The Stranger

The Stranger by Albert Camus
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read The Stranger before, in high school, but unfortunately with the passing years, I have forgotten a lot of what I read back then. Most of what has stuck with me of it are the lyrics of the Cure's song "Killing an Arab". And while I was reading it this time, I couldn't get the song out of my head. :)
Anyway, it is a simple book, told in very a very forthright way about the events in Meursault's life. We read it in high school as an example of existentialism. The main character seems to live only for the present with no thought of the future and no regrets in the past. He is considered "the stranger" because he doesn't play by the rules of society. He seems immune to feelings, and yet there were many times when I could relate to him (scary?). Although one could argue that his lack of empathy and feeling doesn't allow him to be fully human (indeed isn't that what he was ultimately on trial and condemned for? ) and yet to Meursault's, this lack of gravity of feeling allowed him to be truly content and even, he claims, happy, in situations we would find unbearable. Although it is written in first person by a person with limited emotional maturity, the writing borders on poetic at times. And while the plot may be simple, it will have you contemplating and thinking about it for a long time. Truly a classic.


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