The Stranger - Albert Camus

Rating: ★★★★★
07/12/13

Not a proper review.

* This review may contain spoilers *

-Huh. So... She died. I'll just have to bury her.

-Tissue?

-Nah, I'm good.

Well, it wasn't quite like that. But it has the essence of Meursault's reaction. And of the book. Anyway, this is the guy that everyone ended up hating. He didn't (actually, couldn't) show any emotion. Love, hate, regret. Nothing. I mean, the fact that he couldn't shed a filthy tear for his dead mother (he didn't even know her freaking age!), said a lot to the court, and to the rest of the world. The guy had no soul; he might have killed the entire Arab population, half of France, a whole continent, and still... no regret.

So yes, he seemed to have no feelings, only because of his indifference towards a truly absurd world. He was never able to regret anything in his life, because he was always thinking about what was going to happen. Today, tomorrow.

Meursault was pure honesty. He didn't think it was necessary to lie just to make others feel comfortable. He was not trying to fit in. That was a lot of honesty that society could not bear. And I am guessing, never will.

The world is an absurd place. And there is nothing more to do than to accept that. There is a lot of things that cannot be changed. Crying over them, well, it seemed useless for him. Embracing this absurdity should lead to the freedom that makes a person happy, right? (Am I making sense? Where most people see hopelessness, I see this. Well, if it has no sense, I can always blame it on my bad English.)

The last two chapters are sublime. The fact that a person can say so much in such a small book is extraordinary. The ending is beautifully written. And yes, no one will find a very objective review here (if there's such a thing); this is one of my favorite books.

I've read somewhere that great books should be labeled "This could change your life". I wish someone would have warned me about this one.