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The Stranger
With the intrigue of a psychological thriller, The Stranger--Camus's masterpiece--gives us the story of an ordinary man unwittingly drawn into a senseless murder on an Algerian beach. With an Introduction by Peter Dunwoodie; translated by Matthew Ward. Behind the subterfuge, Camus explores what he termed "the nakedness of man faced with the absurd" and describes the condition of reckless alienation and spiritual exhaustion that characterized so much of twentieth-century life. "The Stranger is a strikingly modern text and Matthew Ward's translation will enable readers to appreciate why Camus's stoical anti-hero and devious narrator remains one of the key expressions of a postwar Western malaise, and one of the cleverest exponents of a literature of ambiguity." --from the Introduction by Peter Dunwoodie First published in 1946; now in translation by Matthew Ward.
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Community Reviews
i didnât exactly like this book, but i thought it was very well written. it details that feeling of ennui and existential dread we all get at some point when we face the absurdness of the world⦠and it conveys it well. so much nihilism in this book and iâm not sure what to make of it
i read this book mostly in english but switched to french at times just to try and get more of a direct feel for the story. i think the translation was good but the french felt slightly less disconnected than the english did⦠which matters for the characterization of our main character. so hm maybe iâll reread this entirely in french one day?
i read this book mostly in english but switched to french at times just to try and get more of a direct feel for the story. i think the translation was good but the french felt slightly less disconnected than the english did⦠which matters for the characterization of our main character. so hm maybe iâll reread this entirely in french one day?
I have to think about the book a lot because I have pretty mixed feelings about this. I think I don't vibe with existentialism philosophy properly which is probably why every existentialist philosophy book(except crime and punishment) gives me a pretty hard time understanding them properly without the least prejudice. So I am giving it 2.5 stars The depiction of existentialism here is borderline nihilism IMO, the way he thinks that nothing has meaning in life, everything is an endless void that just gives me an emo teen who hangs out on r/nihlism vibes. maybe I'm thinking this too much rationally or scientifically(and maybe I'm a very noob in philosophy) but looking at his sexual impulse towards his fiancee(ig) and thinking about how our hormones and neurons control our brain so much I was kinda hoping his sense of right or wrong should've been developed a little bit. Morality and ethics aren't only a religious construct, it's also a social contrast even animals have a sense of protective ness and duty towards their tribe and family which shares their genes.
On the other hand, I liked the religious talk(or should I say one-sided lecture) between him and the police constable/the pastor. It shows most people's morality is maintained to attain the doors of heaven. It also shows how the protagonist's view toward his punishment. When we exist in a world devoid of meaning, why is it that our actions still bear so much weight?
On the other hand, I liked the religious talk(or should I say one-sided lecture) between him and the police constable/the pastor. It shows most people's morality is maintained to attain the doors of heaven. It also shows how the protagonist's view toward his punishment. When we exist in a world devoid of meaning, why is it that our actions still bear so much weight?
I love that you can’t trust the narrator at all and that he doesn’t even attempt to get anyone on his side. He feels so detached from everyone and everything. Short and worth a read.
I feel guilty for relating to Meursault in embracing the absurd, rejecting traditional values/socio-communal norms and remaining indifferent, or rather disdainful in my case, to the hapless human inclination to find meaning in things/actions/events that are utterly meaningless by their instrinsic nature. To be a rational being in a society, amongst people who think, by and large, with unreasonable emotion, is a curse.
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