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Penguin Classics the Outsider Hardcover – International Edition, October 30, 2012

by Albert Camus (Author), Sandra Smith (Translator)

1,271 customer reviews

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'My mother died today. Or maybe yesterday, I don't know.' Sandra Smith's new translation, based on close listening to a recording of Camus reading his work aloud on French radio in 1954, sensitively renders the subtleties and dream-like atmosphere of L'Étranger. In The Outsider (1942), his classic existentialist novel, Camus explores the alienation of an individual who refuses to conform to social norms. Meursault, his anti-hero, will not lie. When his mother dies, he refuses to show his emotions simply to satisfy the expectations of others. And when he commits a random act of violence on a sun-drenched beach near Algiers, his lack of remorse compounds his guilt in the eyes of society and the law. Yet he is as much a victim as a criminal. Albert Camus' portrayal of a man confronting the absurd, and revolting against the injustice of society, depicts the paradox of man's joy in life when faced with the 'tender indifference' of the world. Albert Camus (1913-1960), French novelist, essayist and playwright, is one of the most influential thinkers of the 20th century. His most famous works include The Myth of Sisyphus (1942), The Plague (1947), The Just (1949), The Rebel (1951) and The Fall (1956). He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957, and his last novel, The First Man, unfinished at the time of his death, appeared in print for the first time in 1994, and was published in English soon after by Hamish Hamilton. Sandra Smith was born and raised in New York City and is a Fellow of Robinson College, University of Cambridge, where she teaches French Literature and Language. She has won the French American Foundation Florence Gould Foundation Translation Prize, as well as the PEN Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize.

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About the Author

Albert Camus (1913-1960), French novelist, essayist and playwright, is one of the most influential thinkers of the 20th century. His most famous works include The Myth of Sisyphus (1942), The Plague (1947), The Just (1949), The Rebel (1951) and The Fall (1956). He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957, and his last novel, The First Man, unfinished at the time of his death, appeared in print for the first time in 1994, and was published in English soon after by Hamish Hamilton. Sandra Smith was born and raised in New York City and is a Fellow of Robinson College, University of Cambridge, where she teaches French Literature and Language. She has won the French American Foundation Florence Gould Foundation Translation Prize, as well as the PEN Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize.

Hardcover: 208 pages
Publisher: Penguin Classic (October 30, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0141389583
ISBN-13: 978-0141389585
Product Dimensions: 5 x 0.5 x 7.8 inches
Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
Average Customer Review: 1,271 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,552,308 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1193743 in Books > Literature & Fiction

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Brett Fischer

Should Be Required Reading For All

September 30, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Albert Camus instills his philosophical teachings and beliefs in his indifferent main character. This quick read was part novel and part exercise in philosophy. Regardless of your beliefs, this book will force you to think about your own purpose, your life and maybe the meaning of your existence in this world and in relation to those surrounding you.

The story was quick, the ideas were big and the characters were an interesting bunch that reminded me of a mix between Hemingway's Lost Generation and Kerouac's Beats. This is a book I would recommend everyone to read. Take a day or a weekend and delve into the mind of Albert Camus. Camus writes in another of his books, The Myth of Sisyphus, "There is only one really serious philosophical question, and that is suicide." Once we decide whether or not to live, then all of the other questions that philosophy poses can come into play. The Stranger, through Meursault, takes a look at life and asks one simple questions: Why?

16 people found this helpful

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VA Duck

"Maman died today"

June 20, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Monsieur Meursault is a French-Algerian: his mother (Maman) has just died and he attends her funeral. That event is the axis about which the story turns - not so much the physical attendance or even the external events of the funeral, but rather Meursault's psychological reaction to her death. The reader is left to deduce their own 'connections' between the death of Maman and the events that follow - which will ultimately lead Meursault to the guillotine.

The story is full of metaphor and discovery: the sun and light and heat bristle throughout the pages of the story. "She said, 'If you go slowly, you risk getting a sunstroke. But if you go too fast, you work up a sweat and then catch a chill inside the church.' She was right. There was no way out"

The book is short (125 pages) and written in the short sentence, staccato style of writers like Hemingway. The read is easy but the meanings are deeper than the words on the page. By the end the effect is a story told in the detail of two or three times the pages that Albert Camus uses. It is clever and thought provoking and well worth the read!

(Matthew Ward translation)

11 people found this helpful

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Suyo

A brief and satisfying read

January 29, 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

The Stranger's power is in its brevity. Though the novel can be finished in an afternoon, The Stranger is a powerful analysis about the arbitrariness of justice and an exploration of the existential stages of life in which one is expected to proceed through to become a genuine human being. Meursault's initial existence, confined only to his sensory experiences, is woefully inadequate to qualify him as leading the full life that most individuals desire. Meursault's subsequent 'legal troubles' lead him to a far greater understanding of the life to which he is happily a complete and utter subject to. The novel also touches on ideas about determinism and nihilism and critiques the social structure of relationships and the 'justice system'. Justice, freedom, and of course religious ideas are lambasted by Camus in the text.

7 people found this helpful

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Jasmine

Thrilling and thought provoking!

September 18, 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

What a great story, I recommend really thinking about this as part of the larger picture too. The narrative is amazing, the meaning behind it is even better. I read the Mersault Investigation after this (which if you like this book I'd recommend) and together they are a thrilling story. Alone even still I'd recommend it.

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Daniel

Challenging, Introspective, Dark

November 11, 2014

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

A challenging book to say the least. I can't help but feel like through out my reading I was on the cusp of "getting" it only to realize I was still not there. Thats is just one of the reasons I find myself inevitably going back to this book in the future.

In sum this is the story of Mersault, a Frenchman living in Northern Africa. The first half of the book tells the story of Mersault's reaction and experiences following his mother's death. The second half details Mersaults views as he goes through a court trial (no spoilers here)

Camus' style is relatively easy to read and Mersault is both relatable and a bit revolting. I found myself agreeing with him on a number of points. Still, he is unrepentant of his actions and he behaves and thinks in a number of ways that are counter to what society may think. In some ways I could draw a comparison between Mersault and Holden from Catcher in the Rye. The last 20 pages or so of the book seem to hold so much depth but are just out of reach.

While I don't profess to be able to analyze this book and understand it, I'll leave that to the academics. But I will recommend this book for anyone who is looking for a challenging and introspective if dark read.

6 people found this helpful

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In Touch With The Indifference Of The Universe...

June 24, 2014

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

In THE STRANGER by Albert Camus, the character Meursault is a man apart. Though he exists w/ other humans, he is obviously on an entirely different wavelength! Meursault will commit a heinous crime. He will face the men of the court, along w/ their machine of justice. Thereby, Meursault will cross over into full enlightenment about life, the world, and his place in it. Camus uses this short, simple tale in order to reveal depths that are anything but simple. The astonishing thing about Meursault is that his "philosophy" seems to have come to him naturally, not through study or inculcation. He is what he believes. He walks around being the very indifference of nature. Those around him, be they legal minds, religious leaders, employers, or "friends" and / or "loved" ones, are at once offended and dumbfounded by Meursault's incomprehensible disregard for social norms, traditions, etc. He is an enigma to them. He is unknowable. His final epiphany is incredible. It will echo through your soul...

7 people found this helpful

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Penguin Classics the Outsider Hardcover – International Edition, October 30, 2012

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