The Stranger

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Summary: My Personal Response to "The Stranger"
Review: In Albert Camus's book "The Stranger" there are tow parts, both very different. In the first part of the book Meursault's life is explains, leading up to what happens in the second part. In the second part, Meursault is discovering himself, so to say. I found the first part of the book, although a bit bland, much more eventful than the second half of the book. The begining of the book makes Meursault (the protagonist) seem like a freak of nature, having no emotions. It develops him as a very boring person, one who lives life for the day-not the past or future. As soon as the book starts, with the line "Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don't know," it is easy to tell that this will is a bland book. Most books start out boring because they are developing the plot. Not this book, this book continues to be boring. The second part of the book is the reason of the book. Although it is more boring, and much less happens, it is the part where Meursault begins to show human qualities (like feeling). This book shows the development of a man. Meursault went from not feeling emotions, to opening himself "to the gentle indifference of the world." All in all, this was a book with a great lesson. Getting to that lesson was long and boring, but in the end it was a useful lesson to learn.

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Summary: the title
Review: The title of the novel The Stranger by Albert Camus describes Meursault relationship to society. He acts in a human situation as though human relationships, and therefore responsibilities, do not exist. He is a stranger to society, because he refuses to make any concessions whatsoever to its codes and rituals. He sees no relation at all between his mother's death and seeing a comic film tow days later, and establishes none. And, seeing it through his eyes, we are almost in complete agreement. He is the man who refuses to lie. Camus uses this piece of writing to satire society in regards to our complacency and to ridicule our smugness. It is not, however the satire of a society and the miscarriage of justice that give the tale its fundamental significance. With the shooting of the Arab, Meursault tells us "everything began". The revolver shot jolts Meursault out of his negative state. After his imprisonment, Meursault discovers three inexhaustible but completely closed subjective worlds: the world of memory; the world of sleep; and the world of human solitude. To him in prison his face is now that is a stranger, an exile. The final revelation comes with the chaplain. Here he is jolted out of his apathy and into a state of rage. He realizes that this crime and revelation are as one. He destroyed and is destroyed. There is no excuse, explanation or compensation. Meursault becomes a sacrificial victim, his end is apotheosis. The stranger has found his kingdom on a prison bed. Every moment of the life of a human being who by inexplicable decree of fate is destined to death. Meursault disappears with this revelation. It is clear that Meursault initial mental attitude proves inadequate to cope with even the simplest of lives. The very existence of the absurd in his case is that out of indifference he linked to forces of violence and death, not with love and life. He fails to ask any questions and thereby errs.

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Summary: The Philosophy of Existentialism
Review: Albert Camus' novel The Stranger is a wonderful piece of literature that takes you into the depths of a human consciousness that embodies the essence of existentialism. Meursault's, the main character, plight is caused by his obvious differences with society and societies morals. Society as a whole has a belief in a divine being that guides their life and gives bounds to their actions. They believe they are here for a reason and this keeps them sane. Meursault does not share this belief and he believes that life is meaningless and therefore he believes it does not matter what he does, he can either do something or not do something. If you like book about spicy love affairs and books that require little though this book probably isn't for you. If, however, you like a book with a clever idea written by one of the literary worlds great writers then this is the perfect book. The Stranger is an absurdist work that shows us a person who is so immersed in existentialist beliefs that he actually feels no emotion; he lives solely for physical pleasure. This lifestyle is only not hedonistic because Meursault doesn't really care whether or not he does something. He can either go to the beach or not go to the beach, either way he is fine. The reason for this behavior is that Meursault believes that life in meaningless so it really makes no difference in the scheme of things whether he does one thing or does something else. This entire thought-provoking concept creates a great novel that people of all beliefs will enjoy.

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Summary: Theme of The Stranger
Review: Existensialism is the school of thought that all value in life rests in life itself. In other words, your own actions and emotions fulfill your spiritual needs. Religous codes and values hold no meaning to an existensialist, he or she woulld derive all of their spiritual satisfaction from simply living life. Albert Camus' The Stranger is comparable to a passage in the Bible - the Bible relates tales about people whose stories have a theme that reflects the Christian ideology. Camus' Stranger is the tale of a man named Mersault, whose experiences in life reflect Camus' existensialist ideology. At the start of the novel Mersault is passing through life with utter indifference. He is unaffected by such events as the death of his Mother, brutal beatings, and evenually ends up committing a homicide himself. While in jail for this crime, religous values are continually impressed upon Mersault by judges, chaplains, etc. He rejects these values with the only passion he shows throughout the whole novel. He finds his true peace in looking at the stars, listening to the sounds of the night, and reflecting on pleasures and memories he has lived in his life. His tale is a simple one, reflective of the existensialist view of rejection of religon and concentration on the pleasures of life itself.

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Summary: If I could give it more stars I would
Review: Even though this was mandatory reading for me, (which usually means I hate the book) I found it enjoyable, yet instructive. Even though there were some boring parts (my friends say the whole thing was boring) I found that once I got into it I couldn't put it down. I think that I liked the book so much because it was so easy to understand the diction of the protagonist. When I started to read The Stranger it seemed that his diction was overly simplified but now I see that it just contributes to the book. It showed me that the protagonist really didn't have emotions, and that he just lived the way he wanted to. I also think that the message of the book is a very important one, but we all need to find it for ourselves. My favorite part was when he killed the man and you could tell that he really didn't think it mattered if he killed him or not, the imagery in that part just stuck with me. This book also helped me to understand existentialism because all I had read in the past was Catcher in the Rye and Bartelby and I was confused at the author's point in both of those. But this I felt was a lot clearer and helped me understand these other novels better. I would recommend this book to anyone.

