Scan barcode
A review by conjugatingmayonnaise
The Stranger by Albert Camus
5.0
The Stranger has a reputation of being some sort of existentialist masterpiece. And as someone who’s struggled slightly with thoughts along this vein, I had high expectations for this book, which unfortunately were let down somewhat.
This book is more about absurdism than existentialism, and the existentialist part only comes in during the last 2 pages, when Meursault realises that it doesn’t matter whether he is executed tomorrow or dies a natural death in a few decades’ time, because human life is futile anyway. However, I thought those 2 pages were very well written, and still go back to read that part again frequently.
That being said, I very much enjoyed the way absurdism was portrayed in the book. The events leading up to Meursault killing the man are absurd, but somehow logical in their absurd progression, to make this absurd chain of events make sense to the reader. The end result is also perfectly believable: when he finally kills the man the reader feels as if it were completely expected and a natural turn of events. The premise of him killing a man because the sun was bright sounds absurd on paper, but the fact that Camus manages to justify it is a testament to how perfectly illustrated the absurdism is throughout the book.
I also loved the exploration of how heavily society believes that emotion is what makes one a good person, as Meursault is very quickly demonised by the court for not feeling sad at his mother’s death; in fact, he even watched a comedy movie the day of her funeral. The court even denounces him more for not grieving for his mother than his murder of a man. I thought this was an interesting exploration of how society as a whole interprets the importance of emotion in a person.
Finally, the opening line of The Stranger is one of my favourite opening lines out of any book: ‘Mother died today. Or maybe it was yesterday, I don't know.’ It perfectly encapsulates Meursault’s indifference towards the absurd world that we live in, in which he feels very much like a Stranger (or an Outsider, depending on the translation of your edition.)
This book is more about absurdism than existentialism, and the existentialist part only comes in during the last 2 pages, when Meursault realises that it doesn’t matter whether he is executed tomorrow or dies a natural death in a few decades’ time, because human life is futile anyway. However, I thought those 2 pages were very well written, and still go back to read that part again frequently.
That being said, I very much enjoyed the way absurdism was portrayed in the book. The events leading up to Meursault killing the man are absurd, but somehow logical in their absurd progression, to make this absurd chain of events make sense to the reader. The end result is also perfectly believable: when he finally kills the man the reader feels as if it were completely expected and a natural turn of events. The premise of him killing a man because the sun was bright sounds absurd on paper, but the fact that Camus manages to justify it is a testament to how perfectly illustrated the absurdism is throughout the book.
I also loved the exploration of how heavily society believes that emotion is what makes one a good person, as Meursault is very quickly demonised by the court for not feeling sad at his mother’s death; in fact, he even watched a comedy movie the day of her funeral. The court even denounces him more for not grieving for his mother than his murder of a man. I thought this was an interesting exploration of how society as a whole interprets the importance of emotion in a person.
Finally, the opening line of The Stranger is one of my favourite opening lines out of any book: ‘Mother died today. Or maybe it was yesterday, I don't know.’ It perfectly encapsulates Meursault’s indifference towards the absurd world that we live in, in which he feels very much like a Stranger (or an Outsider, depending on the translation of your edition.)