The Stranger by Albert Camus Paperback – 13 Jan. 2023

Much different than I thought it was going to be when I started. Interesting nihilistic take on the human condition. Gets you thinking.

I’ve just finished the first book I’ve ever read by the French-Algerian philosopher, Albert Camus, and I absolutely loved it …… yet I still don’t know why.His writing, I felt, was at times a cross between Jack Kerouac and Bukowski, but it’s the protagonist Meursault’s total indifference to life that I found so readable (SPOILERS FROM HERE ONWADS) His indifference to his mother’s death, the nonchalance he shows when agreeing to marry Marie, even though he admits he doesn’t love her, the apathy he demonstrates towards the Arab he kills (we never learn his name), and his general detachment which seems to make living in prison tolerable, especially after he gets used to the idea of being restricted and unable to have sex with Marie, though he does realize at one point that he has been unknowingly talking to himself for a number of days.His trial is astounding, and would never happen in the UK, but I guess in Algeria things are different. The prosecutor focuses more on the fact that he didn’t cry at his mother’s funeral than he does on the actual shooting of the Arab, and even goes so far as to discuss the next trial he has to prosecute, a case of parricide, and suggests that Meursault is guilty of that too, or at least that it is his fault that the boy killed his father, even though they’ve never met, at least not until visiting time in the prison.Previous to the killing he sits at his window observing the goings on in the street below, which he’s quite content to do for hours on end, or at least until it’s time to cook some eggs, all with the same emotional detachment that he faces his trial. He just finds it all rather interesting, and we never really learn why he killed the Arab, except he’d been threatened with a knife, although he fails to use this as a defense. He just agrees that he killed the Arab.Extremely readable,

It is a fairly short read, but even so I found myself bored in some of its passages, even when they had meaning and what should be interesting topics (grief, age, love etc) the entire thing was pretty ordinary with a lot of what seems like useless information like description of every person walking the planet and a painstakingly long description of his court proceedings (nothing interesting happens) which seemed incredibly unnecessary in the actual message of the book. Before the darker aspects, the relatable themes introduce nothing I haven't pondered before reading this book, they do however touch on his life as a slightly sociopathic person but it is exactly as you would expect. (Perhaps at the end we see some true, more darker conversation and atheism which I thoroughly enjoyed and would have given 5 stars if that was the entirety of the book) Even so, Camus is a good writer, and it isn't a book I will forget in the near future.

Nice publication, arrived on time.

I've heard a lot about Camus, and particularly his book. Thought I'd give it a go as it was very cheap, as well as being a short read. It's definitely interesting, as well as thought provoking. Essentially it's about two deaths, the first being the death of the protagonists mother and her rather unusual wake. This is followed by a random and spontaneous killing, again by the protagonist. I found myself pondering the title and questioning whom it was actually referring to, before deciding that it could equally be referencing the two events around which the tale centres. Both events are a little unusual, to say the least, but which event was the stranger? I quite enjoyed the frame of mind that the book left me in and have no complaints or issue given its price.

Bought it as a gift, but read it first! Great book.

I read this in a few hours and couldn't put it down . Lots has been said about this book. Camus denied it was on existentialism or any sort of philosophical theme . I have read modern interpretations that it is about a man with aspergers . I felt that it was about a poor soul who makes some bad decisions and ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time. I felt it was a thriller but one with a twist at the end and I was left feeling that the people on trial were in fact the other characters. The only gripe I had was that I felt slightly racist undertones in some of the character descriptions of 'the moors' who were treated almost like unthinking and unfeeling beings with no purpose but I suppose the book is of its time. Nonetheless this is a brilliant and thought provoking read.

I purchased this as a gift for someone as I read the book in school and wanted to share it with someone special. However, I hadn’t read the reviews and was shocked when I opened the parcel to see an almost a4 size of the book with very large text. Unfortunately, it isn’t appropriate for a gift due to the size, but if you’re ok with the size then it wouldn’t be a problem!

