This was the book that really got me reading at eighteen years old. This and The Old Man and the Sea, cannot remember which came first. So I read everything by Camus and took a course at university called Camus, where again I really read all of Camus. I've never returned to Camus in the last three decades but I've never left him either.
@@jenesaisvraimentpasquoimet8473 The pleasure of seeing emerge from a human being a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts, while also relishing what at least to me seems to be the inevitability of its parts i.e., details. Order out of Chaos, and the vision that demonstrates that even Chaos is a kind of order.
It's Amazing how we all have different tastes Personally those two books I rate at the bottom end of books I've read... They are clearly written well and in the intended style, just not what I find enjoyable
@@kurolo7695 reading alone can give you knowledge... Wisdom however is taking that knowledge learned and applying it in experience Having all the book smarts/knowledge in the world does not make someone automatically wise.... Many times we do things we KNOW we shouldn't do, yet we do.... We had the knowledge but lacked the wisdom 🤣 Some people for example, me included, are not wise with our time and waste it reading books 😅😅 when there are wiser ways to use the time
I disagree that nothing useful can be taken from the book. The nature of how he approaches life is cathartic to anyone(probably most people) who deals with anxiety and constantly asks themselves what they should be doing, or if they're doing the "right" thing. This book gave me a deep sense of serenity and I will be attempting to emulate some portion of the carefree, live in the moment, it doesn't really matter mindset. In our chaotic modern world, with infinite choices and possibilities, this book has more value than ever.
I 100% agree with this take. I tried religion and faith to achieve some serenity, but that NEVER came nearly as close as producing the kind of peace of mind this book gave me. I was always constantly worried about the future, what people thought about me, what I should be doing in order to please others. and after reading this book it helped me care so much less, thereby providing me with a much needed sense of peace.
This book popped up in my life in AP English, 11th grade, 2006. I had just gotten back to school from a Bible camp I attended in Louisiana that concluded with me considering the atheist might be on to something. My 17 year old life in a rut, parents fighting, getting in trouble, girlfriend broke up with me, I was lost. Then there was Camus. Camus taught me how to live in the present, honestly, more than the Ram Dass ever could. My whole perspective of life was changed after that book for better or worse. Thanks Camus! I’m gonna re read it for the first time since then, thanks for reviewing it!
Incredible book. Incredible author. Biggest mistake for me was reading his work in my late teens before reading any optimistic based philosophical works so it was so powerful when I closed the last page I felt quite hollow. But this is a testament to his subtle, minimalist yet impactful writing style. So much more palatable french post modernist writers of the time. Completely agree with you about it not telling the reader what they SHOULD or SHOULD NOT do, and in a way, there’s optimism in that in knowing that he knows it’s up to us and us alone to decide. and it’s a style I’m still in love with. Another author who died too soon and robbed us of more rich works.
Dude I appreciate your reviews so much. They not only provide a meaning even simpler and easier to want to understand than most who recommend the novels on your channel, but they make me WANT to read these great works. It’s why I recommend you to everyone who is getting into reading (for the first time or again). Thanks again, for always giving great recommendations. Keep it up. This is important shit
What a coincidence! Or not? I just started reading this book today an hour ago. Somehow very appropriate reading for the summer. Thanks for the review!! (As always)
When I tell people I subscribe to absurdism, they give me a confused look. Most of the time, they haven't heard of the concept. But then I'll reference media like Rick and Morty, Everything Everywhere All At Once, or even John Williams' Stoner (whose name, by the way, evokes Sisyphus' eternal task), and people begin to realize that this idea is already a popular one in our society, hiding in plain sight. As soon as I describe it to them in terms of Sisyphus smiling, they seem to have a light go off and they will tell me that they believe similar things, they just didn't have the vocabulary to express it. Camus wrote a book that propelled this philosophy, and I think it will come to define the existential state of the American psyche for decades to come. Truly a remarkable book.
I was able to appreciate this book for popularizing existentialism, but man I really did love everything everywhere all at once so much. Though I wonder if a person who has never been exposed to the ideas of absurdism or existentialism would be able to make much sense of that movie.
