Customer Reviews
First masterpiece from Albert Camus; L'Étranger (1942) - By: Jonathan James Romley, 27 Feb 2008 
The Outsider was first publishedin Parisin 1942 & would cement it's author's reputation as one of the most intelligent & imaginative writers of the 20th century. It also remains one the best introductions to the realm of existentialist literature - or that so-called sub-genre they dubbed the philosophical novella -in that it combines certain theoretical ideas that were establishedin the early writings of Jean-Paul Sartre (particularly his novel Nausea & his short story collection, Le Mur) with a more defined sense of narrative, character & attitude towards politics & morality. Because of this, the story is simplified to the point of non-existence, as J.G. Ballard notesin his personal blurb (surmised on the back of the Penguin Classics publication) "it's the story of a beach murder... blood & sand" which, despite giving away a central plot point of the book, destroys none of the tension or emotional connection that we feel for the central character.
It is Camus' geniusin pruning the story down to a bare minimum of scenes & supporting characters that gives the book any social or philosophical weight; with the ramifications of the act & the underlining attitude of our protagonist Meursault defining the crux of the book's theoretical debate over notions of narrative unfolding, etc. The slightness of actual narrative (and I use this term lightly, since many great books have needed very littlein the way of story to entrance a reader) & the fact that at a mere 118 pages it remains one of the shortest works of fiction, will no doubt alienate many potential readers; which to me, is a great shame. Camus knows that it is the simplicity of the story & the matter-of-fact wayin which he uses his prose to detail this bland everyday existence of our "hero" that will elevate his plight come the closing chapters of the book. In this respect, it reminded me very much of Kieslowski's masterpiece A Short Film About Killing,in that we are introduced to this character who, although warm & to some degree capable of love & tenderness (particularly here, if we look at his various relationships throughout the book with Raymond, Marie, even old Salamano, et al), is withdrawn from the world around him & lost within the trivialities of existence; the sun, the beach & the waves.
Camus argument, paraphrasedin his after word as the mere notion that "...any man that doesn't cry at his mother's funeral is liable to be condemned to death" acts as a blistering indictment of the judicial system of 1940's Algiers (in the same way that Kieslowski's afore-mentioned film lamented early-80's Poland), as well as the notion of atheism (lets not forget that Sartre described existentialism as "the attempt to draw all the consequences from a position of consistent atheism"), mortality & the importance of factin the eyes of those that bend the truth to suit their own view of life, seen through the eyes of a character who is so removed from the world around him that he is incapable of bending the truth, even if the truth will only incriminate him further within the misdeeds of the past. Camus book remains as intelligent & relevant today as it did backin 1942, & offers the reader an enticing theoretical parable, relating to the notions of the social & historical unjust.
The writing throughout is atmospheric, & captures the plight of our narrator Meursault, with whom me share a combination of sadness, empathy, pity & remorse. As Ballard points outin his brief summation, this is one of the century's classic novels, which,in my opinion, deserves to be experienced by as many people as possible.
Don't get me wrong, great book and all, but... - By: lexo1941, 23 Feb 2007 
Reviews of this novel tend to be split between thoughtful people who think it's a masterpiece about man's destiny & the indifference of society to human suffering, arguably less thoughtful people who think it doesn't make sense, & one or two rabid Francophobes who just hate the fact that there are French people. The reality is maybe a little more complex.
The Stranger is a great book when you're a certain kind of teenager. Camus writes extraordinary well about loneliness & indifference; the first part of the book is, among other things, one of the all-time great hymnsin praise of slacking. No wonder that the book goes on striking a chordin generation after generation.
However, readers who think that the book is saying something universal about humanity might consider that, among other things, this book is set very firmlyin French Algeria. Some readers appear to believe that Meursault kills the nameless Arab guyin self-defence, but he doesn't. He just kills him. Meursault is not so harmless or saintly a character as he first appears to be, even as Camus thought he was; Camus once saidin an interview that he admired Meursault because he refused to lie, but Meursault has no problem lying about various things throughout the course of the book. The one thing he is honest about is how he feels about things, but you might want to weight that honesty against his indifference to the suffering of his neighbour's girlfriend.