Camus is often cited in existentialist field of thought, particularly in his self-named field of absurdism as a great thinker.This book is a quick demonstration of something critical towards the absurdity of life.Our main character is not a cold blooded murderer, yet he is not wholly innocent. He is not a man of many words or belief in God, yet he has thought to something divine. The book is littered with these absurd contradictions yet also shows a singular narrative pathway.It's well done and I'm very pleased to have finally gotten around to this

There was no indication that the book was printed around A4 size with massive print. It's uncomfortable to read and to store. A very stupid format and a dishonest product.

Muito bom.

A4 Size doesn’t feel like an actual book. Scam

I selected The Stranger by Albert Camus as the first topic for the Philosophers Book Club that I recently launched and I thought that I had read it. Or believed that I did but was not sure but when I begin reading the book I quickly realized that I had--remarkably, never read it. Most likely, the references to The Stranger are so frequent in books and discussions on existentialism that I had just assumed I read it; I've probably read some excepts along the way. And perhaps I feel myself a little like Meursault--the narrator and subject of the book, as passing thoughts just sort of became a perceived reality.Clearly, I hope you realize, that I am jesting as I don't think or believe myself capable of what Meursault did or allowed himself to do or did not stop himself from doing. But this is the mood of most of the book, which is completely in the form of Meursault's narration. Camus' writing is truly exquisite. This short novel just breezes by easily and is the perfect complement to the nature of this character who is like a tumble weed, or perhaps a dog with his nose to the ground just moving in whatever direction he is inclined or stimulated to pursue. His mother died so, okay, his only concern is whether his boss is upset because he needs to take a day or two off to travel in order to attend the funeral. In retrospect, it is perhaps surprising that he even bothered to go to the funeral, but I suppose that this is intended to suggest that our narrator has at lease some sort of ethical frame. Emotionless he endures the vigil, then goes back home to Algiers and meets a woman he knew a while back and quickly begins an affair the day after his mother was buried. And so on it goes. His friend wants to beat up his girlfriend because he thinks or imagines she is cheating on him and wants Meursault to write a letter to entice the young woman to visit him. Well, he just became friends with this thug so hey, why not, he'll help him. And in one scene and one incident after another this stream of consciousness depicts an utterly amoral individual that is strangely estranged from everyone and everything and, perhaps, most of all, himself.The Stranger is one of the most famous philosophical novels ever written, but this review is merely a sort of existential reaction a couple of days after reading this remarkable book. Even the edition I read, the Everyman's Library edition of Matthew Ward's translation and intro by Peter Dunwoodie, is a beautiful little volume that feels precious to hold in one's hands. I do not imagine what I have to say has not been said by many others, but my reaction is that this semiconscious existence, just living seemingly absent any self-reflection of love or death or friendship or work is shockingly changed at the end of the book. Quite suddenly, as Meursault is coming to grips with his impending execution he is also dealing with the religious exhortations of a chaplain-priest. This non-reflective amoral but generally nice young man who ultimately ends up killing someone--triggered largely on account of the hot sun was beating down on him on a hot summer late morning or early afternoon in Algers, suddenly, finally having had enough of the priest, enters into a highly structured rant on his philosophy of the absurd. And death or taking a life is apparently, for some, as meaningless as living it.I do not think that there is much question that The Stranger is a great piece of modern literature. And the philosophy of the absurd his extremely important because--and I'm not sure if this is an oversimplification, like hot and cold absurdity and non-absurdity need each other so that the difference is explainable. And this may explain my own discomfort with this book. There also needs to be a foundation for understanding the distinction between absurdist philosophy and mental illness. I think that Foucault addresses some of this in Madness and Civilization. Meursault could have been criminally insane or merely criminal. His philosophically sophisticated outburst at the end of the book, I think, reveals his sanity. I think this conclusion is forced upon us unless we want to defend the indefensible or excuse the inexcusable. Who can possibly doubt that life is brimming with absurdity? Meursault, however, falls into the pit of darkness where boundaries and distinctions are ignored at great peril because--while they are often murky and ambiguous, they are also, in principle, the only things that not only distinguish absurdity and amorality from what is not absurd or is not amoral, but are, indeed, the very things that make philosophy and theater of the absurd possible.