A review by brooklyn1
The Stranger by Albert Camus

reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is my favorite book right now. It's amazingly simplistic writing style is so poetic and deliberate. The main character's repetitive way of explaining his rationale behind every little thing is surprisingly engaging. Meursault is a very passive character who lives completely in the present. My favorite part of the book is the end, when he accepts his death (oddly right after the priest comes in and says he'll probably be acquitted). He realizes he was happy, and he enjoyed the pleasures of existing, even in a chaotic and often absurd world, and what will be will be. Such is life, or c'est la vie as he would say. Anyway, if you like nihilistic/existentialist novels or a cast of 99% morally ambiguous characters, this is the book for you. 

There was no reason for him to kill him, but I think that's the point. I think the heat symbolizes the meaningless of life, since he mentions it a lot, but most prominently in the scene where he attended the funeral and the scene he murdered the Arab.
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