Rating: 
Summary: One of the classics of existential literature.
Review: For me, The Stranger, is one of those books of which I have heard and read much about, but which I have never actually read from cover to cover. The fact that the book now appears in an "American" translation encouraged me to finally pick up the book and read it. From its famous first sentence through Meursault's final musings as he awaits execution, I was totally entranced. Several times I castigated myself for not reading this book sooner, because I think that it is an important statement that is as relevant now as it was when it was first published. Meursault goes through life dispassionately, seeing the choices of his life as being of no importance, and never concerning himself with social conventions. He has only one credo: to be honest to himself and to others. Ironically, this normally admirable quality often offends those around him and brands him as being immoral. Therefore, the fact that he does not cry at his mother's funeral is seen by his prosecutors as being just as criminal as the pointless murder Meursault commits "because of the sun." While most existential literature is cyncial and pessimistic, The Stranger offers readers a semblance of hope in facing the "benign indifference of the universe." Meursault realizes at the end of his life that he has been happy and that his death, just as his mother's, will not be greeted with tears.
Rating:
Summary: The Common Man
Review: Albert Camus' tale, The Stranger, reveals to its reader how important life truly is. The novel revolves around a man suffering from the recent death of his mother. However, it appears that his way of coping involves not feeling anything at all. Read along as we learn of a man without a care of thought in the world, and learn why this novel can entertain as well as teach any person the true values of life.
Rating: 
Summary: An analyzation beyond...
Review: When I first picked up the novel as a piece of school equipment I thougth that it would be completely boring, yet when i got home i started to read it and began realising that this was an original masterpiece. The first line,"Mother died today" instinctivally shows the abnormalities that this charachter "Meursault" matches up to. Then immediately i realsied the isolation and alienation that he was suffering. This novel is a must read, basically because it has issues and values that would never cross ones mind until they are in a situation where they are alone and are being judged immoraly. This novel is fantastic, it offers analyzers with a bowl of chocolate with a cherry on top, and book worms who just love to read opinionative writing, a chance to understand existentialism. It is obvious that Camus was involved in existentialism, and maybe the book was all symbollically referring to Camus life and beliefs.Indications are easily brought to the readers attention if they are ready to explore an alientated mind.Overall it was great, i loved it.
Rating:
Summary: simple y magnifico
Review: un hombre joven que vive sin sentimientos, un extranjero de su propio cuerpo y de sus sensaciones, no le molesta en lo mas minimo matar o ser ahorcado. es el nihilismo llevado al extremo. el enajenamiento que produce la falta de raices, la falta de creencias, la anomia del siglo.todas las cosas entendibles y no entendibles.el parece un hombre perdido , pero ni siquiera en si mismo....
Rating:
Summary: Absurdity
Review: Mersault is a "stranger," identifid as a person who does not feel remorse for anything: He does not cry at his mother's funeral, kills a man, and even shows apathy toward his own death. The most fascinating part, to me, is the ending where Camus provides a question of "human justice." It is individuals who give meaning to what they believe is important. Yet the society labels what is "right" and "wrong," which is often difficult for some people to accept. The society and its human justice sometimes is what makes the world absurd. However, we shall never function as a country, as a group, if there were no rules for us to follow. If you find this book difficult to understand, I would recommend that you read The Myth of Sisyphus or A Happy Death. As you continue to read Camus's work, you shall come to understand his quesions, the questions toward absurd societies, the questions to which Camus struggled to find answers yet did not find satisfactory ones. Albert Camus is one of my favorite writers.
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Summary: A Haunting tale!
Review: Camus explored what he termed "the nakedness of a man faced with the absurd". Camus is so right since the tale focuses of a young man named Marsault whom unwittingly gets drawn into a senseless murder on a sundrenched Algerian beach.
Rating:
Summary: Welcome to nihilism
Review: This is the story of an "average" man who gets swept up into rather unfortunate circumstances. He kills a man in self defense, but is charged with pre-meditated murder. Camus uses this discomforting tale to explore the framework of 20th century existentialism. No doubt this is a post-modern work. The extraordinary degree of apathy demonstrated by the persona is something that reminds me of the blandness of the characters in Earnest Hemingway's "The Sun Also Rises." Nothing means anything to him. Not life. Not marriage. Not the death of his mother, and not his own execution. Reading this book, one becomes transfixed with the horrible plight of this miserable man. We sympathize with the absurdity of it even as we shake our heads at his deplorable character and lack of judgment. This novel is terse, but it is powerful. The power is not lost in its brevity, but rather focused in it. I would recommend that it be read alongside the short story "The Wall" by John Paul Sartre. Both are what I would call trademark works of existentialism.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting little book
Review: I read the edition of The Stranger as translated by Stuart Gilbert and while I enjoyed it, I completely disagree with the synopsis statement on the back of my edition which reads in part, "A terrifying picture of a man victimized by life itself- he is a faceless man, who has commited a pointless murder- it is a book whose unrelenting grip upon our consciousness has not diminished to this day." I think to say the protagonist, Meursaeult, is a "victim" of anything is absurd. I don't believe he ever saw, or wanted himself seen, as such. This is actually a very strong character, very much in tune with himself, what he thinks, what he likes, those things about which he does not think, etc. The word "victim" in no way applies and actually, in my understanding of existentialism, insults the character. Meursault is also described in other reviews as one who has been "unwittingly drawn" into a murder- once again, this suggests a weakness of some kind - a weakness which our protagonist simply does not have. He is not led around by the nose, nor was he "unwittingly drawn" into anything. In stark contract to this theory, he did everything very WILLINGLY and with all his wits about him. Even when his girlfriend proposes, he says yes, but only because it does not matter in any way to him whether they marry or not. He has considered the issue, found it to be of no consequence and is willing to do it if she likes. As for the murder, the same principal applies...he had possession of the gun, was hot and bothered by the sun, decided quite consciously to walk forward, knowing that he would not escape the heat in that direction, nor avert the man up ahead with the knife "it struck me that all I had to do was turn, walk away, think no more about it") but nonetheless proceeded; What then "unwittingly drew" him to shoot that man- the sun? No, he simply decided to shoot him, felt the revolver in his pocket, acknowledged the oppressive weather and the effect it was having on him and shot. Then knowing he had just "shattered the balance of the day, the spacious calm on this beach on which I had been happy, ... FIRED FOUR MORE SHOTS..." Bang, End of the victimization theory. Nor was he "victimized" by society or the Courts (regardless of how corrupt either is). The man simply lived life fundamentally believing that the world was without purpose, leading only unto death, yet all the more invigorating because of this fact. This man loved life on his own terms. That in contemporary society he'd be considered a sociopath makes no nevermind to me. I have not nor do I believe I will ever meet the realization of these types of characters, i.e. the Howard Roarkes and Muersaults of the world, nor am I sure I want to. I do, however, enjoy reading about them and can see the base validity of their point.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent absurdist story
Review: This book emphasizes how life is pointless and how humans have form their own meanings for their existence. The problem is other people and the lack of understanding between individuals. Camus shows how telling the truth is the most noble thing to do eventhough others will not accept the truth. A level below Dostoevsky and a level above Sartre, as far as Existential literature is concerned.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating
Review: This book is certainly one of the most powerful of the last century. It is a product of a philosophical movement which is sweeping in its scope and depth. This book is interesting in literary terms, but probably should not be studied without some knowledge about the existentialism of Camus and Sartre. Highly recommended...
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