52 Books, Week 25: The Stranger

Albert Camus makes his first appearance on my year long journey through the world of books. I'm very surprised that existentialism (aka it doesn't matter anyway, so fuck it) didn't make it to the countdown until week 25, but I guess its better late then never. Looks like I've been reading in some good company....

Anyway, on to the text.

Blurb: "The plot is simple. A young Algerian afflicted with a sort of aimless inertia, becomes embroiled in the petty intrigues of a local pimp and, somewhat inexplicably, ends up killing a man. Once he's imprisoned and eventually brought to trial, his crime, it becomes apparent, is not so much the arguably defensible murder he has committed as it is his deficient character. The trial's proceedings are absurd, a parsing of incidental trivialities--that Meursault, for instance, seemed unmoved by his own mother's death and then attended a comic movie the evening after her funeral are two ostensibly damning facts--so that the eventual sentence the jury issues is both ridiculous and inevitable."

Why I Read It: Primarily, because I dig existentialism and it sorta works with my personality. The story probably wouldn't be that engaging unless you go in for alienation, detachment, etc., etc. This will probably be a book (like Siddhartha) that I'll read again.

Should You Read It: Not unless you were a philosophy major (or minor). If not, I can't imagine this would do it for you...