I don’t know what to do with these stars anymore. I give stars to books and then I think, ‘god, you give five stars to everything, people will think you are terribly undiscriminating’ – so then I give four stars or even three stars to some books. Then I look back and it turns out that that I’ve given four stars to Of Human Bondage and honestly, how could I possibly have thought it was a good idea to give that book less than five stars? It is the absurdity of human conventions that has [...]

The book is simply written and a rather quick read, but the depth Camus manages to convey through this simplicity is astounding. I think a problem a lot of people have with this book is that they fail to look beyond the whole "what is the meaning of life" message. While an interesting question, the book raises so many other philosophical questions beyond this. What I found the most interesting of these is "what truly defines humanity or makes someone human?" During Meursault's trial, he is const [...]

Albert Camus’ 1942 classic. Here are the opening lines: “Mother died today Or, maybe, yesterday; I can’t be sure. The telegram from the Home says: YOUR MOTHER PASSED AWAY. FUNERAL TOMORROW. DEEP SYMPATHY.” A telegram, not a personal phone call or someone on staff from the old people’s home actually making the hour trip in person to inform her only son, but a terse three line businesslike telegram – cold, insensitive, almost callous; a telling sign of the mechanized times.Then first-p [...]

الغريب بدأ لدي خلال السنوات الأخيرة هاجس قرائي مقلق، نوع من الشعور بالنقص كلما مر أمامي عنوان مشهور لم اقرأه بعد، فمن روايات دستويفسكي التي جمعتها ولكني لم اقرأ منها إلا كتاباً واحداً، إلى كافكا وشتاينبك وتشيخوف وغيرهم ممن لم اقرأ لهم شيئاً أو قرأت عملاً وحيداً، وهذا بسبب أ� [...]

If You Exist"The Stranger" dramatises the issues at the heart of existentialism.The same issues are probably at the heart of life, whether or not you believe in a god.Being JudgedIt's interesting that there has been a crime and now Meursault is being "judged".The judgement is symbolic not only of the justice system, but of God's judgement of humanity.Defending YourselfYou would normally expect the defendant to assert their innocence or plead not guilty in the criminal justice system (cue Law and [...]

Aujourd'hui, maman est morte. Ou peut-être hier, je ne sais pas.الحياة لا تساوى أي عناءهذا هو الشعار الأعظم لفلسفة اللامبالاةتلك الفلسفة التي يتمسك بعضنا بها كطوق نجاة أخيرتلك الفلسفة التي أتمسك أنا بها كطوق نجاة أخيرلا يعرف أبدا أي بشري هذه الفلسفة حتى يتألم ألما عظيماإما أن يقضي عليهوإما يعيد بعثه م [...]

A short review because there are so many other good reviews of this classic. When I first read this eons ago, I assumed “the stranger” was the Arab man that the main character kills on the beach. (It’s set in Algeria.) Not so. Meursault, the main character, is a man without feelings and one incapable of feeling remorse. Those deficiencies show at his mother’s death when he does not cry and does not even seem terribly upset. They show again when he agrees to write a letter for a friend so [...]

THIS MAN'S MOM DIES HE FEELS NOTHING.

I just finished reading this famous - classic story. All this time I had no idea what it was about. What an interesting little book. I enjoyed reading in the same way that I have "Siddartha", by Herman Hesse, or "The Alchemist", by Paulo Coelho. It's a brilliant small book - especially knowing it was written so long ago: 1942 but it's timeless. Is everything the same as everything else? Does it matter who we marry or if we marry? Does it matter if we live or die? Must murder have a meaning? Whos [...]

If every few words of praise I’ve seen for “The Stranger” over my lifetime materialized into small chunks of rock in space, there’d be enough sh!t to conjure up the Oort Cloud. Much like this distant collection of debris bordering the outer solar system, I can’t really comprehend the acclaim heaped on this story, but luckily, like the Cloud, it’s usually out of sight, out of mind, and has absolutely no discernable current influence on my life. And just like the Oort can occasionally [...]

