Novella Review: The Stranger

The Stranger
A novella by Albert Camus
123 Pages
First published in 1942

Winner of the Nobel Peace prize for Literature, Albert Camus is probably best known for penning what has become an English class staple for the last 50 years.

The Stranger is Monssieur Meursault; an ordinary man who unwittingly gets drawn into a senseless murder on an Algerian beach. Meursault is guilty, that much is known from the outset, but it is his lack of remorse that seals his fate once put on trial for the killing.

The Stranger opens a window to Meursault’s blank soul, an emotionally disengaged man, ambivalent to the word around him, unconcerned with the death of his mother or the banality of his working life.

Meursault is “amoral”, a position that alienates him from his peers and demonises him in the eyes of the jury employed to decide his fate. Though he has committed a murder, it is his (lack of) character that is put on trial. Meursault is a square peg in the round hole of western culture’s grounding principles of moral “right” and “wrong”.

The Strange is written in a stripped back, no nonsense “human” narrative style, very matter of fact and light on the lengthy exposition. Characters go about their days and Meursault recounts their emotions as though they mean nothing to him, like he is noting the physical appearance of a smile, not recognising the emotion beneath it. The lack of literary “beautification” allows the reader to detach from emotion and see the world as ambivalently as Meursault. It also makes the book quick to read, perfect for a short plane trip or a few quiet lunch breaks.

It’s unsettling reading at times; Mersault on love: “She wanted to know if I loved her. I answered the same way I had the last time, that it didn’t mean anything but that I probably didn’t.” On friendship: “He asked me again if I wanted to be pals, I said it was fine with me: he seemed pleased.”

A guy on Amazon put it perfectly: “I read it fast, trying to shake off its impact.”

For me, reading The Stranger is about stepping into another person’s shoes and considering their point of view. This process isn’t to agree with Mersault’s outlook (let’s be honest, he’s not a nice man), but to understand that it is different to our own for the purpose of self reflection.

Mersault’s alienation and dislocation was an anxiety of the time, and perhaps Camus was trying to highlight this as a warning sign. Many believe American Psycho’s detached central character, Patrick Bateman, is a contemporary twin of Mersault. Bateman’s emotional detachment is fueled by the rampant financial excess and cultural obliteration of the 80s, and drives him to apparently commit shocking serial murder to “get to the heart of things”.

The Stranger also has links to existential philosophy (if you’re into that sort of thing) but I don’t really know exactly what that is (look in wiki I guess).

Perfect for:
Those who liked American Psycho, The Heart of Darkness or Catcher in the Rye. Those stuck in dead end repetitive jobs, feeling a little disenchanted and mourning the loss of real emotional connection in modern society.