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Summary: Validity of Existentialism
Review: The novel The Stranger by Albert Camus is a deceptively simple story by the Nobel Prize winning existentialist author. In narrating the story of Meursault, a seemingly ordinary man, Camus separates his readers into two categories: Those who follow his beliefs, and those who do not. Due to the absolute natures of both sides of this discussion, there can be no median. If one stops to reflect on the circumstances of our existence, a startling decision is to be made. As emotion clouds our judgement and batters us with the possibility that there is no reason for us to be here, we run. We run towards religion or a belief in a higher force that validates our lives. In the end, this is the ultimate weakness that diseases humanity. The main character, Meursault, embodies the true existentialist hero. In the beginning of the story, he does not have a full understanding of the "gentle indifference of the world." However, his completely unemotional demeanor paves the way for his eventual enlightenment. While considering his predicament, he cements the realization that there is no inherent meaning in, of or for life. As people confront the possibility that their lives are merely inconsequential specs in the universe, they fabricate homilies and tie themselves to these descriptions which amount to little more than the multitudinous myths of cultures in existence at the dawn of humanity. In The Stranger, Camus tells readers that gaining this existentialist insight is fairly simple. One must open ones mind to the more reasonable possibilities which explain our universe.

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Summary: The Stranger
Review: "While others struggle to juggle tricky metaphors, I explore more, to expose the core" The words of rapper, Guru, best describe the writing style of Albert Camus. The Stranger was written with simple words, and simple sentences, because the main character, Meursault, is a simple man. Camus is making a social commentary. He is telling the reader there is no god, nothing important beyond life. Some feel Meursault is complex, because he does not share the same emotions they do. These natural human feelings are complicated, Meursault is not. It is hard for most readers to believe Meursault honestly does not care about anything. They can not accept a man who is not like them. Meursault should be accepted as the person Camus says he is; after all, he made up the man. The point of the novel is that there is no more to life than what you see and experience. The book should be read from the same point of view. I enjoyed the book because it was like real life. Most books are written in a way that makes them seem far from real, with vocabulary that puts it in a world of it's own. In a musical or opera, people sing everything they want to say. In real life a person would not write a song on the spot to describe their memories of going to the beach. While most novels are written like a musical, The Stranger is real.

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Summary: Indifference, is it worth it?
Review: The alarm clock is going off, it¹s six in the morning. I¹m trying to think of a good reason to lift my head from this pillow. Is there some reason I need to get up. I know there is a reason. I know that even if in the final out come my live is not valuable to anyone but myself, then it was valuable. My life is valuable to me. I enjoy life. This is something that took Meursault, the main character in Albert Camus¹s The Stranger, a lifetime to understand. Meursault was a simple man. A man of few words and few emotions. He lived off his senses. He cared for no one, because to him no one was worth caring for. Life to him was meaningless. Life was not precious to him. Meursault as a character went through many changes throughout the novel. He started as an insensitive person. One whom didn¹t even cry at his own mother¹s funeral. He was indifferent to the world. Then he was faced with the prospect of his own death, he finally understood why life was worth living. He realized that one day of memories can be enough to make a man dream for a lifetime. Meursault realized there is nothing after death. The life you lead is the only time you have. It is given to you and you make the best of it. Not because you have to but because you want to. You should do it because it makes you want to wake up and start another adventurous day. The Stranger is a novel that makes you think about your life. It makes you want to reexamine each day you live, to make sure you are living them to their fullest. That is how I want to live my life. I want to find out what the world can offer me. I want to know what is out there. I want to explore life. Is that how you want to live yours?

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Summary: Don't expect too much...
Review: Camus' "masterpiece," The Stranger, falls short of expectations. The second half of the novel gets repetitive and tedious, as Meursault's prison sentence seems to drag on forever. This book's message was interesting and worthwhile, however Camus draws it out, with a anti-climatic conclusion. Although, I did not feel that this book is too interesting, it does deserve to be read, as it is a classic. Camus makes good points about the absrubness of life and the hopelessness of mankind. There is a good use of literary devises in this satire and translator Matthew Ward did an excellent job of bringing this story to English from French. In addition, the sentences seem simple when first read, however their hidden complexity does add some interest to an otherwise dull story. Book can lead to interesting discussions and thoughts, However at times the story is confusing and seems outdated. Meursault's personality is very hard to grasp and he seems often times seems almost inhuman. Weak suspense near the end of the story. Nevertheless, it should be read once by everybody, however don't expect it to be a sensational novel, as it may fall short of expectations.

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Summary: Albert Camus' The Stranger
Review: I feel that The Stranger by Albert Camus was a pretty good book. I have heard many times that is was very boring, but, regardless of those reports, I found it quite interesting. I could not tell you exactly what it is that got my attention. Maybe it was Meursault's very relaxed outlook on life. Or maybe it was the lack of unimportant, boring descriptions of his every emotion. Actually, the fact that he had no emotion appealed to me. Reading this story by Camus opened up a whole new existentialist window to me. It was something new. Maybe that is why I found it interesting. I always thought that if life had no meaning, which would be bad. But reading it from Camus' point of view, it did not seem all that bad, and in fact, seemed to make more and more sense as I kept on reading. I read this book for english class. Normally, I do not find books this interesting that I am forced to read. This book is definetly different than any other book I have read. Especially for educational purposes. Speaking of educational purposes, I am still puzzled as to why we would be forced to read about book whose theme is "there is no meaning to life." I guess it does not really matter.