‘It was like knocking four quick times on the door of unhappiness.’Even if we exist in a world devoid of meaning, why is it that our actions still bear so much weight? The crime and punishment of Nobel Prize winning author Albert Camus’ academically canonized The Stranger depicts the ironies of enforcing meaning in a void and the absurdities that surround us as humans walking towards the same cold, lifeless fate. ‘Since we're all going to die,’ writes narrator Meursault, ‘it's obviou [...]

Αυτόν τον έξυπνο,ειλικρινή,απαθή και διαταραγμένο "ξένο" τον συμπάθησα πολύ. Τον εκτίμησα βαθιά και τον αγάπησα σε κάποιες στιγμές που δεν μπορούσε να αντιληφθεί γιατί οι άνθρωποι γύρω του δεν μπορούσαν να αντέξουν την αλήθεια που έλεγε και εννοούσε. Ένας κοινωνικά αντισυμ [...]

The Stranger was first published by Albert Camus in the original French in 1942. I cannot help comparing the hollowness, the emptiness in Meursault’s soul to the soldier in Hemingway’s short story “Soldier's Home”. But in that story, Hemingway describes a change from the war and his reactions are connected with his recent martial experiences. Camus makes no mention of Meursault’s past experience, his emptiness is fundamental to his soul, and his reaction is to the world in general. Cam [...]

It came as something quite shocking which left me dazed for days. I don't consider myself worthy enough to review this book because I won't be doing justice to this book, at all. This book has left me in a certain distress with so many questions to ponder upon. And sometimes I think if this book can be reviewed at all. The prose of Camus is very simple and eloquent, and is a pleasure to read, but he raises some philosophical questions a layer beneath his beautifully crafted novella which leaves [...]

579. L'etramger‬‬ = The Outsider, Albert Camusعنوان: بیگانه؛ نویسنده: آلبر کامو؛ انتشاراتیها: (فرخی، نیلوفر، نگاه، معرفت، گلشائی، کتابسرا، نشر مجید، نشر مرکز، ماهی، هرمس، کوله پشتی، دنیای نو، جامی) ادبیات فرانسه؛ تاریخ نخستین خوانش: ماه ژانویه سال 1977 میلادیمترجم: علی شیبانی ؛ تهران، موسسه انت� [...]

Mersault, a twenty-something clerk of great intelligence but no ambition, little expressed emotion and the attitude of why bother changing or making a choice, there's nothing wrong with the status quo. But if pushed, by his girlfriend into marriage he will go along with it. Or whe his violent pimp of a neighbour wants him to compose a letter to his mistress that is meant to result in extreme nastiness towards her (but backfires), he will act. It's as if inertia is his default. The only time he r [...]

L'Étranger is an exemplary work of literary art presenting an amalgam of apathy and humanity, in such a manner that is paradoxical, yet profoundly fulfilling. This laudable writing explores the numerous possibilities of human life while acknowledging its absurdities.Albert Camus brilliantly introduces the indifference of the world towards its inhabitants through the title character, Meursault's withdrawal from his surrounding society. Meursault, devoid of ordinary sentiments, is tried before tr [...]

LA DOLCE INDIFFERENZA DEL MONDO Già l’incipit è memorabile: Oggi la mamma è morta. O forse ieri, non so. Ho ricevuto un telegramma dall’ospizio: “Madre deceduta. Funerali domani. Distinti saluti.” Questo non dice nulla: è stato forse ieri.Il film di Visconti è del 1967. Mersault è Marcello Mastroianni.Continua tutto così questo librino, non perde un colpo, sarebbe da citare per intero, da mandarlo a mente, Lo straniero non si leva più dalla testa, ritorna a galla nel tempo, anche [...]

I was so amped about this book when I tore through it a few weeks ago; alas, in that yawning chasm of time between then and when I first sat down to start this review (as opposed to this most recent effort -- I think at least my fourth?), I found that I’d forgotten a lot of the specific reasons why it had hit all the right spots for me. Fortunately, since has instilled in me the need to take notes on, emphatically underline passages from and analyze the pants off every book I read these days, [...]

The Stranger is considered by many to be one of the most important philosophical novels of the 20th Century. In most college courses on Existentialism (a philosophy which holds that human beings create the meaning and essence of their own lives) The Stranger is usually the first thing you will read. If you're interested in philosophy, or Existentialism specifically, The Stranger is a great place to start.Camus describes Meursault, the main character, only sparingly; and for the majority of the n [...]

