What I Think About What I Read
5 Stars. I laugh out loud every time I read this book. Dumas builds her world in such a way that even people who have never been outsiders can relate. The characters are gorgeously written, capturing the imperfections of humanity while remaining humorous and kind. It’s a short easy read, delicious, and creative.
4.5 Stars. This is a book everyone loves to hate.
Reasons to Hate The Stranger:
1- Apathy. Like what the heck is Meursault’s problem?
2- Not the most interesting. It’s basically a day in the life until part two, and sometimes that gets a little boring.
3- Sometimes it seems like there’s no point. This guy doesn’t care, why should I, why did Camus?
Reasons to Love The Stranger:
1- Characters. The players in this short story are purposeful and steeped in meaning (including their names).
2- Setting. The imagery of the funeral, the sun, the restaurant, the sun, the beach, the sun, the prison is beautiful and likewise steeped in meaning.
3- Writing. The word choice, the journalistic style, the simplicity, the depth are all wonderfully laid out for the reader.
4- Absurdism. Meaning is individual but also forced.
Why I Love to Hate The Stranger:
It’s a literary classic. That means it was forced upon me in high school and several times throughout college in both English and French (this latest time was French). Absurdism is difficult to understand with just the feeling of “ok, it combines existentialism and nihilism, which I always thought were opposites”. Meursault’s predicament and life in general are a perfect exposition for the tensions between the two. Meursault finds more meaning within himself and his carnal desires (sex, food, etc) than in what the other characters deem important (marriage, lost dog, etc). Entering the cycle of the absurd with no prior knowledge of this particular philosophy leads many to hate Camus and his literature (but there’s a reason why he won the Nobel Prize for Literature, people).
I love how the first part reads as though it is a statement made to the police during his interrogations which commence in chapter one of part two. The story starts with the death of his mother, but the beginning is lacking. We don’t know much about the Meursault of the past, this fact is brilliantly relevant (and brilliantly revealed) when he finds the article about the wealthy Czech man in his cell. There are so many things that make this story more meaningful if we are willing to force the meaning upon it. I imagine Camus wrote it thus for the express purpose of being ambiguous.
The Stranger invokes reflection and self-awareness through methodical text and thought provoking plot. That being said, I’m not a huge fan of the story, but it does serve its purpose and in that I marvel.
3.5 Stars. I have mixed feelings. I thought the characters were beautiful, the Singaporean cultural lessons incredible and I was delighted by the opportunity to spy on all these insanely wealthy people. I just can’t understand why it was so unnecessarily lewd from time to time.
Mel Reviews Books 
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