Book title: The
Stranger
Book Author:
Albert Camus
Publication
Date: 1942
ISBN: 9782070360024
The
term ‘modern classic’ is used far too frequently but The Stranger is a novel
for which such a description holds true. It is a major book of twentieth
century philosophy and encompasses several schools of thought, most prominently
absurdism and existentialism.
The
book is about a man called Meursault who lives a bland daily existence and
seems bored with everything in life. His daily routine is thrown out of order
when he commits a senseless murder of an Arab on a beach in Algiers. The story is told in first person from
Meursault’s point of view, with part one leading up to the murder and part two
dealing with the aftermath and trial.
The
book is written in a very distinctive style. One that is not French at all but
ironically, for one of the most popular French books of the last century, an
American style. Camus writes in the way Hemingway would write. He makes use of short
sentences and minimal descriptions to give the reader the feel that there is a
lot happening beyond what they are being told.
This
style works especially well to describe Meursault’s life. The short sentences
manage to give the impression of the narrator’s malaise and disinterest. The
fact that he barely manages to describe his mother’s funeral or any emotions
about it in the opening chapter immediately sets the tone of Meursault as a
somewhat emotionless person.
The
book is not entirely about the boredom of daily life. Meursault goes to the
beach with his new friend Raymond and his new girlfriend Marie. The passages
which lead up to the killing of the Arab at the beach are some of the most
descriptive and intriguing in the entire book. The author manages to convey the
fact the sun is affecting the narrator strangely and completely shows that he
is suffering from the effects of heatstroke without ever coming out and saying
it. The author only uses the sun and its effects as the reason for the killing,
yet it does not seem as an impossible leap by the way it is described.
The
second part of the book which deals with after the murder is much more
specifically philosophical than the first. The trial deals almost exclusively
with the narrator and his apparent emotionless state and unconventional
behavior at his mother’s funeral. It is this more than anything which will seal
his fate.
The
narrator is unable to understand the link between his mother’s funeral and the
murder. As a consequence he is unable to show remorse. He tells the reader that
he is unable to feel remorse or strong emotions about any of his actions in
life. This statement shows the extent of the influence of absurdism in the book
since the narrator can see no inherent meaning in life, it just happens.
Meursault
meets with a priest in the final chapter of the book, who has come to prepare
him for his execution. In a climactic scene, the narrator refuses to be
absolved of his atheism and tries to convince the priest that the universe is
indifferent to his execution. This again is a reference to absurdism and its
theory of finding meaning in life to be a waste of time.
The
Stranger is one of the most original works of the last century. While the style
and ideas may not originate with Camus, the tessellation to form the complete
work brings about a book like no other. This book is one of the most thought
provoking ever written. It manages to work as both a novel and a philosophical
text and that alone makes it special.
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