The Stranger by Albert Camus, though quite regarded by many as a great philosophical/existentialist novel (I'm gonna be a non-conformist here.) is not quite right for me. I'm really quite at odds here. Before anything else, I would like to state that I was rather pleased with the first half of the novel, but sadly not by the second. Sure, this novella exposes certain absurdities in our society. I'd agree to that. But for me, the truths that this book expounds upon is not enough to make up for th [...]

Writing about your favourite and the most influential single book of your life—not that that means anything—is a little like staring into the sun, the same sun here in an Australian suburb as that of an Algerian beach: so I shall squint, if you don’t mind.Firstly, Sandra Smith’s work is excellent. I have read all four English translations of L’Étranger that I am aware of (Stuart Gilbert, Joseph Laredo, and Matthew Ward being the other three. If you know of another, please let me know� [...]

English (The Stranger) / Italiano"The Stranger" was suggested to me by the protagonist of another book, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. Actually, many books are cited in "The Perks of being a Wallflower", but "The Stranger" is the book that intrigued more the protagonist and me.Meursault is a modest employee of French extraction who lives in Algiers. He lives his daily routine with indifference, unable to openly manifest even the simplest emotions. And it is with apathy that [...]

The OutsiderAlbert Camus In spite of my willingness to accept this glaring certainty, I simply couldn't. Because, in reality, from the moment judgement was passed, the evidence my sentence was based on seemed ridiculously out of proportion to its inevitable conclusion. What or perhaps who is an Outsider? One who doesn’t conform to the norms set out by society. Who makes his choices irrespective of contemplating their probables outcomes as per society or simply one who acts as life props up. Mo [...]

It is almost impossible to describe Camus' The Stranger to people who haven't read this book yet. L'Étranger is so unlike many other novels with philosophical themes that you can easily see why it has received its position among books people say everyone should read once in their life. If you get around to reading this surprisingly short novel, don't do so with the wrong expectations. In a more common book, the plot would leave much to be desired; and Camus doesn't invent characters you care su [...]

I didn't feel anything except that he was beginning to annoy me.Well, this book was fucking amazing. It's smart, short, quick, and funny. I'd highly recommend it to anyoneSIC STORYThis book is about an autistic man who ends up on trial for murderOUGHTSCamus famously said "In our society any man who does not weep at his mother's funeral runs the risk of being sentenced to death."This basically sums up the whole novel.Our protagonist, Meursault, is pretty apathetic to anyone else's feelings and on [...]

Hace rato que tenía ganas de leer este libro de Camus. De seguro leeré los demás pronto.El extranjero es una mirada punzante al absurdo existencial a través de un extraño en propia tierra que, indiferente, niega su ser a fin de que la muerte sea algo ya contemplado. Una manera de afrontar el misterio de un más allá sin significado y una vida apática que no es más que un lento suicidio.Camus explora en la impasibilidad, en la neutralidad de un protagonista con una angustia concentrada qu [...]

My first encounter with Camus and with the stranger that had been hiding inadvertently within me during all these years left me quite perplexed. Is the title of Camus’s novel that obvious? Who is truly “The Stranger” here? The disenchanted narrator of a story with no real plotline and no definite answers? The faceless mass of people who loathe and condemn him according to arbitrary morality? The alien countenance that stares back at me in the mirror on a muddled succession of monotonous Mo [...]

The eye-catching front along with back cover of the copy of "The Stranger" (aka "The Outsider") which I read in 1999.I FOUND the book to be a lot more different than anything else I have ever read. Its opening line: "Mother died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don't know." Then Albert Camus goes on to describe Mersault's feelings regarding his mother's death. But surprisingly he has none. One is shocked at reading this and finds Camus's hero or rather anti-hero to be absolutely strange or rather a [...]

Albert Camus rightly deserves his place in history as a Nobel Laureate and the following statement made in 1957 when he was awarded this prize in Literature says it all:“For his important literary production, which with clear-sighted earnestness illuminates the problems of the human conscience in our times".The tragedy of it all is that three years later he will be killed in a car accident in France and “In his briefcase was the incomplete first draft of a new book, Le Premier Homme (The Fir [...]