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The Stranger

Albert Camus

Start date: February 1, 2018

Finish date: February 26, 2018

Discussion: Country and Territories

Why we're reading this: February- Countries and Territories: Algeria

The Stranger by Albert Camus
[close] February- Countries and Territories: Algeria

The Stranger by Albert Camus

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Country and Territories

A Dangerous Place (March 2023)
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What Members Thought

Jan 25, 2018 Candace rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Monsieur Meursault is the narrator of this story. He is indifferent to the people and the world around him. He is alienated from life. He relates his view of his Maman (mother) dying and her funeral. Meursault doesn't shed a tear and he is tired and hot from the sun. He goes home and the next day meets his girlfriend and attends a movie.

Marie Cardona is his girlfriend. When she asks him if he wants to marry her, he replies, I said it didn't make any difference to me and that we could if she want Monsieur Meursault is the narrator of this story. He is indifferent to the people and the world around him. He is alienated from life. He relates his view of his Maman (mother) dying and her funeral. Meursault doesn't shed a tear and he is tired and hot from the sun. He goes home and the next day meets his girlfriend and attends a movie.

Marie Cardona is his girlfriend. When she asks him if he wants to marry her, he replies, I said it didn't make any difference to me and that we could if she wanted to. After a moment of silence, she says that he is peculiar and that's what draws her to him.

He goes to the beach in Algiers with Marie and his pal Raymond. While there they meet up with Raymond's ex-mistress' brother, known only as "The Arab." There is a confrontation with the Arab resulting in Raymond being injured. Later, that day, Meursault goes back and shoots the Arab five times. Meursault's thought following the first shot is I knew I had shattered the harmony of the day, the exceptional silence of a beach were I'd been happy. I fired four more times at the motionless body where the bullets lodged without leaving a trace. And it was like knocking four quick times on the door of unhappiness.

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I found this story disturbing in how Meursault viewed people and the society around him. His indifference seemed all to real. Though we know next to nothing of Meursault's early childhood, we must draw our own conclusions as to the why and the wherefore of his alienation from society. This novel asks questions about how we relate to events, people, society and the world. Questions we must ponder insightfully, emotionally and intelligently. This classic novel is an intriguing story. I recommend it. ...more

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Dec 22, 2018 Jim Townsend rated it it was amazing

Wow. A story of a man drawn into a senseless murder on an Algerian beach and faced with the absurdity of a pointless life behind bars, Camus' first novel explores "the nakedness of man faced with the absurd". ...more

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Dec 31, 2015 ColumbusReads rated it it was amazing

Just finished this book and I really don't know what to say about it. All of these years I've seen it on the classics shelves in bookstores, having it being mentioned with other important and will-esteemed writers like Sartre, Proust and Beauvoir and being pretty much intimidated to read it for fear of utter denseness and it turns out to be a page turner and one of the most accessible "classic" books I've read - ever. I'll add more later, but in the meantime I'll look for some of his other books ...more

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Aug 05, 2009 Lisa rated it it was amazing

There's usually a reason why some books stand the test of time. That reason is certainly present in this book. I had read The Stranger decades ago but I was curious to read it again after reading a paragraph of it in a conversational French class that I am taking. Reading it this time I think I was more aware of all the injustices that can occur in the justice system. It seemed as true today as it did when it was written. ...more

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Jan 30, 2013 Katrisa rated it it was amazing

I reread this because I want to read The Meursault Investigation and I haven't read The Stranger since I was in my late teens/early 20s. Basically, I would still give it 5 stars, but I can't separate my feelings for the book now from my falling in love with Camus when I was in my teens/early 20s and taking French just because I love the French existentialists. And The Stranger is far from my favorite Camus - I love his Youthful Writings and The Myth of Sisyphus more. I just love Camus' brand of ...more

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