The Stranger book cover

The Stranger

Albert Camus · English text · 35,708 words

Meursault’s emotionally detached account of an ordinary life becomes entangled with a violent event and a trial that judges his character as much as his actions.

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Background

Camus’s novel is central to discussions of the absurd, but its colonial Algerian setting and the unnamed victim also invite close attention to what the narrative leaves unseen.

Reading notes

  • Notice the plain, immediate quality of Meursault’s narration.
  • Separate the legal case from the social expectations imposed on him.
  • Ask whose perspective is missing from the novel’s central event.