The Stranger

A Review by Daniel

The Stranger, by Albert Camus, is certainly a unique book. I had to read it for an English class this year. And I must say that this is one of only two required school books I felt were worth reading.

The story of The Stranger was originally written in French however it has been translated into several other languages. Matthew Ward did the English translation of the novel.

As soon as you begin reading The Stranger you'll immediately notice that the main character, Monsieur Meursault, is probably not like any other person you've ever met or known. Meursault is very aware of his surroundings, he observers everyone around him. However he very rarely expresses his thoughts and shows very little emotion. Here is an example of how Meursault commonly acts, very carefree, but that's not quite the word, anyways...

"That evening Marie came by to see me (Meursault) and asked if I wanted to marry her. I said it didn't make any difference to me and that we could if she wanted to. Then she wanted to know if I loved her. I answered the same way I had the last time, that it didn't mean anything but that I probably didn't love her."

Meurault presents this attitude to just about any and everyone he encounters during his lifetime. However about halfway through the story something occurs that will change his life forever. How will he handle this change? Will he adjust his attitude at all? How will he feel towards everyone else and vice versa? Read The Stranger to find out!

I really did enjoy this book. The story is told from a very different perspective but I never wanted to put the book down as I was reading it. A very interesting read, very much worth your time.

Author: Albert Camus
Number of Pages: 123 (English Translation)
Publication Date: 1989
Rating: 4/5
Age Recommendation: 13+
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