The Stranger

Rating:
Summary: An Undesputed Classic
Review: I read the Stranger (actually i read the translation entitled The Outsider, but it's the same thing) in my grade 11 world literature class. The book revolves around the main character named Meursault. The novel, deep rooted in its existentialist theme, is one of the most mentally stimulating books you will ever read. Albert Camus suggests that the pinnacle of hypocrisy in society is its quickness to judge people upon appearances or behavior, versus its apparent incapacity to judge people upon fact. I will refrain from making any conjectures about the novel, its theme and message, because that is something you must do for yourself. After reading the novel, dont rush to the internet to read essays and reviews about the novel. Instead spend some time contemplating the book yourself. Then open yourself to the opinions of others. It is one of those books that you will never forget, and will change the way you see things, at least temporarly.

Rating:
Summary: A Sad, Lonesome Stranger
Review: Camus' novel 'The Stranger' certainly makes one ponder the meaning of life. The main character is a lost, hopeless, and amoral individul who trudges through life day by day. In the end, he discovers his life has no real meaning. Like Sisyphus condemned to endlessly roll a huge boulder to the top of a hill--only to have it roll down again, the protagonist goes through his daily routine, even though he realizes his actions will lead him to no end or conclusion. The frightening aspect of this tale is that while this book was written in 1942, one could argue that there are many of these individuals in today's society. Many more than even the existentialist Camus could have imagined.

Rating:
Summary: "The Stranger"
Review: When I initially read this book, I was entirely confused and a bit disturbed at what I had just read. As I began to research the book and analyze the book, I began to understand it. The concepts are quite bizarre... but in the end pleasantly intriguing. After first reading the book, I really didn't understand Meursault's character and how all the events enhance the reader's understanding of his character. This book was read for a paper and my teacher told me that Meursault was dynamic. However, I didn't fully understand how until later. During the beginning of the story, Meursault takes a passive role in his life. The events in his life don't seem to be happening to him.... just to someone else or something. At some point during the trial, Meursault discovers that the events are truely happening to him. At this point, he decides to take an active role in his life. He chooses not to sit on the sidelines any longer. He also want to make useful all the time he has left. He doesn't want to waste a moment worrying about God or something else (like when he spent the whole day watching the people from his window). He wants to pack as much into the time he has left and forget about all the past problems he's had. He relates to Maman in that he wants to start over, with no problems or expectations. His life to come will be much more productive than the life he lead earlier. In most reviews of this book, this book has almost been an example of what not to do. I, however, have found comfort in this book in that I think it is an example of what TO do. You should live life as if you are not going to be here tomorrow because you never know what's coming next. You never know when that sun's going to shine just right!

Rating:
Summary: ABSURDIST THEATRE NOIR
Review: THE STRANGER is one of those timeless classics sure to disturb new readers well into the next millenium. Albert Camus is dealing with truth here, and truth, like life, is not for everybody. And neither is this book. I wouldn't have it any other way. Camus' pitifully honest anti-hero Meursault finds himself on the wrong end of French justice following a carefully plotted train of carelessly indifferent but seemingly innocent decisions culminating in one senseless murder that is the real mystery of the book. Why did he do it? Who is Monsieur Meursault, really? Naturally, the reason supplied by the author is strongly provocative and certainly unsatisfactory for most if not all. The writing is terse, economic, exact. A wonder, really. Readers should note what is not said as well as what is. This book did what few books can. I was left in a state of aesthetic arrest, neither drawn to nor repulsed by story or character, a sort of neutral zone where all fear and loathing have been replaced by pure wonder--much like Meursault himself. THE STRANGER only confirms for me what I have always suspected: in the hands of a master, writing is the highest form of art. What Camus achieves in a few pages most modern authors would spend chapters doing.

