The Stranger in The Roundtable

Sep 21, 2010 Zadignose added it · review of another edition

Shelves: 20th-century

Rereading this decades after my first reading, I find I enjoyed it more. It remains bizarre and enigmatic. Like most books worth reading, it's a lot more than the Cliff's Notes summary would have you think, i.e. that it's about a guy charged with a crime, not so much because of the crime itself, but because he's perceived to be a bad person. (Disclaimers: 1) I didn't actually read the Cliff's Notes to see if that's what it said, and, 2) that IS what it's about, but it's not ONLY that.)

The protag Rereading this decades after my first reading, I find I enjoyed it more. It remains bizarre and enigmatic. Like most books worth reading, it's a lot more than the Cliff's Notes summary would have you think, i.e. that it's about a guy charged with a crime, not so much because of the crime itself, but because he's perceived to be a bad person. (Disclaimers: 1) I didn't actually read the Cliff's Notes to see if that's what it said, and, 2) that IS what it's about, but it's not ONLY that.)

The protagonist, Meursault, seems to be a study of what might today be termed a personality disorder... probably schizoid personality. At the same time, the book undoubtedly bears some relationship to existentialist philosophy, but exactly what relationship is not so clear, as this is not an overtly didactic book, and the author's motives are kept obscure. Meursault is not himself a philosopher, and I'm confident that he is not a stand-in for Camus himself, though he may be an expression of an anxious aspect of Camus--a frightening image of what one could become if, being perhaps less reflective and less self-aware than the author, a more "ordinary" person had to surrender to the knowledge that we live in a godless universe in which everyone is condemned to a certain and irreversible death.

From this I draw a tenuous connection to the character of Hoover in Kurt Vonnegut Jr.'s Breakfast of Champions. Where Hoover is a (quick and sloppy) answer to the question "what could go wrong if a person took to heart the philosophy of solipsism?" Meursault is, at least in part, an exploration of the dark implications of Atheism combined with a lack of essential meaning or purpose in human existence. But, for Meursault, if there is an ironic bright side to his philosophy, it is revealed in the momentary consolation he takes when he realizes that the universe is as impersonal and disinterested in him as he has been towards everyone else around him.

Is this then the key to understanding the book? Nah, probably not. I tend to think it's just one possible angle on the book, but still it's an interesting angle: We can read Meursault as Camus's attempt to personify an uncaring universe--what would it look like if it walked and breathed--and killed!--and if it even took the first faltering steps towards understanding itself?

Meanwhile, I've postponed an entirely different investigation which probably ought to be pursued: what does this book have to say about colonialism, privilege, and racism? It's not coincidence that all the French characters have names, while the murdered man is only known as the "Arab," and all natives are viewed as nameless "Arabs," and to Meursault, and to his associates, and to the press, and to the legal court, it is the state of Meursault's soul that is at issue, while the actual murder of a native man and the violent abuse of his sister are merely a context in which to evaluate Meursault's moral character. I feel Camus was probably aware and intentional in portraying things this way and it was left entirely to the reader to see the injustice of this, though no narrative voice made it explicit. ...more

12 likes · Like · see review

Oct 18, 2019 Irene rated it liked it

I think a better understanding of existentialist philosophy would have enabled me to appreciate this novella. The plot is simple. A young Algerian man, having recently buried his mother, shoots a stranger he suspects of harassing a friend, a crime for which he receives a death sentence. The young man narrates his story in a detached voice which gives as much attention to observing a stranger in a restaurant as to his mother’s funeral or his act of violence. In short, it appears that life and hum ...more

9 likes · Like · see review

Dec 31, 2015 Pamela rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: guardian-1000-read, boxall-1001-read

Meursault, a taciturn loner, idles away his weekends. On a trip to the beach, he commits a random crime against a stranger ('the Arab'). His subsequent trial pays more attention to his lack of emotion and 'normal' responses than to the crime itself.

In a stark, sparse style, Camus conveys both the vivid background of hot, grimy Algiers and the deep sense of Meursault's ennui and lack of enthusiasm for his pointless life. He is often bored, puts little planning into his actions, acknowledges the ...more

Like · see review

May 28, 2013 Jen rated it really liked it

Shelves: atw-globetrotter, 1001-books, 2018-wl, 2018-reads

Mersault's detachment and failure to engage in societal norms is so effective in posing questions to the reader. I'm not sure Camus provides any answers, but raises philosophical questions while at the same time a cracking good read. I'm very keen now to pick up The Meursault Investigation. I didn't love this quite as much as The Plague, but it's still great. ...more

Like · see review

Jul 21, 2012 Lauren rated it liked it

Like many people, I flirted with existentialism when I was a teenager, my interest only dissipating when I tried to read Kant and failed. I read this book back then and I remember liking it and thinking it was bleak. Bleak was good back then. Reading it now as someone not quite fifty, this seems less like a philosophical text and more like a portrait of a sociopath. Why did you kill him? Because it was sunny? I have no patience for this read now. Still, three stars because it inspired me once, a ...more

Like · see review

Dec 17, 2016 Heather(Gibby) rated it really liked it

Shelves: 1001-to-read

On the surface a simple story about how a one second decision can forever alter the course of one's life. Examines questions about the randomness of our life. I particularly enjoyed the courtroom scenes where some seemingly innocuous events, are interpreted to be proof of a criminal mind destined to criminal behaviour. The question that seems to be explored is that in the end we all die, does it matter when and under what circumstances that happens? ...more

Like · see review