The Stranger

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Fiction / Camus, Albert	4-week checkout	Due 05-22-2024
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Fiction / Camus, Albert	4-week checkout	Due 04-20-2024
Traverwood Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / General / Camus, Albert	4-week checkout	Due 04-29-2024

Translation of: L'étranger.
A young Algerian, Meursault, afflicted with a sort of aimless inertia, becomes embroiled in the petty intrigues of a local pimp and, somewhat inexplicably, ends up killing a man. Once he's imprisoned and eventually brought to trial, his crime, it becomes apparent, is not so much the arguably defensible murder he has committed as it is his deficient character. In the story of an ordinary man who unwittingly gets drawn into a senseless murder on a sun-drenched Algerian beach, Camus was exploring what he termed "the nakedness of man faced with the absurd". Now in a new American translation, the classic has been given new life for generations to come.

REVIEWS & SUMMARIES

Library Journal Review
Summary / Annotation
Table of Contents
Excerpt
Author Notes

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Good for reflection submitted by Steph on June 28, 2011, 8:57pm Since it was originally written in French, inevitably I feel like some things were lost in translation. However, Camus's tightly written story still shines. A lot of the book's charm comes from its deceivingly simple narrative.

At a loss for words submitted by sucp on May 25, 2015, 3:17pm A creative and witty web series called, "Carmilla," inspired me to read an original work by Albert Camus. "The Stranger" was my first introduction to Camus.

"The Stranger" is thought provoking and hauntingly beautiful.
Its simple yet interesting narrative made for an easy and enjoyable read. Camus will make you rethink your views on humanity and our existence, the meaning of life and the absurdity of it all. A must read.

Here is something interesting that I found on a Reddit conversation:
2Thebreezes: Mama died today, or yesterday maybe. The first line in the book pretty much sets the stage for Meursault's existential journey through the absurd. I love this book but I wish I never ready it.
futurealex: I agree entirely - the instantaneous absurd realism is comparable to the opening line of Kafka's Metamorphasis to me.
2Thebreezes: "When Gregor Samsa woke up one morning from unsettling dreams, he found himself changed into a monstrous vermin." You are right on the money with instantaneous absurd realism. I love the way these authors slap the reader in the face with something so subtle yet profound right out of the gate.

As Steph pointed out, "The Stranger" was originally written in French and thus, some things were inevitably lost in translation. Still, the words are not lost.

Makes you think submitted by zpritchard on June 13, 2015, 3:54am The Stranger is a quick read but will definitely leave you thinking--what does it mean to be an outsider and how do we, as individuals and as a society, treat people we don't quite understand?

I skimmed it the first time submitted by pepemama on August 7, 2019, 1:45pm I "read" this book in high school. I missed the meaning. I am happy I found this book 10 years after high school and took the time to see the philosophy and depth in this amazing novel. The first and last sentences are epic. One of my favorite novels of all time.

Relatable. submitted by tsartsar on August 7, 2022, 12:20am Read this in French class after losing Voltaire's Candide and dropping Phantom of the Opera. Because of his rather schizoid nature, Meursalt makes for a very compelling narrator living through the social world with customs almost alien to him; or rather, that consider people like him alien. It's a straightforward yet powerful story; and only around a hundred pages, so I shudder to imagine what it would be like if written by a Russian classic author.