Rating:
Summary: The Stranger
Review: I thought that the book The Stranger was a book that could have been better. The book was not suspensful, and I really did not enjoy it. It had no climax, almost no plot, and the action was not built up at all. However, in this book, the author Albert Camus makes a few good points about our society. The book started with the death of the main character Meursault's mother. Meursault went to her funeral, which was at the nursing home in which she lived. He showed no signs of sorrow over his mother's death, and even fell asleep during her vigil. When Meursault returned home he concluded that "really, nothing in his life had changed." The next day Meursault went to his neighbor Raymond's house for dinner. Raymond was a pimp, although he told people that he was a "warehouse guard." Raymond explained to Meursault the problem that he was having with a girlfriend of his who he said "did him dirty." He asked Meursault to help him out with his problem, and when Meursault said yes, Raymond stated that he considered them pals. Meursault's life went on, with nothing eventful happening until Raymond invited Meursault and Marie, Raymond's girlfriend who was considering marriage between the couple, to his friend Masson's bungalow. Meursault accepted the invitation, and went to the bungalow. However, right before they left, Raymond informed Meursault of a group of Arabs that had been following him ever since he had tried to resolve the conflict with his ex-girlfriend. The Arabs followed them to the bungalow, and through a series of complications, Meursault ended up shooting and killing one of the Arabs. The rest of the book is about Meursault's time in jail, and his court hearing, in which he is sentenced to the guillotine, and his reaction afterwards. Although I don't think The Stranger was a good book, I can make one positive observation about it. The author, Albert Camus, did a good job in this book of using indirect characterization. He did not tell us that Meursault was a man of little or no feelings, but left us to figure it out for ourselves. As the book moved on, we became more and more aware of the fact that Meursault was a shy, quiet, disturbed character. I stress the fact that I have several legitimate criticisms of this book. First, the book didn't really have a plot. It did have a series of events, each related to the next, but the plot was not built upon itself. This relates to my other point, which is that the highest point of drama, the climax, was not near the end of the book where it should have been, but in the middle of the book, making the ending long and drawn-out. I think that the theme of this book was that everyone should enjoy life. Don't take it for granted, every new day could bring something unexpected. No one should go through life as Meursault did, lazily, boringly, lifelessly, and blankly. We should get out, enjoy life, and make the best of it. This may be what Albert Camus is trying to tell us in his book. The tone that Albert Camus took in this book was one of pity and shame. The author pitied the way Meursault went through life, and he was ashamed of it. By taking this tone, Camus was able to make us aware of the theme of the book. In this book, Meursault symbolized many people in life today for two reasons. First, many people take life for granted, just as Meursault did. Also, they don't take any pride in anything that they do. Second, Meursault committed a "pointless crime" for apparently no reason at all. Many people today are guilty of those same pointless crimes. All in all, this was a fair book. I did not enjoy it, but if you read between the lines like I did, you can see that Camus is trying to give us a few important messages. However, the book was written in 154 pages when it could have been written in 80 and been just as good.

Rating:
Summary: This is a book to think about
Review: For a while in this book it appears that the Mr. Meursault is living a normal life with a girlfriend, a few friends, and everything else included in most people's daily life. When his friend asks him to get involved in a plot to get back at a girl that dumped him, his life takes a drastic turn. This is the only real part of the story that at all caught my attention. Up until this point, I had really struggled through the book. As the book goes on, Mr. Meursault is jailed for a crime and sentenced to death. This is the turning point in the book. Throughout the book, he tries to understand why people attempt to begin new lives. After his mother dies, Mr. Meursault learns she had become very close to one of the men in the nursing home where she was living. He also learns that the two had been in love and were supposedly engaged. He doesn't understand why anyone who is close to death would become involved in that way with another human being. At the end of the book, when he is in his jail cell, he discovers that just because you near the end of your life, it does not mean that you are dead yet and that you should approach everything as if you will live forever. Throughout the book, he argued with people about the existence of a God. When the chaplain comes to talk with him, he yells at him. The two argue about what God is and he goes off on the chaplain yelling that he believes there is no after life, so there is no need for God in his life. When the chaplain leaves Mr. Meursault is left to think about what he has said and done. He began to understand why his mother began a new life. Even as life dies, in a way it begins again.

From the first page, you are stunned at what is said by Mr. Meursault. His actions confuse you and you stumble over the words, reading them over again and again. This is a book that can be read on many different levels. On one hand, if you enjoy really reading a book, reading between the lines, then this is a very good book for you. If you are able to comprehend what the man is saying, you see a picture of what life really is; a strange twisted world in which an innocent man is taken, put in strange situations and then made a victim of. If you are a kid just trying to pick a short book to read for a report, you may want to look somewhere else. This book is one that must be read several times over to fully understand what is being said and what is happening. I can honestly say that this is the most, bizarre, twisted, and in a way, frightening books I have ever read. Maybe that's why it's a classic.

