Beverley's Review of Albert Camus' The Stranger

 I complete the final pages of my PDF version of ‘The Stranger,’ by Albert Camus.

The suspension is excruciating. The balance between life and death. Camus blends the fickleness, fragility and potency of death, in such a remarkable way.

Monsieur Meursault, the protagonist, receives news of his mother’s death and his unusual reaction raises one’s eyebrows. He may easily be described as flippant, because of his brisk and forthright nature, or just brutally honest and authentic, because he does not seek validation from systems or from persons in positions of authority.

Throughout the novel, the reader encounters death in various forms; death of relationships, imminent death of frail and sick people, death of dreams, unrequited love and more. It is these various stages of death that make life more valuable and enables the reader to try and understand the pragmatic nature of the protagonist.

It is this pragmatism, though, that leads to an unfortunate series of events that escalate quickly and put his Monsieur Meursault ego and intellect to the ultimate test.

The French culture offers unique insight into their legal system, their social etiquette and their fashion. Algeria is positioned as a booming economy of the last century, with people from all walks of life, navigating gender dynamics and interactions with the predominantly Arab culture.

It is these interactions with the Arabs that offer crucial understanding of the setting.

‘The Stranger’ is an extremely well-written story. It is pivotal to reader from all cultures, and important in its rich description dialogue, monologue and plot.

 

The book is available for free online, and is notably amongst the past century’s classics, first published in 1942 in France.

 

Reviewed by Beverley N Nsengiyunva