Reviews with content warning for Animal cruelty - The Outsider

Most relateable thing I've ever read. Really reflective, wanted to think about every sentence but often couldn't, because I didn't want to stop reading. Also really funny sometimes.

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desiderium_incarnate's review against another edition

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reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

"Well, so I'm going to die." Sooner than other people will, obviously. But everybody knows life isn't worth living. Deep down I knew perfectly well that it doesn't much matter whether you die at thirty or at seventy, since in either case other men and women will naturally go on living - and for thousands of years. In fact, nothing could be clearer.

This book is really easy to read, which was the reason it got even 3 stars from me. I don't know why it won a Nobel Prize in Literature to be perfectly honest. Because basically these are the main points of the story:

Meursaults mom dies
He has/shows nearly no emotions during the whole book which makes it pretty boring character wise
He is convinced nothing matters (out of a very egoistical reasoning it seems)
Because of this he has no trouble making friends with pretty unkind, mysoginistic people and partly supports them in hurting others
Then he gets a sunstroke and shoots someone
He is tried and found guilty and will be beheaded

I just think that if nothing matters, or at least things only matter if you attribute them meaning, why do you choose to be a dick? Kindness and empathy are real, other people have feelings, why not choose to be kind? I expected to read a different, absurdist take on 'Life is meaningless' but once again I only found sexist, racist and violent men being nihilistic. Great!

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jasminemilktea's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

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happyknitter2020's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Such a tragic little book. If only they had understand that he had autism he could have been supported.

An isolated man's life...his mother dies, a girl wants to marry him within days, his neighbour abusing his dog, his friend beung abusive, violent and exploiting women & them the pressure of it all building in his head, his lack of understanding & the intens sun, the heat...led him to shoot a gun & kill a man he had never met before on a beach.

No wonder he didn't understand why...

Some of the sentences in the following chapters are stunning. The way his mind manages being in Prison, the Court proceedings & the sentence passed...utterly tragic, will stay with me for a long time.

Glad I have found Camus, will read more of his books.

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andyourstruly's review against another edition

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reflective

3.5

Camus had something deeply broken in him.

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