Rating: 
Summary: A book that speaks to your secret self....
Review: "The Stranger" is a wonderful little book, filled with deceptively simple language and actions. It's understated, very subtle, and except for the outright atheist vs. church stuff at the end, you've really got to work for it. You can pick it up, read it in a night, put it down, and refuse to be affected...but if you listen, the meaning is in there, deep and dark, not didactic, more like a whisper.The apparent indifference Mersault carries strikes one as inhuman: shrugging off his mother's death, swearing off the church, agreeing to marry in a heartbeat, and, most poignantly, accepting his fate - a death sentence. But the things Mersault is trying to say through the gaps between what's actually on the page is simple: it's all arbitrary, we're fools on a ball spinning around a star, and contentment is the simplest thing to feel amidst chaos. Although the murder and the trial, and definitely the funeral, are fantastic moral-bending existentialist scenes, what sticks with you in the dark of night, is as simple as the prose and also as endlessly complex: we're here, we'll never understand each other, we see what's most convenient to see, and we all die in the end anyway, whether or not our tenure here can be marked as "good" or "bad" or "moral". Not the most uplifting read in the world, but literature is a cruel mistress sometimes.
Rating:
Summary: A book that speaks to your secret self....
Review: "The Stranger" is a wonderful little book, filled with deceptively simple language and actions. It's understated, very subtle, and except for the outright atheist vs. church stuff at the end, you've really got to work for it. You can pick it up, read it in a night, put it down, and refuse to be affected...but if you listen, the meaning is in there, deep and dark, not didactic, more like a whisper. The apparent indifference Mersault carries strikes one as inhuman: shrugging off his mother's death, swearing off the church, agreeing to marry in a heartbeat, and, most poignantly, accepting his fate - a death sentence. But the things Mersault is trying to say through the gaps between what's actually on the page is simple: it's all arbitrary, we're fools on a ball spinning around a star, and contentment is the simplest thing to feel amidst chaos. Although the murder and the trial, and definitely the funeral, are fantastic moral-bending existentialist scenes, what sticks with you in the dark of night, is as simple as the prose and also as endlessly complex: we're here, we'll never understand each other, we see what's most convenient to see, and we all die in the end anyway, whether or not our tenure here can be marked as "good" or "bad" or "moral". Not the most uplifting read in the world, but literature is a cruel mistress sometimes.
Rating: 
Summary: My favorite book of all time
Review: A book about the "Absurd" hero... A man who can only enjoy the moment, with no thought of the future or the past, who does only what feels good at the moment... who is not ruled by the monotonous machinery of the world, who refuses to set routines... and yet becomes entangled in the impersonal machinery of society. By the way, this book is about as un-autobiographical as is possible for a book to be. Yes, Camus grew up in Algiers and loved to swim, but he was primarily a thinker; he was utterly incapable of turning off his mind and thinking everything through. He philosophy was completely opposed to the Meursault's view of life. Yet, like me, he found in Meursault a certain honesty, of living consistently, without faking emotions and conventions. But it was ultimately against Meursault's attitude that Camus fought in his books and essays. It is a philosophical novel, and no doubt people will be turned off by anything that challenges them, but definitely give this book a chance. It has more to say than all but a handful of books five times the length of this one. I read it almost ten years ago for school, and have read it a half dozen times since, as well as every other novel Camus wrote... those for my own enjoyment. Put aside that King book for a week and read one of the greatest books ever written.
Rating:
Summary: My favorite book of all time
Review: A book about the "Absurd" hero... A man who can only enjoy the moment, with no thought of the future or the past, who does only what feels good at the moment... who is not ruled by the monotonous machinery of the world, who refuses to set routines... and yet becomes entangled in the impersonal machinery of society. By the way, this book is about as un-autobiographical as is possible for a book to be. Yes, Camus grew up in Algiers and loved to swim, but he was primarily a thinker; he was utterly incapable of turning off his mind and thinking everything through. He philosophy was completely opposed to the Meursault's view of life. Yet, like me, he found in Meursault a certain honesty, of living consistently, without faking emotions and conventions. But it was ultimately against Meursault's attitude that Camus fought in his books and essays. It is a philosophical novel, and no doubt people will be turned off by anything that challenges them, but definitely give this book a chance. It has more to say than all but a handful of books five times the length of this one. I read it almost ten years ago for school, and have read it a half dozen times since, as well as every other novel Camus wrote... those for my own enjoyment. Put aside that King book for a week and read one of the greatest books ever written.
