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The Outsider

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Albert Camus' "Outsider" is a short, to the point, two part novel. The first introduces us to the characters and leads up to the killing of an Arab on the beach by the principal characters. The second follows his ordeal afterwards, his thoughts and his trial. He is persecuted as a cold killer due to his lack of visible emotion or remorse. He is concerned only for himself.

As mentioned in a previous review, this is a book of thought and questioning. Camus questions the pillars of Western society and questions humanities uncanny ability to believe that the majority is correct and that anybody else is different and thus can be persecuted.

I would recommed "Outsider" for a quick, extremely thought-provoking read. This classic is reknowned as one of the basic foundations of existentialist philosophy.

Originally L'Etranger, the english version I read was (obviously) a translation from the original French language in which the book was conceived.

The story is in two parts. The first is of Meursault, the main character- establishing and developing his character. It traces his days up until the point where he commits a murder for no apparent reason. The second part describes his incarceration, reflections on what has transpired, and his trial.

It is written plainly enough to be taken as a simple story, which makes it somewhat enjoyable on a most basic level- though to take it as such ultimately defies the purpose of the novel. I wish my French was strong enough to have read the original. I hate translations as they destroy half of any author's story- the language he chooses for his tale.

**WARNING** SPOILERS POSTED BELOW **WARNING**

Historically, the book was partly written to defy the conventions of the time by utilizing the common daily language of the people (instead of the rigid formality that was enforced at the time). It was also written to identify, interpret, explain the ins and outs of Existentialist thought.

The basis of Existentialism, as I understand it, is that life is simply what it is, and no more. Concepts such as God, Heaven, Hell, the Soul, Eternity, Destiny, and so on, are but illusions that we feed upon to define some form of meaning for ourselves. Wake up, (says the Existentialist) your life is only your life. You are not pre-ordained to greatness. There is no Master Plan. You live and die, and in between you will make some choices that are of no ultimate consequence- nothing stops when you do; only you cease to exist. Our life, if I may, is just the flip-side of a coin. When no one is flipping anymore, the coin remains.

In The Outsider, Meursault essentially wakes up one day and realizes that his "life" is manmade, and really, dictated by society; that anything he does or has done will not and can not have any consequence. With this new liberation, he begins a fresh journey, unchained from the burden of the concept of "consequence". Though the story is told from a first-person perspective, it is conveyed in a flat, impersonal tone that would suggest even Meursault himself feels detached from the events that surround him.

When his Mother dies, Mersault is unaffected emotionally (though complains of the distance he must travel for the funeral and the inconvenience of having to miss work) and refuses to put on the show that society demands in such a situation. I believe that Camus had a clear point to prove in how the other characters responded to him. Though he is sincere in his responses, he is perceived by some to be alienating and suspicious, while others continue on playing their game/roles (i.e., his girlfriend Marie) despite his inability (or lack of wont) to play along with them- the former outcast him for not playing along, while the latter simply keep playing as though he were. This illustrates our lack of autonomy from the social body and, ironically, our immobility without it. If this helps, check out www dot yourwords dot ca for more.

Don't bother with this book unless you're into philosophy and pulling a higher meaning out of people's writing. The first time I read it I thought it was garbage until I talked with my Philosophy professor about it and got some insight into the imagery of the text.

**WARNING** SPOILERS POSTED ABOVE **WARNING**

Meursault is a clerk in Algiers, an intentionally non-descript young man with no particularly interesting traits, characteristics, skills or habits. Now considered to be mandatory reading for those interested in notions of existential or nihilist philosophy, Albert Camus' "The Outsider" or "L'Étranger" is the story of Meursault's life. Or perhaps it might be more precise to suggest that it is the tale of Meursault's indifference to and virtually complete lack of participation in the events surrounding him - how, in a sense, he is almost an indifferent, meta-observer of his own diffident state of being.

