The Stranger by Albert Camus

The Stranger by Albert Camus is a French existential classic about a man named Meursault. Meursault is a man who lives on the fringes of society, who values the truth and refuses to lie. This novel is the perfect example of Camus's philosophical idea of absurdity, meaning that individual lives and human existence have no rational meaning or order, despite our attempts to seek and create meaning and order. The idea that humans can create order when none exists is where the term "absurdity" comes from.

"Absurd" is the perfect word to describe this novel. There is no rhyme or reason to this book or Meursault's behavior or thoughts. When I finished reading this book, I was left with a feeling of indifference, which could have been the whole point. It would be very easy to become frustrated trying to figure this book out, but to me it wasn't worth the effort of even trying to understand it. I can appreciate the literary value of this novel, but I can't say that I really enjoyed this book. I felt no connection to the characters and therefore had a hard time engaging in the story and the lives of the characters. Because of this, I was not invested in the story and at the end all I could do was shrug my shoulders and move on. There was no lingering sentiment. Closing this book was as easy as changing the TV channel.