in every sense of Camus' philosophy, and it shows more and more as the story progresses and the main character Meursault is emotionally and mentally unaffected by the things happening around him.
He is not in grief at his mother's passing and funeral, he is unphased by the violence he witnesses around him, he has no sense of moral good and bad as he agrees to help Raymond, he physically desires Marie but is indifferent in feelings for her and the idea of marrying her, and he is unaffected and not remorseful at all after he ultimately kills a man, goes to prison, and stands trial.
This book is blunt and to the point in its message that there is no value in the pursuit of finding meaning in human existence, and that the inevitability for all is death.
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