As the story opens, Meursault is told of his mother's death and, although he grudgingly attends her funeral, he does not weep nor does he display any of the typical reactions or emotions that are expected of a person in his situation. In fact, instead of mourning, he engages in a casual sexual relationship with a former acquaintance that he enountered that day. A few days after the funeral, as a result of an almost absurd string of events and circumstances, Meursault shoots and kills a man. But rather than displaying any remorse or concern, we witness Meursault casually sit through his own trial and judgment with virtually complete detachment and indifference. Before his execution, a chaplain attempts to discuss matters of faith with him and turn him to God but, as with other events in his life, Meursault is disinterested and reconciled to the world's lack of interest in him and his fate as well.

In trying to make some sense of what I had read, I wanted to at least learn a little bit about existentialism. As I now undertand it, a central proposition of existentialism is that existence precedes essence, which means that the actual life of the individual is what constitutes what could be called his or her "essence" instead of there being a predetermined essence that defines what it is to be a human. Thus, the human being creates his own values and determines a meaning to his life. Ergo, I am concluding this means that Meursault is the quintessential existentialist in that he had determined the steps of his own life, made his own choices and lived with them. Having done so, he was indifferent to others and their reactions to what he perceived as his own self-worth.

I can say that The Outsider was ... well, interesting. For my tastes, unfortunately, I'd also have to categorize it as very bleak and joyless and certainly far from compelling. Perhaps, as a reader, I'm a bit thick when it comes to thinking of matters philosophical. But it is what it is and perhaps that's why I don't jump up and down suggesting that this is a must read classic. Recommended for those that want to challenge themselves with what one might call a thinking man's classic.

Paul Weiss

A french classic from Albert Camus about a French Man who knifes an arab on a beach after the death of his mother. What ensues is a trial for the way he behaved during his mothers funeral, where he is condemned not for killing a man, but for failure to weep over his mothers corpse. It is a terse and compelling piece of literature narrated from the point of view of the central character. He bears no feeling, no remorse for what he has done. Does he elicit our sympathy? Do we feel for him who feels nothing for us? Are we hypocritical as a society or do we condemn those around us for who they are rather than what they do? The answers to these and other questions are posed within the pages, but you will find no answers here. This is a book to make you think, not to answer your questions! It is simple, short and brilliant. The original french version (L'etranger)is much favoured by students of the language because the language is so simple and accessible, but this camoflages the depth of thought behind it.

Différent. Ceci est le premier mot qui me frappe apres avoir lu L'Etranger d'Albert Camus. Apparement l'histoire est tres simple. Le narrateur et protagoniste est Meusault, un pied noir qui vit en Algerie jusqu'avant la deuxieme guerre mondiale, quand l'Algerie fait encore partie des colonies Francaises. Il s'agit de cet homme qui tue un Arabe, et de son proces. Mais ce qui est différent est son attitude envers ce qui se passe autour de lui. Meursault semble toujours n'etre pas intéressé a la société qui l'entoure, et il ne se comporte pas comme la société ferait. Sa philosophie de vie est presque absurde: il croit que la vie n'ait aucune importance, parce que en tout cas on va tous mourir, il est tres egoiste dans le sens que il ne s'interesse pas aux émotions des autres, mais il est totalement absorbé en soi-meme. Ce livre est tres frappant parce que, caché derriere le language simple et presque infantine, il y des questions qui nous font réfléchir sur le sens de la vie, sur qu'est que c'est juste, qui a le droit de juger, qui est "normal" et qui non.

The Outsider/The Stranger is the story of young Mersault, a man, apparently devoid of emotions. The plot is simple. Mersault talks to us about his boring job, shows us that he doesn't love his girlfriend and doesn't grieve when he is told his mother just died in the home he sent her to a few years ago.

After the funeral service, he meets a young lady that used to work with him. They watch a movie, go to the beach and meet again the next day. He is invited to a weekend's getaway to the beach with his girlfriend and neighbor, and there he unintentionally gets involved in his neighbor's problem with two men. He kills one of them after the problem is semi resolved and gets sent to prison.

