The Stranger Paperback – Import, 1 April 2024

Probably my first book on Philosophy after long, definitely the first on Existentialism/Absurdism.I liked the way each character/scene is described and the many one liners capturing the gist of his Philosophy.Short and nice read!

The book is about what happens in the mind of a murderer. The entire book is in first person narrative.Monsieur Meursault is a man without feelings and one incapable of feeling remorse.It is brought to light, however, that you should exhibit a particular set of emotions that society expects you to display in certain situations in order to be accepted as a “normal human”Very few would be able to relate to the character and you are left to read the book as a mere spectator going through one situation to another through the mind of a convict.Read this book if you want to explore the genre of ‘absurdism’ as I did to challenge my brain to withstand contradictory point of view.I don’t have any favourite quotes from this book but there are couple which describes absurdism well:“I answered that, of recent years, I'd rather lost the habit of noting my feelings, and hardly knew what to answer. I could truthfully say I'd been quite fond of Mother— but really that didn't mean much. All normal people, I added as on afterthought, had more or less desired the death of those they loved, at some time or another.”"A moment later she asked me if I loved her. I said that sort of question had no meaning, really; but I supposed I didn't.”I rate it 3.5/5 stars Perhaps someone who understands absurdism well may rate it more.

The Protagonist is very interesting character. Rest story is simple. Writing is simple. Book can be finished in a go.

I expected something groundbreaking and enlightening when I picked up this book. Everyone was speaking so highly about this. But there wasn't anything extraordinary to speak of. We can read it to kill time. Nothing beyond that. I feel about this book the same way the protagonist feel about the world around him. Indifferent. The only part that piqued my interest was his conversation with the prison chaplain. Apart from that the novel continued in the lazy monotonous style, as if it was narrated by a twelve year old. Devoid of anything that can make it a memorable experience for the reader.