THE STRANGER – Novel, by Albert Camus

Albert Camus was born on November day in French colonial Algeria. Despite his family’s extreme poverty, he attended the University of Algiers, and after dropping out of the university, he entered the world of political journalism. While in wartime Paris, he developed his philosophy of the absurd. For him, existence seemed simply, absurd.                                The Stranger (published in 1942), it is Camus’s first novel, a brilliantly crafted story and an illustration of his absurdist world view, telling the story of an emotionally detached, amoral young man, Meursau. Meursault is a young man living in Algiers. He takes a bus to Marengo, after receiving a telegram informing him of his mother’s death. He speaks to the director of the home, when he arrives. That night he keeps vigil over his mother’s body, smoking a cigarette, drinks coffee, and dozes off. The next morning, the director informs him that an old man (who had grown very close to Meursault’s mother), will be attending the funeral service. The next day, he goes to the public beach for a swim, where he runs into Marie Cardona (his former co-worker). Marie visits Meursault in prison, and she forces herself to smile during the visit. She expresses hope that Meursault will be acquitted and that they will get married. Meursault returns to prison to await his execution, and the chaplain comes to visit against Meursault’s wishes. He declares that he is correct in believing in a meaningless, purely physical world. He abandons all hope for the future, accepting the gentle indifference of the world. http://www.amazon.com/Stranger-Albert-Camus/dp/0679720200?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0