The Stranger (尝鈥櫭塼谤补苍驳别谤)
By Albert Camus
Review by Shilpi (History & French)
Albert Camus鈥� 尝鈥櫭塼谤补苍驳别谤 or The Stranger was actually the first novel I read cover to cover in French. It鈥檚 a brilliant book to start with if you are new to reading in French because it is shorter and more accessible than a lot of the other well-known French novels. Given how famous it is both in and out of France, English translations are very easy to come by too.
The Stranger is centred around the character of Meursault, a man who seems apathetic to all that goes on around him. This is made clear from the infamous opening lines of the book: 鈥淎ujourd鈥檋ui Maman est morte. Ou peut-锚tre hier, je ne sais pas鈥� / 鈥淢other died today. Or maybe yesterday, I don鈥檛 know.鈥� As the novel progresses, Camus gives us a deep insight into Meursault鈥檚 mind, and we see that he truly is a stranger in society 鈥� he contradicts societal norms by not crying at his mother鈥檚 funeral, his actions and the thoughts behind them are disorderly and irrational. I don鈥檛 want to give away the entire plot because it is an integral part of the beauty of this novel; however, I can say that it concludes with a provocative message on the meaningless of human life. This sounds bleak, but I promise in the context of the novel it is actually a liberating view and an excellent insight into Camus鈥� philosophical beliefs of absurdism and existentialism.
One of the other reasons I adore this book is the historical insights. The Stranger is set in 1940s Algiers in French Algeria and was published in 1942, and Camus reflects the very real hierarchies and tensions between the Europeans (like Meursault) and the Arabs in the novel. Camus shows us how the colonial system treated the majority Arab population as inferior (he does not name any of the Arab characters) and was not concerned with giving them justice. This historical aspect of the novel is less discussed than the philosophical aspect (which admittedly is Camus鈥檚 main focus) but is still something I found very intriguing.
The Stranger fits in with a range of subjects and disciplines 鈥� languages, literature, philosophy, and history, to name a few 颅鈥� and I think is a particularly helpful book if you want to explore how different subjects can intersect.
The Stranger (尝鈥櫭塼谤补苍驳别谤) by Albert Camus
ISBN-13 : 979-8373626514
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