My thoughts on 'The Stranger' by Albert Camus

[Soyteen Liker]

Version I read o algo

So today I decided to do something different and read fiction (I haven't read fiction in years). The protagonist of this book - Meursault (no, not the shlogger) struck me like how people used to think of people with Aspergers. He notices sensory details first and describes the world in very simple ways, not really going into his emotional state and almost seeming robotic. He kind of reminds me of Retarded_FAG in a way. I think there's something about people judging him unfairly in the trial because he's extremely unexpressive. I think the point of The Stranger is "don't be a Meursault" - he doesn't get the point of life because "we're all gonna die anyway xd" and he fails to realize life is a journey and that his line of thinking is stupid because the very thing that he claims makes life meaningless is actually what gives it meaning. But overall, I thought the book was mostly uninteresting and that the lesson was developed poorly. The book focuses on Meursault's commentary on the senses and people around him. But there's literally no point to this because it's the same thing over and over again and there's no character development. I don't give a shit about any of these characters because Meursault basically has no identity and nobody else is really developed. I feel like there should have been a foil to Meursault that is someone the author wants the reader to strive to be instead of "don't be this xd" - something to contrast Meursault and capture his attention instead of him wandering aimlessly and killing someone for no real reason. It took me the entire book to feel like there was a payoff and the payoff was meh.

Closing Thoughts: I rate this book 3/10, it's not enragingly bad but I think it's very overrated for reasons I explained above.
I'm interested in reading more fiction books btw, I was thinking of reading Moby Dick but that's kinda long and it might be hard to focus on when I barely read fiction. What do you guys recommend?

 

[Stephen]

I dont read much fiction but I think it's cool that you're exploring more of it. From what I can recall, I read Death of a Salesman and Pygmalion back in high school, both are relatively short and I liked them. If you're trying to develop your focus in reading fiction, I bet those two could help.
Also, if you want a good read, read On War by Carl von Clausewitz. Do it. Buy the book, then lock yourself in your room until you finish it, cover to cover. You won't regret it at all.