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The Outsider
by Albert Camus | Literature & Fiction
Registered by tqd of Sydney, New South Wales Australia on Thursday, February 21, 2008
Average 8 star rating by BookCrossing Members 

status (set by tqd): permanent collection


2 journalers for this copy...

Journal Entry 1 by tqd from Sydney, New South Wales Australia on Thursday, February 21, 2008

This book has not been rated.

Registering this before I loan it out to cat207.

From the back of the book (all typos mine):

In his classic existentialist novel Camus explorers the predicament of the individual who is prepared to face the indifference of the universe courageously and alone.

Meursault leads an apparently unremarkable bachelor life in Algiers until he commits an act of violence. His response to the incident challenges the fundamental values of society, a set of rules so binding that any person breaking them is condemned as an alien, an outsider. For Meursault it is an insult to his reason and a betrayal of his hopes; for Camus it is the absurdity of life. 

Journal Entry 2 by tqd from Sydney, New South Wales Australia on Sunday, February 24, 2008

9 out of 10

I thought I'd quickly read this (it really is waaafer-thin, clocking in at a whole 117 pages) before I popped it in the post to cat207 (because I don't know when I'll next get a chance to stand in a queue at the post office). And I'm glad I did! A most fabulous novel, one justly deserving its place in the "1001" pantheon.

It's a very emotionally flat novel - from the point of view of our anti-hero (M. Meursault), who just doesn't seem to care about anything. In my mind, this made him a sociopath, but I obviously missed something because on reading the afterword by Camus I discovered that our antihero is the sane one, while it is the world that is insane. This, I did not get. (Call me a philistine, or a bourgeoisie, I'll survive. :)

But I really found it absolutely fascinating and wonderfully written, even if existentialism is obviously not my cup of tea. (Yes, I had a major in Philosophy, but I did avoid those strange continental philosophers like the plague.)

So, many thanks to the insane south american man who taught me spanish many years ago and who said that this was the most perfectly written novel ever. (I wonder if he understood existentialism?) I may not remember any spanish, but I did remember that I simply had to read The Stranger and now, I finally have.

I shall pop this in the post to cat207 when I get the chance.

UPDATE 11 March 2008: And in the post to cat207 today. Happy reading! 

Journal Entry 3 by cat207 from Gladstone, Queensland Australia on Wednesday, March 12, 2008

This book has not been rated.

Arrived in today's mail. Thank you tqd. 

Journal Entry 4 by cat207 from Gladstone, Queensland Australia on Wednesday, April 02, 2008

7 out of 10

Meursault's experiences with the legal system are the same as my own experiences.

Thanks for sharing your book, tqd. Sorry I've had it so long. It will be in the mail tomorrow, along with the card from Dauvergne hairdressers. I hope you haven't missed your appointment! 

Journal Entry 5 by tqd from Sydney, New South Wales Australia on Monday, April 07, 2008

This book has not been rated.

Thanks cat207, book arrived safely this week. And Dauvernge has been long closed! I think it's a clothes shop now (it's never a bookshop, is it?). 



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