The Outsider/The Stranger -Albert Camus
The Outsider/The Stranger - Albert Camus
Average Amazon review: 4.5/5
I first read this in college, when I was 16/17. I thought about requesting another choice to give someone else a chance to read it, but I was interested to see how my perception of it would have changed.
Unlike with the previous book I reviewed (Hunger by Knut Hamsun) I did some research on translations first (I've read it in French, but I'm extremely rusty now, and would lose some enjoyment by sitting with a dictionary to puzzle through). There are three main translations, but I picked the Laredo one, as the Gilbert one has the loosest translation, and the Ward one is aimed at American readers.
The blurb:
"Meursault is different. He will not lie. He will not pretend. He is true to himself.
So when his mother dies and he is unmoved, he refuses to do the proper thing and grieve. Returning to Algiers after the funeral, he carries on life as usual until he becomes involved in a violent murder.
In court, it is clear that Meursault's guilt or innocence will not be determined by what he did or did not do.
He is on trial for being different - an outsider."
When I was younger, I'd have been an emo if such things had existed in my area at the time. So of course existentialism was terribly attractive, Meursault was like a hero to me, and easy to identify with. On re-reading, I think he would be very difficult to identify with, because of course, he didn't perceive himself to be existentialist, he feels what he feels and doesn't pretend to feel more for anyone else's benefit. These days he would probably be labelled autistic or something because he doesn't give the social niceties. That said, it is very easy to feel sympathy for him (and not because he lacks emotions, because he frequently expresses happiness, more frequently than anything else, in fact, and why be sorry for someone who's happy?). One feels sympathy because it is sad to see someone condemned for only expressing themselves truly, and innocently, as though he doesn't know how to play the game that normal people play when they bend the truth, to benefit themselves. Of course it is also terribly irritating to see someone who would rather die than pretend they were sorry their mother died.
It's quite peculiar how you feel yourself siding with somebody who's done something wrong, and admits to it, but who doesn't recognise it as wrong. Who is rather irritated at having killed somebody, not regretful. In some ways he's rather a socio-path, in that he can't seem to fathom how other people will feel about something, or how his actions will affect others, despite that he takes a great deal of interest in other people, spending his free time people-watching from his window, and in the café and in the courthouse.
The book is written in what seems like quite a simple manner, but still manages to convey a great deal about character, and in terms of descriptions. The way it's written ties in with Meursault's "philosophy" of speaking only the truth, and not decorating it with unnecessary and deceptive things.
In Camus' afterword he says of Meursault "Far from lacking all sensibility, he is driven by a tenacious and therefore profound passion, the passion for an absolute, and for truth". Far be it from me to contradict the author, but I didn't get the impression of Meursault as a passionate person. He didn't seem to care whether he only spoke the truth, it seemed to me as though he was unable to conceive a lie, which is an entirely different kettle of fish. It's not terribly profound not to lie, if it's not a struggle, or even an option. So I'd rather stick with my conception of Meursault as an innocent.
It's not the height of philosophy, but it does bring up some interesting ideas, and at only 116 pages, it's not a taxing read, and I found it fairly satisfying even if I didn't love it quite so much as I did when I was younger. Actually, I've probably thought more about it now than I did then, having taken it too much at face value at the time. Definitely worth a read.