The second part of the book deals with his trial, and with his apathetic nature which leaves lawyers at ends about how to defend him. He doesn't try to defend himself, he admits he killed the man. He says it was a mistake. They dwell on the fact that he did not grieve for his mother. He reasons his existence, and while you follow what he is saying, you can't fully justify his killing the man, him condemning himself like that.

I don't know if I completely got Mersault. Most probably I didn't. But to me, he seemed like a shell of a man, the remains of someone who was. Nothing is said of his past, nothing is hinted, but yet, I feel that there must be something, some event, that made him so apathetic. I was left wanting to know the whys of his life.

Years ago, while on a midnight flight to the United Kingdom, I read a strange book about a young man named Meursault. So emblematic of my life was his story, that I wrote my name on the inside cover, and dated it.
The Outsider, is one of those novels, or experiences, that one rarely happens upon during the course of their existence. It serves no purpose except the attestation, that as esoteric and nonsensical life may be, it really ISN'T JUST YOU - however exceedingly remote that is to believe.
Meursault, died for truth, in the absolute sense, unlike per say, Sir Thomas Moore, who also died for truth, but of a different kind, and with heroic pretensions to his actions. But I am not kine to graze that field, and in those hackneyed words, we hear time and time again, "....that is a story for another time."

Il est un homme qui ne joue pas le jeu. Il est un peu différent et pour cette raison, il n'est pas accepté dans la société. Il est Meursault. Meursault est un homme 'taciturne et renferme' et parce qu'il ne montre pas ses emotions, il est condamne a mort. Le livre commence avec l'enterrement de sa mere ou il ne pleure pas. Il est indifferent a la mort de sa mere, et il continue sa vie, comme si rien s'est passé. Un jour quand il va a la plage avec ses amies, il tue un Arabe. Il pretend que c'est a cause de la chaleur et du soleil, mais est-ce-que c'est? Ce livre pose beaucoup de questions intriguantes, au sujet de la psychologie de Meursault. Pendant le proces nous apprenons que Meursault est condamné a mort parce qu'il ne conforme pas, et pas parce qu'il a tué un Arabe. La société ne peut pas accepter un homme qui n'est pas comme tous le monde. L'Etranger est un livre qui vous fait penser, je vous conseille de le lire car ca changera votre vie.

Alexander Pope's translation (c. 1720) of the Iliad. Now there's a preposterously highblown translation that many would think needed to be redone for the modern age.

But Stuart Gilbert's masterful translation of "L'etranger" from 1946 is for me perfect and, heck, still easily available. There was nothing that needed to be reworked about that: pace Laredo and Ward, it's still fresh and relevant.

Further, Gilbert's rendering has the kind of spare grace that conveys the flavor of the original much better than Joseph Laredo's, arguably conveying, by means of its overall icy tone, Mersault's remote demeanor much more convincingly. The final phrase, "greet me with howls of execration" is much more chillingly rendered there than here, in Laredo's pedestrian and forgettable "greet me with cries of hatred."

The Outsider is an interesting introduction to Existential-type thought. But don't dismiss it for that reason if that bothers you!

This book, though short and digestible, really packs a strong punch. I found myself interested in the psyche of Mersault as he faced the three deaths which so defined his life; the death of his mother, the death of the person he murdered, and his own pending death. His cold, emotionless way of analyzing happens is really vivid and dramatic. Something about it reminds me of Brothers Karamazov, though with a decidedly more anti-social stoicic spin to it.

You will be challenged and perhaps drawn in to this story, Camus was a really talented writer, as is evidenced by this work as well as 'The Plauge'. I disagree with Camus' conclusions as well as the worldview he is putting forward in this book, but I can't deny its importance and I really feel that it is a compelling, well-written story that is worth reading if you are studying existentialism and/or nihilism.