L'étranger d'Albert Camus

Book Description

3 Reviews

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  I first heard of this book when I studied postmodernist theories. Some years later, my French friend and my colleague recommended it to me. <br />The story, though not very long, is very complicated and can be ananlysed in lots of ways. Firstly, can one be true to his feelings? The society has ... (continue)

  I first heard of this book when I studied postmodernist theories. Some years later, my French friend and my colleague recommended it to me. <br />The story, though not very long, is very complicated and can be ananlysed in lots of ways. Firstly, can one be true to his feelings? The society has an expectation of one's reaction to incidents, like to mourn the death of one's mother, and to fear death. But if we don't, does that mean we are less moral than the others? Mensault was sentenced to death only because he was not having the emotion this society requires him to have, is that absurd?<br />Secondly, what is the meaning of life? The life of Mensault was reduced to existence. He could not find any reason for doing something (like murdering the Arab) or not doing something (lying for Raymond). He could only feel the heat at his mother's funeral and in prison. He killed the Arab because of the intense sunlight. He submitted himself totally to fate. When he was sentenced to death, he acted as if it was not him who is to die, but somebody else. Mensault did this because he was disappointed by life, by all hypocrisy in life. At the end of the book, he understood that all men are going to die, so why bother? <br />At the climax of the book, the chaplain expressed his sympathy to Mensault's execution. He told him to pray and believe in God, so that he could be saved in his after-life. Mensault was so angry that he howled "all alike would be condemned to die one day; his turn, too, would come like the others. And what difference could it make if, after being charged with murder, he were executed because he didn't weep at his mother's funeral, since it all came to the same thing in the end?...The little robot woman was as 'guilty' as the girl from Paris who had married Masson, or as Marie, who wanted me to marry her...What did it matter if at this very moment marie was kissing a new boyfriend? As a condemned man himself, couldn't he grasp what I meant by that dark wind blowing from future?"<br />"L'Etranger" is a book that has to be read carefully and to be re-read at different stages of life. Perhaps it will be better if we read it with his other books like "La Mort heureuse" and "The Plague" to understand the philosophy of Camus.

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  Flora Sau said on May 28, 2009 | 2 feedbacks

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  In my opinion this book deserves a second reading to fully appreciate it.

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  Cherrybiz said on Sep 18, 2007 about the Mass Market Paperback edition | Add your feedback

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  The philosophy behind this book was very dreary..I know this is considered a work of art, but this book was an awful read for me. I was so depressed after I read it!

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  Crayzeh said on Jun 18, 2007 about the Others edition | Add your feedback

Book Details

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• Livres Français
• Paperback 216 Pages
• ISBN-10: 2070385752
• ISBN-13: 9782070385751
• Publisher: Gallimard (Folio Foliothèque, 22)
• Pub date: Oct 23, 1992
• Dimensions: 1097 mm x 710 mm x 65 mm Just how big is that?
• Also available as: Mass Market Paperback, Audio CD and Others
• In other languages:
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    The Stranger
    (English Books)

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