Rating:
Summary: L'etranger is the novel of the century.
Review: A real manifest this book inspired generations and left its signature in every form of art. Tuxxedomoon wrote a song inspired from this book. L'etranger is classic. Powerfull, marvelous ,sad and melancholic cruel or masterpiece this is the book that is essential to every library.
Rating:
Summary: Great book
Review: I had to do a paper on this book in which I researched Albert Camus. He wrote this book as an autobiography. The protagonist felt and acted as Camus would have, and ultimately showed Camus that he needed to change. There is nothing wrong with Mersault - he is just living life for his own enjoyment. Why should he care about god? A splendid book.
Rating:
Summary: Meursault is no hero, but he is a martyr.
Review: I picked up the book because I knew the author was an existentialist. When I read the book, I was shaken to my core; it was nearly as if I was looking into a mirror. Meursault is completely honest nearly all the time, is amiable enough, and accepts the absurdity and futility of life. That he is unmoved by the emotions that most people feel is not his fault, and that he will not fake them is to his credit; I am not so honest. When he (arguably) accidentally kills in a moment of panic, he becomes a victim of xenophobia, and is killed because he will not lie or pretend to have sensibilities that most people have the sense to fake. This book is depressing, I think, but this archetypical existentialist character has a lot to teach if one can understand his motivations--or lack thereof.
Incidentally, I highly recommend _The Plague_ as a second course; I haven't finished it yet, but it appears to show another archtypical existentialist behaving in a more life-affirming way--which may help me and anyone else who finds the absurd tedium of life pointless and tiresome.
Rating:
Summary: Camus: the stranger in the crowd
Review: I read this book during a trip by train, (all at once) a few years ago, and i read it again recently. One of the best I've ever known, until now.
Rating:
Summary: If you don't have Jesus, you don't have life!
Review: Meursalt is a character of honesty because he always says what he feels. Meursalt is super-ficial because he doesn't see the picture beyond the grounds. I think something happened to Meursalt when he was younger, especially with his father because it doesn't really speak about his father that much. Something happened to Meursalt that caused him to have no feelings towards anything whatsoever. The main thing that he lacked was obviously Jesus Christ. Jesus won't give you friends,money,or material items, but he will give you eternal life,happiness,and the power to substain persecution.....but only if you read his words, for man shalt not live on bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of god Matt, 4:4.....you say that Jesus didn't exist because you weren't there and you say seeing is believing, then how do you know that George Washington or the Dinosaurs existed you never saw them? Oh Because there's evidence and historical data that shows Dinosaurs and Washington existed? if you said yes than you should believe Jesus existed because historical data does exist, New and Old Testaments, written by different people that didn't even know each other and guess what it all came out to be the same because they were inspired by GOD. Just look around you and ask yourself how can I be a mistake when everything in the world is sooo perfect, but we humans took it for granted and here we are stuck in Meursalt's world of emptiness. Just because your mother said you were a mistake you don't have to take her word for it because how can you be a mistake when your mother was impregnated by a man? Same with this world, how can it be a mistake when everything is soo perfect,the air,our distance from the sun, eco-system, just look around you and ask yourself was this all a mistake or was this universe created by some higher power known as GOD. If there is a design there is a designer known as GOD. I dare you to read the Bible for it is the best book you can read, filled with prophets, philosophy,historical issues, adventures, comedy, horror, it's funny how GOD rolled it all into one amazing book of his own the BIBLE (New & Old Testment). If you seek you shall find I promise you and if you ask he shall answer and if you hear him knock please let him in but you must to do it with your heart, mind, and soul. God Bless you!!
Rating:
Summary: I highly suggest it
Review: One of the greatest aspects of this book is that it challenges the reader to step outside of the proverbial box that is society. I am Catholic-devout, and had a hard time accepting the futility of life presented in this book. Having to read this book for a literature class, I was challenged to defend my faith against the onslought of a very effective representation of Existentialist ideals. I highly enjoyed the surface story, but took the bulk of my pleasure from unravelling the subtle symblism, and highly religious undertones. (Ex. The way that the main character was prosecuted reminded me of a twisted version of Judgement Day) By the end of the book, my own personal faith was vindicated that much more. I can't wait to read it again.
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