Rating:
Summary: The Stranger Book Review
Review: In my opinion, The Stranger was a very weird novel about a man who goes through life seeming not to care about many things. The novel starts off with the line, My mother died today, or maybe it was yesterday. He doesn't have any emotion what so ever, even towards the sudden tragic death of his mother. After the funeral, he meets a guy in his apartment building named Raymond. Monsieur Meursault and Raymond become good friends after talking for some time. Monsieur Meursault becomes involved with a girl named Marie. After a while of dating, she asks him if he loved her, and he responds by saying no. Then he says I guess when she asks him to get married. This is such an important step in someone's life, and he doesn't even care about just jumping into it so soon. He doesn't even love this girl, but still he decides to get married. One day Raymond asks Monsieur Meursault if he and Marie want to spend the day with he and his friends at the beach. Meursault gladly accepts this offer. Little does he know that what happens today, will change his life forever. At the bus station, Raymond spots one of his enemies, standing near by. He is an Arab, that had got in a little heap with Raymond a couple of weeks ago. As Raymond spots him, he says nothing and quietly gets on the bus. When they get to Masson and his wife's house on the shore, Raymond sees the Arabs on the beach, sitting behind a rock. He tells Meursault to hold his gun, just incase something the Arab tries something slick. Sure enough the Arab pulls out a knife and stabs Raymond in the arm. Meursault did nothing to help his friend, but take him to the house to get him cleaned up. As he was sitting there, thinking about what he should have done, he decides to go out and confront the Arab. Instead of talking it out, Meursault does the stupid thing, and shoots the Arab point blank and kills him. The story ends with him going to court, and being sentence with the death penalty. The author doesn't tell you what happens to Raymond, Marie, and Masson. The tone was very passive about many things. Many of them would have a great effect on normal people with emotions. The main character, Meursault is the same way the author is, with the way he doesn't care about things. Overall, I thought this was very different from most others that I have read. This story takes place around Paris, France. In some parts of this novel, it tends to become redundant. Everyday he goes to work. Then he goes out with a friend and then he goes to bed. After a while, the reader gets to know his daily life pretty good. Maybe the killing of the Arab was good for him, that it was something different and exciting for a change.

Rating:
Summary: The Stranger
Review: The Stranger, by Albert Camus, is a good book that was originally written in French. Any book that is translated into English is almost always a good book. In this book you read about a man named Meursalt that is almost indifferent on every subject in the story, and you really start to notice it as you read further into the story. As you read The Stranger it seems as if Meursalt isn't even perticipating in the world around him, it seems like he's just watching.

Through the book I noticed that Albert Camus gets into a lot of detail in The Stranger. Albert Camus describes every action that Meursalt goes through. An example of this is when Meursalt says I smoked a cigar in my mother's living room. Again, this statement is one of indifference. Infact, many of the statements in this book are like this one. Very few statements in this book are either positive or negitive. I believe Albert Camus does this for a reason. I think he does it so you can find out how you think.

This book was written in 1946 and is considered Albert Camus' one masterpiece. Even in today's world it still holds social significance. It gives the reader an insight on how he or she thinks through the neutral character Meursalt. Nearly sixty years later Albert Camus' masterpiece is still read by people every day. It is even part of the high school reading criteria.

Even if your not that entranced with The Stranger it will still make you think. Even if the thoughts aren't positive. There are parts in this story when you think, 'Why would he say that.' Or, 'Now why would he get involved with him.' Like any books though I think there are some flaws. Sometimes he does things that seem to have no meaning except to further the plot. In fact, the plot itself doesn't seem to show itself until halfway through the story. In the end though this is still a book you should consider reading. It is an interesting book and after reading it for a while you will start getting into the plot.

Rating:
Summary: Why is Meursault a "stranger"?
Review: I think many people are missing the main point and don't understand why Camus created Meursault. When I read this book as a high school student, I thought Meursault was a "stranger" because his morality and conscience were paralyzed. But now, I realize that I was wrong. He is a "stranger" because he is the only honest one; he does not lie. In other words, if you don't lie, you are idetified as a "stranger."

I came to this conclusion after reading The Myth of Sisyphus. The stranger is not a denial of life, and Camus was never pessimistic about life. He rather had passion for living, and he says that our pride and passion never let us throw everything away but make us work and struggle toward absurdity. Camus says that Meursault is not a moron, but he is a passionate man who loves the sun that leaves no shadow.

There is no God, and we have no other life but the ones we live now. What, then, can we do? Although the society is absurd, we shall never let go of our pride and passion for living and shall give the best of ourselves to whatever comes before us.

The Stranger is a good read, but you have to read Camus's other novels in order to understand it. Read The Myth of Sisyphus and A Happy Death.

Rating:
Summary: a stunning portrayal of alienation...
Review: ....and the problem of living with fidelity in an alienated and "absurd" world. The first line is not to be forgotten for its evocation of numbness.