Meursault's refusal to act out the feelings of remorse and grief - his refusal to lie - no matter what the consequences is what makes the character so real and the book such a compelling and satisfying read.

I'd recommend this book because the questions raised by it go beyond the confines of the story and it asks us if we really want to know the truth and if honesty really is the best policy.

Gives pause for thought - always a good thing!


Thoroughly enjoyable   May 20, 2004
 3 out of 4 found this review helpful

I only heard about this book on a recent radio programme, and the reviewer put it in his Top 10 books of all time. I subsequently saw it for sale, and looking at the book itself, and reading the synopsys on the back would never have prompted me to purchase it alone. I purchased it on the strength of the radio reviewer's recommendations.

I think its the word "existentialist" that would have put me off - this is too high brow, too serious. I can honestly say that I've never consciously read an existentialist book before. However, it really is enjoyable, and well worth the few hours it will take to complete it. It is wonderfully descriptive.

The books deals with a series of events and how the character of the novel, Mersault, feels about these events; the fact is that they have no emotional effect on him - he doesn't care.

This is a novel that I will read over many times, and I'm sure I will find more layers and meanings each time I re-read it.


Existentialist Classic   April 23, 2004
 2 out of 2 found this review helpful

I approached this book with some trepidation as the word 'existential'gave me the impression that it would be a difficult book. What gave memore incendive to read it was that Robert Smith of the Cure had read it,and the Cure song 'Killing An Arab' is based on the book.
It really isn't that difficult though. Haven't we all felt detatched fromthe world at times, and haven't we all sometimes felt like it's not worthbothering? Meursault (the protagonist) has an extreme case of thesefeelings to the point where he does not care about the death of others(his mother and the arab that he murdered), nor does he eventually careabout his own death. Even when he is offered a chance, even when the judgeat his murder trial is allowing him the choice of prison or death he doesnot decide one way or another; he simply remains detatched fromproceedings as he does not care.
I think the reviewer who said that he though Camus was examining how aperson can be alienated from society is oversimplifying things too much.Camus is writing from a first person perspective, but I think it is more astudy of how society deals with the outsider. Meursault is a tool thatCamus uses to act out his own existentialist theories and put them in thecontext of a story about love, life and death. It is not an easy subjectto grasp fully as one would grasp the plot or characterisation from a moreconventional novel, as there are layers of complexity that require both adeep reading and a mind open to interpreting very simple truisms.
As a novel it is intruiging but written a little too dispassionately forthe average reader (I can't see a Tom Clancy or Jackie Collins readergoing for this). There are also a few parts that don't translate well fromthe French, such as when Meursault notes that his neighbour has startedcalling him by his first name, which is more likely that his neighbour hasstarted using the familiar address of 'tu' rather than 'vous'.
Camus has a great eye for detail, and almost makes the reader feel thatthey are in Algiers. None of us are well equiped to understand what drivesothers who don't conform to the norms of behaviour that we set as a rangeof reasonable behaviour, and this book gives us the chance to investigatenihilism from a first person viewpoint.


exciting, at times confusing   December 4, 2003
 4 out of 6 found this review helpful

Hello friends. Camus attracted me. I bought the book by coincidence, i was searching for something to read. For long i heard that 'The Outsider' was a classic in the field of existentialism, so i tried his book for a start. I was struck and impressioned by Camus' sincerity and straingtforwardnes. He is totally tranperant and open. I felt close to the protagonist of this novel. On the other hand, i was disappointed, more precisely confused about the inability of Meursault to be flexible enough to live a peaceful and happy life of earth. From my experience, the fact is that we are living in this world, we have no option about it, so one has to make his or her best to face every situation with a degree of mental flexibility. I mean that Meursault in this novel was a prisoner of his ouw thoughts that were not practical enough to help him live a healthy and peaceful life. He was obsessed with indifference and this confused him furthur.
I think that to solve the mystry of apathy, indifference and helplesness that we sometimes feel, the answer is more in living our live than in thinking our lives. This we do by being present to the one next to us in every situation.


Really don't understand the hype for this book   October 6, 2003
 4 out of 27 found this review helpful

Okay, so I get that the main character of this book is an "outsider", someone on the margines of society, because of how he reacts to different things (such as his mother's death). What I don't understand is why some people really rave about it. It really left me cold - I didn't care one little bit about the character (well, any of them really - ooh, apart from the old dog which is often kicked by his owner; I felt sorry for him). The only reason I finished the book is that I have to read it for an English course.
I can see why the book is studied - Camus examines how a person can be alienated from society, or on the ouside of it, if certain social norms are not conformed to (i.e. not showing 'enough' grief for a relative's death, or not feeling the need to get all excited about a possible marriage to a loved one). Because I am also studying psychology, I thought this may interest me, but Camus failed to ignite my interest. I prefer characters in fiction to have more of a zest for life, to have a definite personality, with particular principles and morals. Meursault, however is about as exciting as a wet weekend. He appears to agree to marriage purely because there is nothing better to do, he might as well as not. Sorry, but for me that is not good literature. As soon as my course is over, I shall get rid of the book.