Jamie's Book #23: The Stranger by Albert Camus

Well… I don't know. I just didn't "get" this one.  The back of the copy I own states "Since it was first published in English, in 1946, Albert Camus' first novel, The Stranger, has had a profound impact on millions of American readers." What?..how? and why? Nothing about it had a profound impact on me. Perhaps it went over my head.  For me, this was just another classic that disappointed.

The main character is named Meursault and the story takes place in Algeria. When Meursault's mother passes away, he shows disturbingly little emotion at her funeral, and the next day goes to the beach and on a date.  As new characters were introduced, I as the reader often felt for them the sadness, pity, or anger that Meursault was unable to. Though Camus made me feel these emotions, I did not enjoy it. Meursault ends up senselessly murdering a man, and the book is divided into two parts, before and after the murder.

I know this novel explores fancy themes like existentialism, absurdism and nihilism, but they still were not enough to make me think it worthwhile. I won't give it a second try.

Frankly, the notes that were left on the pages from the book's previous owner were more interesting to me than the story:

 

Overall, I rate this a 4/10