The Stranger

By: Albert Camus

Narrated by: Jonathan Davis

Length: 3 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

Albert Camus' The Stranger is one of the most widely read novels in the world, with millions of copies sold. It stands as perhaps the greatest existentialist tale ever conceived, and is certainly one of the most important and influential books ever produced. Now, for the first time, this revered masterpiece is available as an unabridged audio production.

When a young Algerian named Meursault kills a man, his subsequent imprisonment and trial are puzzling and absurd. The apparently amoral Meursault, who puts little stock in ideas like love and God, seems to be on trial less for his murderous actions, and more for what the authorities believe is his deficient character.

This remarkable translation by Matthew Ward has been considered the definitive English version since its original publication. It unlocks the prose as no other English version has, allowing the listener to soak up the richness of Camus' ideas.

©1988 Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. (P)2005 Recorded Books, LLC

The Stranger

The story felt more accessible when I read it as a book. The narration was a bit cumbersome to engage with and left me trailing off as background noise. The pieces that erupted as interesting enough to pause for were at lease reminiscent of a tone and style that vividly captivated Camus' dark yet witty malaise.

Dry but thought-provoking existentialism

French existentialism just doesn't seem to be my thing. Albert Camus is someone I know mostly because of my historical reading about Algeria - he was a Pied-Noir who was sympathetic to the Arabs, and used his literary influence to advocate for them.

His novels evidently are classified as existentialism despite Camus denying he was an existentialist. The Stranger does read very sparsely and materialistically, as the narrative of a man who betrays almost no inner life to external observers, and even to the reader of his thoughts, it sometimes seems as if he's not all there.

The narrator is a young Frenchman in Algeria who lives a mundane, slightly shabby existence working at a non-descript job, hanging out with people he doesn't like all that much, and trying to get laid. Then thanks to the guys he's hanging out with, he gets tangled up in a romantic dispute - one of his "buddies" smacks around his Arab mistress, which brings her brother and his friends looking for a fight, and somehow the narrator, despite not being directly involved, winds up all alone on a beach with one of the Arabs and shoots him.

What we as the reader know is the tragic, farcical series of events that led to this - the narrator is not a psychopath and hadn't set out to kill anyone. But appearances make it seem as if he shot a man in cold blood, and his emotionless demeanor doesn't help him at trial. Much is made of his apparently cold relationship with his mother, and the prosecutor dwells on how he put her in a home, and then showed no visible signs of grief at her funeral.

The story itself is sparse and simple, as is the writing. And I appreciated that terseness and Camus's economy of prose and his ability to turn some clever phrases and bring this flat character to life. At the same time, the existentialist style, in which trivial details about background conversations and stains on the wall are given as much weight as the violence or important-to-the-plot conversations, annoyed me. The novel is abundant with trivial details, some of which become less trivial later, but most of which don't.

There isn't much story here because the story isn't the point. We're meant, I think, to judge the first person narrator, or try to avoid judging him. He sees himself through others' eyes and realizes they think he's a monster, a sociopath, and he is unable to break through his own shell and reach them, to explain to them that he's not.

I suppose the book deserves more than three stars, because it made me think and I'll probably want to try another novel by Camus at some point to see if he grows on me, but The Stranger read to me like something literary that you read because you want to have read it. If the style appeals to you, or you are in the mood for a not very sympathetic, matter of fact protagonist going through his day until he winds up a condemned man, you will probably appreciate it more than I did.

A Remarkable American Translation

I have not read the story previously. However, I did read reviews on this translation which were less than positive. The reviewers stated this translation is not true to the author's intended meaning. My response to the reviewers is that the act of translation is by definition an attempt to convey the original message using a different language and is therefore not likely to be exact. How can one language capture the subtleties of another?

I found the story as translated to be captivating and relavant to current observations of the human experience. The style and tone are well suited to a modern American audience.

WTF?

Like many "classic" works, this had a hard time keeping my attention compared to modern novels. Good thing it's so short.

This, quite simply, is the story of a sociopath. I'm not sure the author meant for it to be. Maybe he meant for it to be the story of an ordinary and decent guy who just doesn't tend to be as emotional as others. But I couldn't help but see the protagonist as having severe problems attempting to relate to humanity or have any kind of sympathy.

It was not an enjoyable story. But then, it isn't meant to be entertaining.

I thought perhaps there was some deeper meaning, perhaps some subtle allegory or at least a political message. Looking it up on Wikipedia, it simply seems to be a not fully thought out slight against society in general and the French justice system of the era in particular. The author was apparently concerned that the justice system was focused more on if people displayed regret and displayed emotions according to culturally accepted norms more than what they actually did. He would seem to be in favor of criminal justice being focused more on helping people recover from whatever would cause them to misbehave, as opposed to punishing them for the sake of punishment. That part, at least, I can empathize with.

Still, on the whole, my reaction was "WTF?" especially at the ending.

I think the only reason to go through this book would be if you want to think about how the justice system approaches guilt versus innocence and how severe penalties should be, but I would think there would be plenty of news articles and essays to do the same. For most people, I do not think this is worth listening to.

Excellent!

Well read with just the right emotion. Having read the book myself in the past, this reading brings more meaning to the forefront.

One of the best writers of the 20th century

Albert Camus navigates through some of the most important philosophical questions through a narrative lense.

Fully deserving of its reputation

Such an engrossing and fascinating book - really takes you into the mind of a mentally ill person

My Review

There really isn’t a place in society for people like Mersault. This is as sad as it is beautiful.

Not sure that I liked it, but it made me think

When I had first started reading The Stranger, I was bored by its first chapter. The protagonist, Meursault, was so indifferent about everything that it made me feel indifferent about him immediately. As the novella progressed and a few more characters pop up, the story became a bit more engaging. Following Meursault around as he goes about his daily business as an inactive participant brought a sense of sadness to the whole story and the book has a ‘cold’ feeling to it. Reading The Stranger also made me feel the same way I did when I read The Catcher in the Rye, in a good way although the latter was much more interesting to me.

Part Two of The Stranger is where things get interesting. At times, reading the book felt a little funny, and reminded me of American Psycho by just how cold and straightforward Meursault’s narration is. Part One I was judging Meursault for being who he is, but Part Two forced me into thinking about *why* I was judging him and questions whether or not if I believe he is a good/moral person. There’s an eye-opening moment near the end of the book that made me have more questions. I’m not entirely sure that I like The Stranger, but it did make me think. It is definitely something I believe I should re-read, but until then my mind is muddled by it.

7/10

Makes you think

I greatly enjoyed this book. A lot of people have said it puts you into an existentialist way of thinking, but it just made me think about life in general. I’m a funeral director so I think about death a lot. I generally agree with a lot of what was said about life and death. Nothing really matters, but it’s important to note what makes you happy.