Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1655 in Books
• Published on: 2000-02-24
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 128 pages

Synopsis
Meursault leads an apparently unremarkable bachelor life in Algiers until he commits a random act of violence. His lack of emotion and failure to show remorse only serve to increase his guilt in the eyes of the law, and challenges the fundamental values of society a set of rules so binding that any person breaking them is condemned as an outsider. For Meursault, this is an insult to his reason and a betrayal of his hopes; for Camus it encapsulates the absurdity of life. In "The Outsider" (1942), his classic existentialist novel, Camus explores the predicament of the individual who refuses to pretend and is prepared to face the indifference of the universe, courageously and alone.

Customer Reviews

Fascinating
More of a novella this is regularly featured on such lists of books to read before you die. I personally prefer The Plague by Camus, but this is still a stunning literary work, and definitely worthy of a read.

Meursalt, the 'outsider' of the novel, tells us his brief tale. A man oddly disconnected from the rest of humanity, living on the edges of understanding in terms of social interaction, he comes across as almost autistic in his views of the world. The story takes us from the death of his mother through to his arrest for murder and the trial that ensues.

There is a letter from Camus in which he describe Meursalt as a redeemer figure and a hero whose only sin is to speak the truth of his existence. I don't think this is 100% honest, as despite his alienation there are glimpses of his connection to the world in a kind of wistful, painful manner that make one believe that maybe Meursalt is missing out. It is those brief bubbles of awareness that make him a complex and tragic figure rather than a villain.

A fascinating book, which deals with perception and justice and the nature of right and wrong.

just wanted to add my five stars in the hope of persuading you to buy this book!
i read this book a couple of days ago and its very good. the story and what it means keeps coming back to me. I think this signifies it is strong and clever book. i also want to lend it to all my friends so we can talk about it.

if you want to read something which will inspire you to think read this. if you want to read something enjoyable and really well written read this. i think basically if you can read, read this!

First masterpiece from Albert Camus; L'Étranger (1942)
The Outsider was first published in Paris in 1942 and would cement it's author's reputation as one of the most intelligent and imaginative writers of the 20th century. It also remains one the best introductions to the realm of existentialist literature - or that so-called sub-genre they dubbed the philosophical novella - in that it combines certain theoretical ideas that were established in the early writings of Jean-Paul Sartre (particularly his novel Nausea and his short story collection, Le Mur) with a more defined sense of narrative, character and attitude towards politics and morality. Because of this, the story is simplified to the point of non-existence, as J.G. Ballard notes in his personal blurb (surmised on the back of the Penguin Classics publication) "it's the story of a beach murder... blood and sand" which, despite giving away a central plot point of the book, destroys none of the tension or emotional connection that we feel for the central character.

It is Camus' genius in pruning the story down to a bare minimum of scenes and supporting characters that gives the book any social or philosophical weight; with the ramifications of the act and the underlining attitude of our protagonist Meursault defining the crux of the book's theoretical debate over notions of narrative unfolding, etc. The slightness of actual narrative (and I use this term lightly, since many great books have needed very little in the way of story to entrance a reader) and the fact that at a mere 118 pages it remains one of the shortest works of fiction, will no doubt alienate many potential readers; which to me, is a great shame. Camus knows that it is the simplicity of the story and the matter-of-fact way in which he uses his prose to detail this bland everyday existence of our "hero" that will elevate his plight come the closing chapters of the book. In this respect, it reminded me very much of Kieslowski's masterpiece A Short Film About Killing, in that we are introduced to this character who, although warm and to some degree capable of love and tenderness (particularly here, if we look at his various relationships throughout the book with Raymond, Marie, even old Salamano, et al), is withdrawn from the world around him and lost within the trivialities of existence; the sun, the beach and the waves.

Camus argument, paraphrased in his after word as the mere notion that "...any man that doesn't cry at his mother's funeral is liable to be condemned to death" acts as a blistering indictment of the judicial system of 1940's Algiers (in the same way that Kieslowski's afore-mentioned film lamented early-80's Poland), as well as the notion of atheism (lets not forget that Sartre described existentialism as "the attempt to draw all the consequences from a position of consistent atheism"), mortality and the importance of fact in the eyes of those that bend the truth to suit their own view of life, seen through the eyes of a character who is so removed from the world around him that he is incapable of bending the truth, even if the truth will only incriminate him further within the misdeeds of the past. Camus book remains as intelligent and relevant today as it did back in 1942, and offers the reader an enticing theoretical parable, relating to the notions of the social and historical unjust.

The writing throughout is atmospheric, and captures the plight of our narrator Meursault, with whom me share a combination of sadness, empathy, pity and remorse. As Ballard points out in his brief summation, this is one of the century's classic novels, which, in my opinion, deserves to be experienced by as many people as possible.