Reviews

I feel that this is a novel that I would be revisiting again. And my thougths that I put out today (I'm in my late 20s now) and the thoughts that I would put at maybe a later time of my life would be totally different; hence these are what I feel as of now. Today.

‘I felt that I had been happy and that I was happy again. For everything to be consummated, for me to feel less alone, I had only to wish that there be a large crowd of spectators the day of my execution and that they greet me with cries of hate.’

Reading this novel felt that it sucked out every sunshine and soul in me; and I only had so little in the first place. Finishing this not only left me bleak and hollow, it felt to me how the meaning of existence and self can be so substantial when all you are living for is today?

There is a quote from the translator that had really gotten me :

'Readers may wonder why a new translation of The Outsiders necessary. Primarily, it is essential to create new versions of classic works in another language because language constantly evolves.

In french, ètranger can be translated as 'outside', 'stranger' or 'foreigner'. Our protagonist, Meursault, is all three, and the concept of an outsider encapsulates all these possible meanings; Meursault is a stranger to himself, an outsider to society and a foreigner because he is a Frenchman in Algeria.

So by all means if you're reading this, this is a moment of spiraling thoughts that might be incoherent and by all means I'm not a philosopher student, but I would just need to vomit the words out to scratch the itch in my brain.

At first, coming into the novel, I was intimidated as heck (as I am with loads of classics), but to my happy surprise, the proses, and the story is actually pretty straightforward. But yet, if you're taking it into a surface level, you will only get what the translator has quoted ; meaning that The Outsider; and everything that is happening in the novel is due to the face that he is an outsider to society, and a foreigner because he is a Frenchman in Algeria. . But if you look deeper down that leads to my heavy feeling after finishing the book; is that its more than just that. The word èstrange in French might hold much more meaning (and yes at this point of time, I wish I learn epidemiology at a certain level) but I do feel that the word itself can hold so much meaning, hence what the whole point of the book is about.

To me, I translate the meaning The Outsider more as our main character questioning about life and his existence, and in how, not only he is an Outsider to society and how they are obsessed for someone to conform to their own set of rules, its also how he is an Outsider to his mere existence in this world. It sets out an array of questions in itself,
>> is life in this existence worth any meaning?
>> are there more to life than just being in the present?
And the scene where the questions of God and his debate with the priest on Beliefs and again, his blatant desire for our MC to believe in the same thing that he believes in , leads to another point of being An Outsider . Is an outside someone that does not conform to norms of society - that can lead them to a death that might be unjustifiable or as such?

At times I do feel that, if you meet someone in real life like the main MC, he is just someone that lives his life as his own - weird and quirky to society's standards - but honest. His views on death equates to the freedom that he searches, in the hows that someday when death comes approaching, its only a phase in life. Unpleasant when spoken out loud, but it also made quite sense in a way :')

“Have you no hope at all? And do you really live with the thought that when you die, you die, and nothing remains?" "Yes," I said.”

If one of the things that I liked is how Camus plays around with nature and, its somewhat related to him being an Outsider. The meaning of him being free is being with nature itself - and even the events that had led to his demise was because of one simple reason, the sun - in which can be translated to a lot of things, but what I took out of it its in the simplicity of the our main character to just be there, in the present.

“I looked up at the mass of signs and stars in the night sky and laid myself open for the first time to the benign indifference of the world.”

Was this a happy novel? Not in the slightest. It felt like it reached a deep part of me that got me spiraling on my own ; but perhaps, I picked it up at definitely a right time. I will leave the philosophical reasoning to the experts , but as far as my thoughts are concerned, I would definitely reread this again. It left me with the same hollow feeling as when I've finished No Longer Human but in a different sort of hollow that is pretty inexplainable.

I end my spiraling thoughts with this

“I felt the urge to reassure him that I was like everybody else, just like everybody else.”

4.5🌟

yongcyrus's review against another edition

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5.0

Such a beautiful book. The existentialism , his detachment. He has no attachments to this world , I loved this book

evilhag's review against another edition

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fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A

3.75

thekalha's review against another edition

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dark reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

silentchewy's review against another edition

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I have nothing interesting to add to the discussion of one of the most famous novellas in history. It's about a guy who doesn't see the world the way most people do and so he can criticize the things everyone else takes for granted, but he can't criticize colonialism because I guess Camus didn't think to? Ultimately I think it was interesting, although Camus's writing is a fuckin slog. The Stranger reads like my journal when I'm reeeally depressed.

atomicflarez's review against another edition

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dark reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

jere3mcdonald's review against another edition

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dark reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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