L'Etranger by Albert Camus

[scatcat]

THE STRANGER (L'Etranger) wrtten by Albert Camus.

This book, first published in 1946, in French, was Albert Camus' first novel.

Through this story of an ordinary man who unwittingly gets drawn into a senselss murder on a sundrenched Algerian beach. Exploring "the nakedness of man faced with the absurd".

It is a haunting novel, by Camus, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in1957.

Curefans who know the Cure's early song "Killing an Arab" , this song was based on Camus' book L'etranger.

It is a must read!! The book was translated into English and is still studied as one of the greatest novels of our time.

[silversand]

Thanks for the short info scatcat.
I'm reading The Stranger by Albert Camus at the moment and i'm nearly finished.
It's a great book!

[scatcat]

yes silversand.. a classic.I have two editions here. I have the English translation and the American adaptaion.

To be honest, there is so much lost in translation, just in the English
translation, that is reborn again in the American version..

The original English translation definately removoves the reader from the personal space/feelings of the main character.. however the American verion, true to it's justification in the Editor's notes.. allows the reader to interpret and possibly understand more what Camus was trying to express in his book.
Slightness of the language, very similar, but just enough to feel a little bit more, rather than just "third party" feelings..

I really think that after reading the two versions, the slight diferences in language ( English can be so expressive) that the 'literal' translation, that is the French into the English publication.. there is definately a lot of meaning and attatchment lost to the main character, and of course, his mother.

I am enjoying the American edition slightly eversomore than tha English version .. I'll get back on this..

BTW:   The English version is titled "The Outsider", which is the publication available in Australia.

[LuvURobert]

Thank you, Scatcat!!  I've heard of it before, but I definitely would like to read it now.  Appreciate the review. 

[Hero]

I read L'Etranger in school last year in french class so i think i will read it again in english, i think i missed some of it becase my french is a bit rubbish!

[scatcat]

I read L'Etranger in school last year in french class so i think i will read it again in english, i think i missed some of it becase my french is a bit rubbish!

My French is so bad.. I only studied Mandarin (Chinese dialect) at school..

I can kind of understand French but I pronounce it like a Spanish-speaking-mafia-kind-of ridiculous accent!! It is atrocious!

I do have a spare copy of 'The Outsider" if you like, I can send it to you.. I have soo many books here.. I have not enough bookshelves to place all the literature we have here.. It is a quality publication, if you can't get your hands on one, just send me a PM if you like HERO..

[japanesebaby]

i read this pretty long ago (something like... 15 years ago... uhhh ). read it as a finnish translation, which i think is pretty good - as far as i can tell. actually this was during the time when i wasn't into the cure so i didn't pay any attention to the fact that it was related to some famous cure song. i just read it because it was a good piece of literature - which it is.
yet 'the plague' is maybe my favorite book by camus. i was impressed by "the outsider" and i picked that one up and i was even more impressed by that one, i can remember...
neither are "fresh" enough in my mind to offer any sort of analysis (since it's been quite a while since i read them). but the impression/atmosphere/style i can still feel/recall. that sticked, which is a sign of something valuable i suppose.

wouldn't probably be a bad idea to re-read those. even though there are lots and lots of good books in reading queue, i always tend to fall for some old favorites again and again...

[silversand]

I didn't know that there is a different between the British English version and the American English Version. Thanks for the info scatcat
So when i read the stranger in English i will buy the American version
This is my first book i'm reading by Camus. I've seen a play by him at the theatre, oh dear, it's a long time ago, it's called The Just Assassins and i like it very much. After i've seen it, i've bought a book of all his plays.

[revolt]

Yeah, I have read "The Stranger" several years ago, and it was mainly due to the fact that I got to know that "Killing an Arab" was inspired by that Camus novel. A great novel, by the way, one that raises many questions about identity, the meaning of personal relationships and all the me-versus-the-world problem, basically.

By Camus, I have also read "The Plague", a "A Happy Death" (which is sort of an early version of "The Stranger", more or less) and a couple of short stories collections. But as far as his fiction (no Cure pun intended...) work goes, "The Stranger" is definitely the one book that made the most impression on me.

If you think you might be interested in his more philosophic work, I recommend the reading of "The Myth of Sisyphus", which is a rather short essay (by Philosophy's usual ambitious standards, at least) in which Camus presents his Philosophy of the absurd in quiet accessible terms... He is certainly far more readable than Sartre, that´s for sure.

[camus]

the myth of sisyphus is the best book i have ever written...I mean read

[Poe]

I've just finished the book, and right now I'm thinking "weeell, it was alright." I could recognize myself in quite a few observations (), and it raises some interesting questions and thoughts, but I probably wouldn't re-read it. There could be something crucial I didn't "get", or, the book just didn't do that much for me, at least not at this time of my life...I read a Swedish translation by the way, wasn't that good..

[scatcat]

I've just finished the book, and right now I'm thinking "weeell, it was alright." I could recognize myself in quite a few observations (), and it raises some interesting questions and thoughts, but I probably wouldn't re-read it. There could be something crucial I didn't "get", or, the book just didn't do that much for me, at least not at this time of my life...I read a Swedish translation by the way, wasn't that good..

hey, Poe.. I would probably recommend a re-read. The perspective of the book, and the main character, is intended to make you feel at a distance. ( hence existentialism : philosophical theory emphasizing existence of the individual person
[ in this case Meursault] as free and responsible agent determining his own development.)
The question is.. Why is he The Outsider? .. because he doesnot cry at his mother's funeral, or participate in life as one should?
When I first encountered this book, I felt the outsider myself.. never able to reach, discover or understand what the character Meursault was feeling. In fact, I felt that there were no expressions of feelings. Perhaps that is why his character went to the extreme.. in order TO FEEL.. definitely worth a re-read, or further contemplation.
There are many (of us) in society.. who may not FEEL , because they are either damaged or feel on the outside.. a stranger.. for example.. one suffering depression may not cry/feel anything when one has not seen one's mother for many years, but will cry if reminded of a tragic event..  Paradoxical. ( haha.. not  a medication, but a state of mind!)


fodder for thought.

[revolt]

The question is.. Why is he The Outsider? .. because he does not cry at his mother's funeral, or participate in life as one should?

That is probably the best guess. But I think it possibly also has something to do with the fact that he is a man of European (French) descent living in an African country... like Camus himself. The sense of estrangement, of non-belonging, may stem simultaneously from different sources.

[silversand]

That Mersault doesn't cry at the funeral of his mother is unusal i think. But i was asthonished that some people were, i hope, if my memorie serves me right, a little bit upset.


It's a great book, also A Happy Death. I've ordered the Stranger to read it in English. So after Lunar Park by Bret Easton Ellis, maybe i will start reading it

[Cure]

the book is fabulous
i read it in 1 day !!