The Stranger
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4,1 • 44 valutazioni
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Descrizione dell’editore
The Stranger is a 1942 novella by French author Albert Camus. Its theme and outlook are often cited as examples of Camus' philosophy, absurdism, coupled with existentialism; though Camus personally rejected the latter label.
Through the story of an ordinary man unwittingly drawn into a senseless murder on an Algerian beach, Camus explored what he termed "the nakedness of man faced with the absurd." First published in English in 1946; now in a new translation by Matthew Ward.
Translated four times into English, and also into numerous other languages, the novel has long been considered a classic of 20th-century literature. Le Monde ranks it as number one on its 100 Books of the Century.
The novel was twice adapted as films: Lo Straniero (1967) (Italian) by Luchino Visconti and Yazgı (2001, Fate) by Zeki Demirkubuz (Turkish).
Recensioni dei clienti
Must-read for all audiences
Saw this book on every “must-read” list out there and honestly, it deserves the hype.
I can recommend it without hesitation.
The main character is a portrait of indifference: a man who picks simple pleasures and emotional detachment over society’s scripted reactions. He refuses to perform feelings he doesn’t have, and stays loyal to his “soulless” self right until the end. Not out of rebellion but simply because he’s not a man who sees any point in acting and wasn’t taught how to do it properly.
The part of realizing mortality changes the whole tone of the narrative. Being alive suddenly matters only when we see that we can vanish, becoming an empty space anybody hardly will ever think about.
The freedom we pretend we don’t have, the time we try to speed up, the emotions we choke down and numb - that’s exactly what gives weight and meaning to life. Boredom can become nostalgia in a second. People we treat as “extras” can turn into unreachable ideals once they’re gone.
The book echoes Kafka’s Metamorphosis: another unlucky man chewed up, spat out, labeled a monster by a society that worships the idea of being “good.”
And yes, the message feels almost banal but only because it’s eternally true:
You can commit a crime and still be forgiven if you cry at the right moment in front of the right audience.
And you can watch a comedy at the wrong time and end up being seen as a violent psychopath, an animal not deserving mercy or life.