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miel_reading 's review for:
The Stranger
by Albert Camus
**Before starting to write a review and an analytical commentary on the book, I would like to specify that the novel was written in the 40s, the war period and that Camus defended French Algeria all his life and that this political position is reflected in his novels: more or less unconsciously, his texts tend to poetize, even justify the French colonial presence and its action presented as beneficial.**
I've discovered Albert Camus at school, and I've recently dug more in his work and trying to understand his background and his philosophy.
He was born in the French Algeria. His father died at 28 and his mother was deaf, knew a few 400 words and communicated in signs. So he and his elder brother were raised mostly by their uncle. It was in his 10th when he was discovered at school and attended the faculty of philosophy. Regarding his political background, he joined the French Communist Party and then Algerian Communist Party, even if he was not marxist. He thought it was a way of standing against the inequalities between Europeans and 'natives' in Algeria. After the parties broke ties, Albert continued to involve in the Theatre of the Team, where he played his novels. He worked in the Alger républicain newspaper having a strong anti-fascist feeling. Camus had developed strong feelings against authoritative colonialism as he witnessed the harsh treatment of the Arabs and Berbers by French authorities. Alger républicain was banned in 1940 and Camus flew to Paris to take a new job at Paris-Soir as editor-in-chief. In Paris, he almost completed his "first cycle" of works dealing with the absurd and the meaningless—the novel L'Étranger.
This is the 'naissance' of his philosophical belief of human absurdity. "The stranger" was the first novel, the first movement. With this cycle, Camus aims to pose a question on the human condition, discuss the world as an absurd place, and warn humanity of the consequences of totalitarianism.
Enough about his context and let's dig down in the novel.
I knew that the novel would be cold and detached, but reading it, I felt it very deeply, somewhere a little shocked by his indifference and coldness in his gestures and thinking. I sensed his gaze in the void and his antipathetic personality looking like a stranger at the society and the society considering him a stranger. It's like the case of 6 or 9: there is no right or wrong opinion, there are only different points of view and perspectives. In his case, he confesses that his psychological and emotional state is provoked by his physical condition at that moment. And these are the traits of a total absence in the present world and a lack of emotions facing the reality of events, all being outlined by the society's eyes and the understanding of a moral world.
I really was mesmerized how incredibly beautiful are the descriptions of the nature, the sky and the sea, opposed to his dry and harsh descriptions of everyday life, people and activities.
I was shocked of the total plot in the second part of the book, but this was intended to empower his philosophical approach. Being considered a monster and man without morals, committing a crime against society, being sentenced to death, the main character comes to the resolution and point of view as life is meaningless and everyone dies at some point. The ending was very poetic and symbolizing his dignity as a person and the meaning of life.
The whole point of the story is that the main character was not acting as it was expected, or not at the expectations of the society. In addition, main character's words and actions are misunderstood so to fit society's own worldview. And at the end, we come with a conclusion: in order to engage with life a person needs to accept both the pleasantries and the harsh realities of life. Acceptance.
I've discovered Albert Camus at school, and I've recently dug more in his work and trying to understand his background and his philosophy.
He was born in the French Algeria. His father died at 28 and his mother was deaf, knew a few 400 words and communicated in signs. So he and his elder brother were raised mostly by their uncle. It was in his 10th when he was discovered at school and attended the faculty of philosophy. Regarding his political background, he joined the French Communist Party and then Algerian Communist Party, even if he was not marxist. He thought it was a way of standing against the inequalities between Europeans and 'natives' in Algeria. After the parties broke ties, Albert continued to involve in the Theatre of the Team, where he played his novels. He worked in the Alger républicain newspaper having a strong anti-fascist feeling. Camus had developed strong feelings against authoritative colonialism as he witnessed the harsh treatment of the Arabs and Berbers by French authorities. Alger républicain was banned in 1940 and Camus flew to Paris to take a new job at Paris-Soir as editor-in-chief. In Paris, he almost completed his "first cycle" of works dealing with the absurd and the meaningless—the novel L'Étranger.
This is the 'naissance' of his philosophical belief of human absurdity. "The stranger" was the first novel, the first movement. With this cycle, Camus aims to pose a question on the human condition, discuss the world as an absurd place, and warn humanity of the consequences of totalitarianism.
Enough about his context and let's dig down in the novel.
Maman died today. Or yesterday. I don't know.
I knew that the novel would be cold and detached, but reading it, I felt it very deeply, somewhere a little shocked by his indifference and coldness in his gestures and thinking. I sensed his gaze in the void and his antipathetic personality looking like a stranger at the society and the society considering him a stranger. It's like the case of 6 or 9: there is no right or wrong opinion, there are only different points of view and perspectives. In his case, he confesses that his psychological and emotional state is provoked by his physical condition at that moment. And these are the traits of a total absence in the present world and a lack of emotions facing the reality of events, all being outlined by the society's eyes and the understanding of a moral world.
I really was mesmerized how incredibly beautiful are the descriptions of the nature, the sky and the sea, opposed to his dry and harsh descriptions of everyday life, people and activities.
I was shocked of the total plot in the second part of the book, but this was intended to empower his philosophical approach. Being considered a monster and man without morals, committing a crime against society, being sentenced to death, the main character comes to the resolution and point of view as life is meaningless and everyone dies at some point. The ending was very poetic and symbolizing his dignity as a person and the meaning of life.
The whole point of the story is that the main character was not acting as it was expected, or not at the expectations of the society. In addition, main character's words and actions are misunderstood so to fit society's own worldview. And at the end, we come with a conclusion: in order to engage with life a person needs to accept both the pleasantries and the harsh realities of life. Acceptance.