A review by saint_eleanor
The Stranger by Albert Camus

challenging dark informative mysterious reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was okay, i really liked the story actually and i can see how important it was at the time, but i kind of wish that it was longer or shorter/more concise? I like the themes of the übermensch, absurdism, and ultimate freedom from society’s norms/morals, but i think he could have gone even further with that. It reminded me a lot of Tayeb Salih’s Season of migration to the North, which i felt similarly about bc they deal with characters who kind of sit back and watch their peers assault women and kill people. I think the only reason i find these types of books to be irritating is bc the main characters are often like praised by people who are into Nietzche but all I’m seeing when I’m reading it is a man who is enabling/creating violence towards women and marginalized people and who is too spineless to have an opinion about it. Thats not really the book’s fault though, i feel like they are missing the point of the story.  I also have an issue with the existentialism theme, bc it gets him off the hook for any guilt about the murder bc he embraces true nihilism. I think thats BS personally but again i think that’s the point— that nihilism is actually quite dangerous. Idk!!
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