Albert Camus - The Stranger

 

Albert Camus - The Stranger

"The Stranger or The Outsider (L'Étranger) is a novel by Albert Camus, published in 1942, and is Camus's best-known work"(Wikipedia). I will mark this book as one of very important books to read in order to advance to the highest levels of literature. Here i will write my review and most importantly reveal you the essence of this book and still not say a single word about the plot. The plot itself or should i say imbroglio is all yours. So here we go :  For A. Camus, life has no rational meaning,life has no order. The trial part of the book  is absurd because judges,prosecutors,lawyers and the jury mostly try to find meaning in absurd meaningless things,especially in the concept of the trial itself. The Point of the novel is A. Camus's endless search for purpose,for meaning. We all search for purpose in our lives,and the characters in this novel look for that purpose in other people and the world that surrounds them. Its like a desperate cry for help,looking for something in others that you cant find in yourself. Mersault  looks at the world that surrounds him from his balcony and than passively he watches his own trial. The world alone is fascinating to him. In the end,the idea  of watching the "audience" that represents eyes and ears of the society tells us enough. With all this, Mersault's act of not showing his emotions ( he was not crying on his mothers funeral) makes the judges and the audience see him as a stranger, they see him as an "anarchist" and a beast that lacks the emotions,feeling of guilt and gratitude for what was given to him. From the beginning he doesn't fit in a temperament of society, temperament of the herd. That makes him a stranger among them,not the outsider but the stranger that lives among them but is not the part of them. So close but still so far away. The herd doesn't understand any other way,any other path but their own. They are afraid of what is different,they see only what they want to see and they are unfortunately always right.This fact actually makes life absurd.That's one of the things A. Camus was pointing at.

P.S. This is my personal review,I've red this book a long time ago. I Hope i got the essence.