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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 843.914
EAN num: 9780679720201
ISBN number: 0679720200
Label: Vintage
Manufacturer: Vintage
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 144
Printing Date: March 13, 1989
Publishing house: Vintage
Release Date: March 13, 1989
Sale Popularity Level: 339
Studio: Vintage
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Amazon.com:
The Stranger is not merely one of the most widely read novels of the 20th century, but one of the books likely to outlive it. Written in 1946, Camus's compelling and troubling tale of a disaffected, apparently amoral young man has earned a durable popularity (and remains a staple of U.S. high school literature courses) in part because it reveals so vividly the anxieties of its time. Alienation, the fear of anonymity, spiritual doubt--all could have been given a purely modern inflection in the hands of a lesser talent than Camus, who won the Nobel Prize in 1957 and was noted for his existentialist aesthetic. The remarkable trick of The Stranger, however, is that it's not mired in period philosophy.
The plot is simple. A young Algerian, Meursault, afflicted with a sort of aimless inertia, becomes embroiled in the petty intrigues of a local pimp and, somewhat inexplicably, ends up killing a man. Once he's imprisoned and eventually brought to trial, his crime, it becomes apparent, is not so much the arguably defensible murder he has committed as it is his deficient character. The trial's proceedings are absurd, a parsing of incidental trivialities--that Meursault, for instance, seemed unmoved by his own mother's death and then attended a comic movie the evening after her funeral are two ostensibly damning facts--so that the eventual sentence the jury issues is both ridiculous and inevitable.
Meursault remains a cipher nearly to the story's end--dispassionate, clinical, disengaged from his own emotions. 'She wanted to know if I loved her,' he says of his girlfriend. 'I answered the same way I had the last time, that it didn't mean anything but that I probably didn't.' There's a latent ominousness in such observations, a sense that devotion is nothing more than self-delusion. It's undoubtedly true that Meursault exhibits an extreme of resignation; however, his confrontation with 'the gentle indifference of the world' remains as compelling as it was when Camus very first recounted it. --Ben Guterson
Product Description:
Through the story of an ordinary man unwittingly drawn into a senseless murder on an Algerian beach, Camus explored what he termed 'the nakedness of man faced with the absurd.' First published in 1946; now in a new translation by Matthew Ward.
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Rated by buyers 
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Camus was well known for defending values of justice, freedom and human dignity, I don't think his great work "the stranger" was a negative portrayal of human life in any way. The stranger is simply Camus' way of presenting his philosophy of absurdity in a very artistic, logical way.
Camus's absurdist philosophy implies that life has no rational meaning, and there isn't a rational reason for the order of events in this world, therefore existence itself is absurd, which of course would contradict all religious beliefs that there is a divine reason for everything that happens and that life itself is divine. However, Camus in pursuit of his absurdist philosophy never believed that the absence of meaning in our lives should push humans into despair and agony, rather he believed in humans dignity under the pressure of this indifferent world.
The stranger, or the main character of the novel: Meursault, who lived in Algiers, (Algiers was a French colony, Albert Camus was born there) is an emotionally indifferent person, who moves through life reacting to no event, even his mother's death. Meursault doesn't believe in God and doesn't have any emotional attachment to anything or anybody. Meursault on the other hand is an honest person who doesn't lie about his feelings and tells it as he sees it; he's simply a person with no hidden agendas and no mysterious motives.
Meursault's life exists as a series of random events with seemingly no logic to why or when the event occur, not even his marriage decision or the support that he gives to certain friends seem logical. For no clear motive or reason, Meursault commits a murder and is taken to prison. The trial that takes place in the second part of the book is the most intense and mentally engaging part of Camus' stranger.
The main focus of the trial shifts radically from the murder to an analysis of Meursault's character: his atheism, his lack of emotions at his mom's funeral, his brief interactions with people he met at his mom's funeral and even his conversation with the priest who came to prison to redeem Meursault and ask him to take Jesus as his savior. The court is trying to find the reason behind this irrational crime, just like society and religion are trying to find reason behind irrational events of life.
Meursault is sentenced to death and pressured again by the priest to choose religion before he dies. At this point, Meursault, who was never emotional about any thing in his life, becomes very emotional about his rejection of religion and accepts death as the only destiny awaiting all humans. Getting rid of all hope, and accepting death was the only conclusion that allowed Meursault his inner peace.
At a time of intense intellectual confusion after the second world war, Camus is not to be blamed for thinking that existence was absurd, at a time where lives are being lost for no reason and religion was being misused all over the world for political ,controlling, and non spiritual reasons. If the reader is interested in philosophy, religion, or literature, the stranger is a fascinating journey into the human mind and an exploration of life's purpose.
Rated by buyers -
Essentially this book is about a man whose alleged crime is merely the excuse used to remove him from society. During the trial of the central character we are told he is guilty of neglect, lacks empathy, and is in a sense socially maladjusted. For this he is executed. Today all we need to do to witness such an injustice is turn on the news to see so many of our fallen members of society judged on their social habits and personal shortcomings in the name of justice and the greater good.
Rated by buyers -
Like most of Camus' works, The Stranger's plot is simple but the meaning is trivially existentialist and compelling. The Stranger begins with the death of narrator Meursault's mother. After napping on the bus to her retirement home, Meursault is disengaged and unmoved by the vigil and funeral procession, and continues to be until the finale of his trial.
Meursault appears insensitive throughout The Stranger and lives for pleasure in the moment. When asked by ladyfriend Marie if he loves her, he responds nonchalantly, "...it didn't mean anything but that I probably didn't." Meursault, however, does have feelings for her, but chooses not to acknowledge them.
When faced with the conflict of killing a man for being a threat to his friend, Meursault's "live in the moment" persona erupts inside of him enough to pull the trigger five times and not panic. Throughout the lengthy period of time Meursault spent in prison, he continued to be indifferent, unmoved, and dispassionate. Though he did not feel like a criminal, he still struggled to come to terms with his disposition.
The end of the novel is disconcertingly troubling. Meursault fights to disengage his feelings from Marie as she sits in the visiting room of the prison, and struggles to choke back words of defense for himself during the trial. He listens to the prosecutor demean his image and is powerless over it. Finally, Meursault feels like a criminal, but convinces himself that he will be spared despite his murderous crime. However, Meursault is sentenced to a public execution and consequently becomes even more dispassionate than he had been. His final thoughts of resignation were impersonal and repugnant, due to the fact that Meursault had become entirely convinced that his world was truly a physical one and he had reached the inevitable end.
Rated by buyers -
This was an amazing book, as well as an amazing translation. I loved it and I would wholeheartedly recommend it.
Rated by buyers -
This is one of my favorite books. I got really into existentialism back in highschool before reading this (and it helps to know a little about that) and I just fell in love with the book. Not much happens really, plot wise. And, its almost impossible to view the main character in a good light, so it's really not like many books out there. But because of these facts, and not in spite of them, the book is able to hold your entire attention for its terribly short duration.
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