A review by tampojo
The Stranger by Albert Camus

challenging dark reflective fast-paced

• Strong character development? No

4.25

The title and description of this book caught my eye from the very beginning, and containing only 123 pages, I read it in one fairly short sitting. To sum up quickly, I'd say this book is definitely an interesting one.

One of the first things I noticed while reading was the prose. The prose is very simple, consisting mainly of short, descriptive sentences from Meursault's perspective. These short sentences move the story along very quickly. Because the prose is so simple and impersonal, instead of being immersed into the characters life, it gives the book a detached, spectator-like feeling. Although I typically prefer longer, more elaborate prose (think The Secret History by Donna Tartt), I believe for this book, this simple and concise prose is beneficial, being very effective in conveying Meursault's detached and mostly objective view on the things around him.

Meursault himself is a very unique character. I'm not an expert, so I don't want to diagnose him with anything, but I think it would certainly make sense to speculate that he had something along the lines of antisocial personality disorder. Throughout the book, he's very indifferent to most things that happen to him, and lacks empathy, often seeming very unconcerned with the feelings of the others around him. During his mother's vigil, when a woman starts crying, his only thoughts on the matter is that it's annoying and he wishes she would stop. He doesn't care much about his mother's death, and seems more concerned with the hot weather he had to endure during the funeral. He doesn't care about his neighbor Raymond’s violent tendencies, and turns a blind eye to his domestic abuse, later becoming friends with him. He doesn't care about the future of his relationship with Marie, ieu.: “That evening Marie came by to see me and asked if I wanted to marry her. I said it didn't make any difference to me and that we could if she wanted to.”(Pg. 41) Once he's put in prison, he doesn't care much about that either, saying “At the time, I often thought that if I had to live in the trunk of a dead tree, with nothing to do but look up at the sky flowering over time, little by little I would have gotten used to it.”(Pg.77) Lastly and most importantly, he doesn't care about the fact he killed a man. 

Throughout the trial and his conversations with his lawyer, It's clear that he holds no remorse for any of his actions, and on page 100 he actively admits that he has never been able to feel remorse. This cold indifference is what ultimately leads to his demise. During his trial, the prosecutor points out how he didn't cry at his mothers funeral, and that the day after this mothers death he went swimming, went to a movie, and “[started] up a dubious liaison” with Marie. The prosecutor used this to make the claim that Meursault was a man with no morals, had a “criminal soul”, and that the murder he committed was in fact premeditated. Because of this overall judge of character, he is deemed guilty and sentenced to death.

This book takes on a very nihilistic undertone, exemplified by Meursault’s previously stated apathy. This becomes clear especially towards the end, the last paragraph giving a powerful statement, with Meursault stating “..I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world. Finding it so much like myself - so like a brother, really - 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 on the day of my execution, and that they greet me with cries of hate.”(Pg.122-123) It's hard to say whether this nihilistic attitude was beneficial to Meursault or not. On one hand, this mindset allowed him to be happy even in the most dire of circumstances, and find peace in almost all aspects of his life, but on the other hand, it's the same vast indifference towards everything that led him to those unfortunate situations in the first place. In the end, I think it's better to approach nihilism- and everything, for that matter-  with a sense of balance. Accept what you cannot change, but don't disregard your future because of it. 

Overall, I'd say this is a book with an interesting premise, that was executed very well. One thing I really appreciated about this book is its cohesiveness. Every character and detail play a part in the plot, and nothing is insignificant, bringing it to what is (in my opinion) a very satisfying conclusion. Overall, this short and introspective book is definitely worth a read!