The Weaver Reads reviewed The Stranger by Albert Camus
Goodreads Review of The Stranger
5 stars
"Do you have any defense, monsieur?"
"Wallah the sun made me kill him wallah."
131 pages
English language
Published June 7, 2016 by Pegasus Books.
4 stars
(282 reviews)
The day his mother dies, Meursault notices that it is very hot on the bus that is taking him from Algiers to the retirement home where his mother lived; so hot that he falls asleep. Later, while waiting for the wake to begin, the harsh electric lights in the room make him extremely uncomfortable, so he gratefully accepts the coffee the caretaker offers him and smokes a cigarette. The same burning sun that so oppresses him during the funeral walk will once again blind the calm, reserved Meursault as he walks along a deserted beach a few days later--leading him to commit an irreparable act.
Dee reviewed The Stranger by Albert Camus
Review of 'The Stranger' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Thank you to the stranger trying to get to Stepney Green from Liverpool st. last year who reminded me I’ve been neglecting this read.
Artem reviewed The Stranger by Albert Camus
Hayatının Anlamı
3 stars
Absurdism'i hikaye şeklinde ele alan bu kitap, hayatın anlamını aramanın gereksizliğine her yönden atıfta bulunuyor.
intothebeans reviewed The Stranger by Albert Camus
My Intro to Philosophy
5 stars
I read this book my senior year of high school, and it is the book that got me into philosophy. Every time I revisit the book I comprehend its place in Camus's philosophy more and more.
bookmarc reviewed Der Fremde by Albert Camus
Review of 'Der Fremde' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
Maybe reading it in German didn’t help but boy was this narrator unbearable. A few interesting moments and thoughts were there but overall this felt like more of a chore.
Santhosh Guru reviewed The Stranger by Albert Camus
Review of 'The Stranger' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
This was a mega boring one. I had plough thru to complete it.
ManyRoads reviewed The Stranger by Albert Camus
Review of 'The Stranger' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
An interesting, albeit depressing philosophical, look at the 'life' of a sociopath...
greeny reviewed Der Fremde by Albert Camus
Review of 'Der Fremde' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
A masterpiece.
Zelanator reviewed The Stranger by Albert Camus
Review of 'The Stranger' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
I found this to be an enlightening piece of nihilist fiction. I would be remiss if I wrote an extended review of this book. Suffice it to say that nothing really matters. The sooner that one opens their heart to the “benign indifference of the universe,” the sooner one can experience some modicum of happiness in life.
🍄🌈🎮💻🚲🥓🎃💀🏴🛻🇺🇸 reviewed The Outsider by Albert Camus
Review of 'The Outsider' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
As a misanthrope, this book is terrifying.
geirertzgaard reviewed The Outsider by Albert Camus
Review of 'The Outsider' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
111 sider uten et overflødig ord, banal naivitet tilsynelatende, men alt henger sammen, hver handling og hvert ord. Side 91:
"I have never truly been able to regret anything. I was always preoccupied by what was about to happen, either today or tomorrow. "
Som om det å ikke ha et forhold til fortiden gjør oss ute av stand til å tenke rettferdighet.
anicetus reviewed The Stranger by Albert Camus
Review of 'The Stranger' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Wonderful take with a very memorable first paragraph.
GenericHero reviewed The Stranger by Albert Camus
Review of 'The Stranger' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
I loved Arthur Meursault and loved the ending as well.
greeny reviewed The Stranger by Albert Camus
Review of 'The Stranger' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Very interesting book indeed. In its style it heavily reminded me at Knut Hamsuns 'Hunger' and works of Kafka. While in 'Hunger' the narrator fights against its destiny and tries to solve his issues, the main person from 'The Stranger' does not really mind to interact with his environment or tries to influence it in the best way possible. Instead, he accepts his fortune and acts in the most practical way possible. I had the feeling, that he is only concerned about the 'now' and not about yesterday or tomorrow. For instance, when his mother died it hadn't any great impact on him at all. At the funeral he wasn't sorry or in pain. It was just a think that needed to happen at some point. He just gets used to it, as he always get to everything. When his neighbour beats his dog, he doesn't care for the dog. …
Very interesting book indeed. In its style it heavily reminded me at Knut Hamsuns 'Hunger' and works of Kafka. While in 'Hunger' the narrator fights against its destiny and tries to solve his issues, the main person from 'The Stranger' does not really mind to interact with his environment or tries to influence it in the best way possible. Instead, he accepts his fortune and acts in the most practical way possible. I had the feeling, that he is only concerned about the 'now' and not about yesterday or tomorrow. For instance, when his mother died it hadn't any great impact on him at all. At the funeral he wasn't sorry or in pain. It was just a think that needed to happen at some point. He just gets used to it, as he always get to everything. When his neighbour beats his dog, he doesn't care for the dog. When his other neighbour wants to take revenge on a woman because of some minor incidents, he does not argue against it, neither does he really agree with him because of a moral basis. Instead he just follows the arguments of his neighbour and then approves that it makes sense on some level.
Another important theme in this book is judgement of us. By which standards we use to judge other people and what they are based on. Killing an arab is not that big of a deal for a white man, if you show some sorrow. Not being sad on your mothers funeral or don't believing in god when facing the death, on the other hand, are socially not accepted.
I think many would call this book a modern classic, and i can understand why.
Eduardo Santiago reviewed The Stranger by Albert Camus
Review of 'The Stranger' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
I must’ve skipped reading this in high school; I have no memory of it at all. Today at 52, I’m writing this because I (still?) find it unmemorable and, should I forget it again, would like to save myself the trouble of rereading it in the future.
I don’t know what others get out of this. I would like to have that conversation one day. Me, I found myself more interested in the pathology than in anything else: what sort of brain damage renders a person so affectless? And how can one so emotionally dead manage to capture, so exquisitely, the precise details that highlight the emptiness of the lives of those around him? It doesn’t work: only a gifted human observer could zero in so perfectly on the details that will so horrify the reader. It's a Catch-22: the psychically empty protagonist, perfect memory notwithstanding, could not have the …
I must’ve skipped reading this in high school; I have no memory of it at all. Today at 52, I’m writing this because I (still?) find it unmemorable and, should I forget it again, would like to save myself the trouble of rereading it in the future.
I don’t know what others get out of this. I would like to have that conversation one day. Me, I found myself more interested in the pathology than in anything else: what sort of brain damage renders a person so affectless? And how can one so emotionally dead manage to capture, so exquisitely, the precise details that highlight the emptiness of the lives of those around him? It doesn’t work: only a gifted human observer could zero in so perfectly on the details that will so horrify the reader. It's a Catch-22: the psychically empty protagonist, perfect memory notwithstanding, could not have the perception to note the details that make the book so powerful.
Did I say human earlier on? Because none of the principal characters here are. They go through motions, but none of them displays even the slightest awareness of other people (or creatures) as real. Everyone and everything are mere props in a pointless tedious farce. They have their roles, and they can mouth the lines, but does anyone feel? The only traces of self-reflection are in the narrator, and those are so clinical as to render them meaningless—that being the point, I’m sure. Maybe an important point in high school. At my age, when I’ve spent the majority of my life shedding shallow vapid meaningless people, I just have no interest in meeting them on paper either.
I’m obviously missing something big. I intend to seek out trusted friends and find out what.
Subjects
- Existential ethics
- Social life and customs
- Murder
- Misanthropy
- Alienation (Social psychology)
- Murderers
- Comic books, strips
Places
- Algeria