The Stranger

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant.
Review: Along with The Great Gatsby, The Stranger is the finest novel I have ever read. It staggered me when I first read it in high school, and I continue to return to it again and again. The prose is startling in its purity and sharpness, the characters are memorable in their seeming bare bones simplicity, and the message is one to live by, even though carrying it out requires a lot of courage. Camus was a truly great man, and this short yet metaphysically stimulating and emotionally draining book is his masterpiece.

Rating:
Summary: Essential
Review: This is one of the best books I've ever read. Through the main character's experiences, Camus brilliantly forces us to think about the way we live our own lives. Essential reading, if only to make one aware of how sad it can be to just let life pass you by without an attitude.

Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Book!!
Review: This was a wonderful book. It is a great example of exstatentialism(sorry about the spelling). It was well translated, but Ihope to read it in french someday. If you have a hard time understanding things then I wouldn't recomend that you read it. It has difficult concepts and ideas. I give it 5 stars:)

Rating:
Summary: The Only Good Thing About It Is The Title & That Cure Song
Review: Being unnaturally obsessed with Kafka, it was assumed by my compadres that I would also like this author, and particularly this book. How wrong they were. The plot makes no sense, the characterization is meager & unconvincing, and the only poetic prose occurs on the last page as our hero (ha!) languishes in prison in the final hours before he is to be executed, wondering what it all means & railing at humanity for treating him like the dog he is.

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful piece of literature!
Review: When I read this book, I felt a connection with Meursault. Even though I knew what the outcome would be, I didn't want it to happen.....he suffered enough in life as it is. Vive Meursault!

Rating:
Summary: A good book that you can get a lot of meaning out of.
Review: Albert Camus describes in great detail what this man is thinking through the book. The Stranger is an interesting novel honestly expressing the theory of existentialism. This great book shows what this mans life is like in and out of jail.

Rating:
Summary: L'Estranger is captivating and brilliant
Review: Camus brilliantly captures the essence of the existential hero. Meursault is forced into an absurd universe and must make decisions in that universe. He accepts responsibility for these actions-thus overcomming the punishment. It is tragic, however, as the all-too-human, Meursault, is sentenced to die not particularly for murder, but for his brutally honest emotions in dealing with past incidents. Camus not only tells a provacative, intriguing tale, but gives the reader a glimpse into his own absurd world.

Rating:
Summary: It was a very descriptive and an entertaining book.
Review: I think The Stranger was very well-written and well-thought out. It is very descriptive. Albert Camus describes in lots of detail, which makes you feel like you're right there in the story. At first it has a slow pace and can be boring at times, but halfway through the pace picked up. It got confusing at times also but I would just read a section over a couple of times and then understand it. What I really liked the most about the book was how the main character's, which was Monsieur Meursault's, thoughts were vividly described. You felt like you were in the mind of this stranger and understood what he was going through. I love novels that are written in first person, so that explains why I like getting into the stranger's mind. I also like how the thoughts of death were described. I always wondered what a man was thinking when he knew he was going to die soon. Mr. Camus does a great job at providing this information in an interesting way. He makes Monsieur Meursault feel happy about dying. It is strange and creative. Meursault was always made out to be a cold-hearted character and Camus does an exellent job at portraying this too. I would recommend this book to anyone who could pick it up except young children of course. You have to also be a patient reader and take your time with the book. It can be slow and hard to follow, but you have to continue reading. I loved this book, and I really thought it had a great ending.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic ride, extentialist style!
Review: An interesting novel about life in French Algeria during the early 1900s. An interesting novel that explores life a little different than you would expect.

Rating:
Summary: Quintessential Camusian absurdity
Review: While slow in the beginning for a reader looking for blatent literary entertainment, The Stranger gives the impression that Camus is a philosopher-wordsmith (in the vein of Nietzsche) before an author. The last 5 or so pages are stunning, and with reflection upon the rest of the novel, I was smacked in the face with a picture of modern man so clear and untainted that I could almost see Camus chipping away at years of Plato's absolute morality... It's not the most entertaining novel one could read, but it is truly a classic of absurdist existential philosophy.