Remember that what plot there is,in the first half of the book, turns on Meursault letting himself get involvedin his neighbour Raymond's troubles with his Arab girlfriend. Meursault & Marie overhear Raymond beating his girlfriend up, & Meursault declines to intervene, even when Marie suggests that he does so. Raymond's girlfriend (like all the Arabsin the book, she is never named) goes back to her family, & Raymond rightly or wrongly becomes convinced that they will kill him. Meursault comes along with him on the beach to meet the girl's brother(s), & when one of them starts to walk towards them, Meursault shoots him dead. It's hard to see what threat the guy posed; he certainly wasn't attacking them at the time. The problematic thing at the heart of the story is Meursault's total indifference towards the Arab guy.
The second half of the book is, historically speaking, wildly implausible. No white manin French Algeria would have been sentenced to death for killing an Arab, it's as simple as that. Camus never really seems to have realised this; when the Algerian war of liberation started, he publicly declared that he sided with the French because he wanted to protect his mother. It was the political blindspot he had for his entire career.
So yeah, it's a great book, beautifully written, but it's not very plausible, & it has a disturbing & apparently almost unconscious undercurrent of racism. Unconscious because, while the book is probably a very accurate projection of the piednoirs' attitude to the Arabs, Camus doesn't appear to have intended it as such. For my money, his essays are better than his fiction. This is a very good translation, though.
Classic - By: Peter Short, 18 Jul 2006 A classic book by French standards - not sure what a previous reviewer means by American standards. Specific nationality is not the point here - Mersault could just have well been sentenced to deathin the name of the American people as opposed to the French. In fact, these days perhaps the former is more relevant.
Beware - By: , 31 Aug 2004 
This is the same story but I believe a different translation of "The Outsider" by Albert Camus.
A magnificent book, pity about some of its readers... - By: MR P FITTON, 09 Jul 2004 I have never felt the need to comment on reviews posted by others on this site, but I feel that Ted Rushton's review of The Stranger is a disgrace & I am amazed that Amazon have seen fit to publish his offensive & ill-informed half-witted drivel. Anyone who can use the moronic term "surrender monkeys"in a review of a book should confine themselves to the latest piece of trash by Frederick Forsyth & steer clear of authors of the calibre of Camus, whose ideas are clearly beyond him.
Even if Mersault could be seen as exemplifying the attitudes of the French people - & he clearly exemplifies nothing of the sort - Mr Rushton's anti-French tirade crumbles when you consider some facts he omits to mention. Firstly, Camus himself was activein the resistance during the war & also edited, at considerable risk, the clandestine journal Combat. Secondly Camus' The Plague is an allegory of occupation & resistance and, despite Mr Rushton's assertions to the contrary, exhibits considerable moral bravery. Then he should consider Sartre's Roads to Freedom trilogy, three books which concern themselves unflinchingly with issues of engagement, commitment & resistance.
In any case what philosophy could be more brave than existentialism, a philosophy that rejects the safety net of God & all other transcendental metaphysical fairy tales & insists that man is morally responsible for his own actions & the consequences thereof?
And by the way, as an Englishman who has travelledin France I can assure Mr R that the French do not hate the English & we - apart from a few tabliod reading idiots - do not hate them either.
The Stranger itself is one of the great books of the 20th Century: a masterful study of a man who refuses to conform to the false values & hypocrisy of mass self-assured organised society & ultimately pays the consequences for his braveryin refusing to "fit in". The court room scene is one of the finest pieces of writing you will ever come across, & the book as a whole is beautifully written, intensely moving, & ultimately uplifting.
Buy the book & ignore Mr Rushton's vile "review"
