Scan barcode
flooooo's review against another edition
dark
funny
reflective
fast-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
5.0
Most relateable thing I've ever read. Wanted to think about every sentence but couldn't, because I didn't want to stop reading. Really funny sometimes.
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual content, Death, Animal cruelty, Alcohol, and Murder
scifi_rat's review against another edition
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Misogyny, Racism, Religious bigotry, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Gun violence, Murder, Death, and Death of parent
mayszn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty
_bailey_reads_'s review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-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
1.0
This was truly the worst book I’ve ever read. Not only was the main character completely insufferable but all the other characters were equally as awful. The idea of the main character being an “ordinary man” is disturbing. Nothing about him is ordinary in my book. The only thing I liked about the book was it’s overall creepy and dark tone. Otherwise I thought it was pointless, there is no development or growth. It was dull and borderline unreadable.
Maybe I just completely missed the mark but I’m 99.9% certain the main character is a psychopath and truly has no emotions. He has no redeeming qualities. Allowing Raymond to do what he did is literally exhibit A.
Also Marie is a complete idiot.
Also Marie is a complete idiot.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, and Death
keiiiiiiii's review against another edition
dark
reflective
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
2.75
- i feel camus keeps moving back and forward between exploring morality and preaching his own views
- i feel bored multiple times. many paragraphs are wasted explaining events after events, and background characters that i just dont care about.
- camus writing of marie is just ew
- there's a bit of racism spice considering how camus wrote some of the witnesses attempt to convince the juries that the narrator is a kind man, yet the arab witnesses, who saw the fight before, were not called.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Animal cruelty
en4's review against another edition
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
3.5
my review contains spoilers.
i had went in with quite high expectations – ultimately, i had expected this to be a good read. i've heard such good things about the author as well as their works, so that really set my standards to where they were prior to reading.
i had went in with quite high expectations – ultimately, i had expected this to be a good read. i've heard such good things about the author as well as their works, so that really set my standards to where they were prior to reading.
the book, at first, was not the most interesting. yes, the first sentence did entice me – that was a big reason why i picked the book up in the first place, but after that, it seemed to be just about an adult male losing their mother. then things started to happen. his neighbour was abusive towards his dog and was saying & calling it all sorts of negative things and names, but when lost, he was in distress. then there was another man (neighbour as well, i believe. i don't remember) that had 'girl problems' – again, this man was another abusive (?) one. then there were other characters, of course. the second man is somewhat the reason why what happened in the book happened. though, i don't get why he [main character] pulled the trigger. what was his reasoning? aside from the reason he gave in trial (?), were there more? his action can't be justified.
then, i don't see why the judge (?) was so adamant about tying together how he dealt with his mother's loss to his crime. again, his action can't be justified. people grieve and mourn differently, and the things he did must have been his ways. say he's really apathetic and callous, i think they should've helped him get medical attention? i mean, when you're aware someone is apathetic, don't you think them not shedding a tear at their mother's funeral was to be expected? or things turned out that way because of the year the story took place in?
then there's marie. i just feel bad for her.
this book was definitely thought-provoking. i finished it earlier in the day, and i'm still thinking about it (i've already started a new book, but it's still popping up in my head every now and then). the last few pages were definitely the ones that raised questions in my head and made me think. though, i don't know if i agree with him on this one take of his: "a life in which i can remember this life on earth. that's all i want of it."
well, the book has got lots of good quotes you can keep with you. to be honest, i do wanna reread this book because i want to see if i'd understand aspects of it differently compared to the first time i read it and/or i missed a few things here and there. or if i misunderstood things.
i also think him & marie could've lived quite a simple and normal life, but then again, if he was apathetic and well, nihilistic, it probably wouldn't have ended or worked out nicely anyway.
(this is my first review on here T_T & p.s: i struggle to choose whether i want to give this book a 3.5 or a 4)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Death, Domestic abuse, Murder, and Gun violence
rosemarianduffy's review against another edition
All the academic boys can come for me all they want, this book is so boring. I do understand that the whole premise of this novel is a man who simply does not care about his actions or the repercussions for them, that does not excuse how bored I was reading this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Death of parent, Gun violence, and Animal cruelty
jkononova's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I found this book to be relatively underwhelming, relative to my high expectations sourcing from its status as a classic. While reading this story, I spent most of my time enjoying the prose while simultaneously wondering what all of the various details and descriptions were leading up to. Though I guess the sense of underwhelm and pointlessness may well be part of the described philosophy, so fair play to the author haha.
An angle I’ve found quite interesting is looking at this story through the lens of neurodivergence specifically. Meursault's continuous failure to conform to society’s expectations is a large part of why he is sentenced to death; the prosecutor’s claim that he was responsible for his mother’s death as well as the unrelated case of parricide was a wild one, and one that would’ve been entirely avoided if he had looked a bit sadder, chosen to see a sadder movie, and cried at the right times in front of the right people. While this man is called monstrous for a lack of this innate quality, these accusations are more a result of failing to engage in various social pretenses, and he was all in all not a menace to society outside of this one incident. Having just read East of Eden, I additionally found it interesting to consider Steinbeck’s perspective on Kate in contrast to society’s treatment of this story’s protagonist.
As an aside, I want to note that Camus' absurdist view on life likely isn't as revolutionary to me as when this work were first published; I feel like I've had too much exposure to this kind of philosophy at this point in my life to be truly changed or fascinated by it in the way I had anticipated, but others might find this to be a transformative read. Despite this not being a massive standout, the last few pages (the last two, in the edition I read) are marvelous, in my opinion, and I will be coming back to reread those specifically.
An angle I’ve found quite interesting is looking at this story through the lens of neurodivergence specifically. Meursault's continuous failure to conform to society’s expectations is a large part of why he is sentenced to death; the prosecutor’s claim that he was responsible for his mother’s death as well as the unrelated case of parricide was a wild one, and one that would’ve been entirely avoided if he had looked a bit sadder, chosen to see a sadder movie, and cried at the right times in front of the right people. While this man is called monstrous for a lack of this innate quality, these accusations are more a result of failing to engage in various social pretenses, and he was all in all not a menace to society outside of this one incident. Having just read East of Eden, I additionally found it interesting to consider Steinbeck’s perspective on Kate in contrast to society’s treatment of this story’s protagonist.
As an aside, I want to note that Camus' absurdist view on life likely isn't as revolutionary to me as when this work were first published; I feel like I've had too much exposure to this kind of philosophy at this point in my life to be truly changed or fascinated by it in the way I had anticipated, but others might find this to be a transformative read. Despite this not being a massive standout, the last few pages (the last two, in the edition I read) are marvelous, in my opinion, and I will be coming back to reread those specifically.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent and Grief
Minor: Animal cruelty
sagelikesscats's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Maybe a lot of people find the protagonist insufferable, but I didn’t really mind that he was nihilistic, maybe we that he didn’t care that the things he did had a negative affect on others.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Sexism, and Confinement
Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Animal cruelty, and Sexual content
Minor: Racism
applesodaperson's review against another edition
dark
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Before reading this book, I saw a tik tok about it that said it was about "a guy who commits murder adn is pretty chill about it" and yeah that's the perfect description.
Read from the Provo library.
Read from the Provo library.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty and Murder