Camus' The Stranger Book Review

I've read Albert camus' First novel - L'etranger (the stranger) translated by Matthew ward. This book was in my possession for a long time since my cousin left his book collection at our home. I breifly remember picking this particular book everytime i looked at the book shelf, which is now beside my desk. This book has an odd attractive quality to it that i can't quite put into words. Maybe, i was tempted to read as it is one of the thinner novels in the whole shelf. Around ~120 pages, you could put this book in your pocket. This week, i finally found it in me to complete reading this book from start to finish and yes, even read the translator notes which i rarely do. I cannot objectively explain to you about the story's meaning or critic its narrative but what i could tell you are the bits and pieces of the story that i found fascinating, and in those pieces where i saw myself in the shoes of the main character, meursault. This is my first introduction to the concept of absurdism but i think i've lived enough to know about it without having an explicit name attached to identify with it in my head. I'm pretty sure that everyone is already familiar with the absurdity of life. Meursault gave up all his hope and accepted the irrational absurdity of the world. In that sense, He had already died a long time ago. He keeps talking to himself about everything that happened and how it accounted to nothing. He is so sure of himself that, which is the natural truth is the one he will follow. In the end, he accepted his final truth of the world: He is going to die and there is no other way out. He refused to believe in anything other than the moral praticality and the surface level truth of actions with no interpretation of his own feelings. He had stopped feeling. He has been a dead man and it didn't matter to him if he lived today or died tomorrow. What terrified me is i saw myself in the outline of meursault's character. My moral dilemma can be described as 'true neutral'. I don't really care or want to sympathize with anyone as i only try to find the practical truth and it's impact to the world, which would amount to nothing because the world doesn't care if you lost your family or your son got passes away. It really amounts to nothing. It's just the way that life happens to each one of us. And I would be bold to say that, I had accepted the absurd and even, embraced it much like meursault. Would i also become numb to my own feelings? That's what scares me a little. I won't lose hope in a way that meursault did. Anyway, this book is an excellent read. check it out when you have time. I highly reccomend it.

Posted on: 10:53 AM IST, August, 08, 2025