The Stranger -Albert Camus

 

I have always wanted to read one of the works of Albert Camus but did not have the courage because I have read some of his essays and aren’t they deep!!.

"I summarized The Stranger a long time ago, with a remark I admit was highly paradoxical: "In our society any man who does not weep at his mother's funeral runs the risk of being sentenced to death." I only meant that the hero of my book is condemned because he does not play the game."

-    Albert Camus

 

The stranger is a debut novel with themes best cited as examples of Camus’s philosophy: absurdism, coupled with that of existentialism, even though Camus rejected the latter label.  The book is more like a family car trip by thinking that only the mood is set the same as in the book by reading the first few lines. The car trip tends to be interesting, about learning lessons, and a lot more. One may wonder why did I compare a book to a car trip, it’s because while on a trip and peeking outside there’s a vast beautiful scenery the same as while reading the book.

 

The book is divided into two parts;

 

(First Part) Meursault reacts to everything in a different but somewhat understandable way. The book starts with the news of Meursault's mother’s death, to which he is not sad at all. There are various instances during the ceremony showing that Meursault does not get affected by his mother’s death. He lives alone with no attached feelings.

 

(Second Part) It is about Meursault’s jail time and waiting for his death on an exact date, which truly he does not care about. He sees the world in his own tangled, lonesome way which affects his perspective too.

“I had only a little time left and I didn't want to waste it on God.”

No wonder why there is a huge division among the readers for “The stranger” and it is truly a masterpiece(for me) in French literature. Oh and a precautionary warning for sensitive readers  that this book will not be your cup of tea

 

-PR

Originally published –  1942

Genre-  Novel, Crime Fiction, Reference work, Absurdist fiction, Philosophical fiction, Existential Fiction

Original title-  L'Étranger

Author-  Albert Camus