The Stranger is great, but The Plague and The Fall are even better. The Myth of Sisyphus is good, and so is The Rebel. I recommend Camus for every one.
The Myth of Sisyphus transcends the rest of his work, Caligula is the best to my taste, I agree about the Plague being better. I hadn’t heard of the Fall, thank you for that
@@grixtraselespejo136The Fall is absolutely worth it. It is certainly the most interesting in the way it is set up, you'll understand what I mean by that when you read it. Though that can make it a little less easygoing of a read through, you get used to it, and to me it was even the most touching out of all of his novels
I read The Stranger twice: once as a teenager (I was that kid) and then at 29. The difference was striking: as a teen I found the book terrifying and at 29 I found it very freeing. Considering re-reading it now, at 34, to see what I'm going to feel.
I've also read it twice. With anything I read twice (with a span of some years), my response was always different. I'm a literature graduate and having read his The Plague as well, I think he's rather overrated but not as overrated as Kafka. A lof of people's opinions of literature are colored today by popularity, the media or the hype, without having a proper understanding and appreciation of literary quality and merit.
@@graybow2255 It's almost like different people have different tastes or something 🤔 That being said, I think 80 years of universal praise from people with significantly greater literary bona fides than a graduate student ought to count as a point in favor of him not being overrated.
@@eric3483 I was going to write a long comment but I've dropped the idea since your criterion is simply "universal praise" while I specified literary quality and merit.
@@graybow2255 Actually, my criteria is universal praise from people with significantly more literary merit and a better understanding of literary quality than either you or I have. You're obviously entitled to your opinion-I don't begrudge you that for a second. But don't use your graduate education as something to hold over all the plebians who have taste based on "popularity, the media or the hype" instead of your more distinguished taste based on true merit or whatever you think your opinions are based on.
@@eric3483 I mentioned my education only to support my opinion. I come from a humble background and English isn't my mother tongue. I don't care what people read, neither do I need universal praise to convince me of reading a certain book. I can distinguish between the gold and the dross. I think you missed the point I implied. What's worth reading doesn't depend solely on popularity or reviews. Rubbish of different kinds is flooding the market nowadays, while a lot of gems lie hidden or neglected by the spotlight. You need to look into the ways that make a book, or any product for that matter, popular. Besides, I didn't say the novel isn't good, only that it's rather overrated. Camus' popularity has more to do with winning the Nobel Prize, being a post-WWII French intellectual and dying young from an accident, than with literary merit. The media play an important role in shaping people's ideas and opinions, esp. of the things that they haven't experienced directly.
I’m just finishing up the plague and going to start the stranger soon! The myth of Sisyphus is definitely a harder read but very well written. I recommend you check out Dostoyevsky’s Notes from underground shortbread and very well written.
This book is SO GOOD!! I loved this non-reactive character. I loved how different this book is. I found myself laughing at times and I found my self putting my hand over my mouth in shock before part 2! I loved the idea of it all does not matter and yet somethings do. I loved that life is life and we are sometimes left to chance. Great book! I never read anything like this before! 10/10!!!!
Kamel Daoud, an Algerian writer and journalist, wrote the novel "The Mersault Investigation" (2013), which revolves around the family of the man killed in "The Stranger". The book was translated into English, and I think it would be cool if you reviewed it, as a follow-up. Also, you mentioned the Turkish film adaptation, but Luchino Visconti did one, too. It's from 1967, and it starred Marcello Mastroianni.
I loved this book. Although I love Camus and The Stranger, whose message still rings true to me, I always thought Camus was afflicted with what someone I once spoke with called the "colonialist blind-spot" and I cringe at the fact that he was a hypocritical apologist for French Colonialism despite the fact that he wrote The Stranger under very similar circumstances with the Nazi occupation of France.
First time reading it, and I absolutely loved it! I find it quite beautiful and intriguing the poignant contrast between his apparent indifference or detachment from situations and his strong connection to his physical senses. As you read the story, you start noticing strange reactions and patterns in his behaviors, which ultimately highlight the fact that he’s the stranger to everyone else. It’s truly remarkable how through the lens of absurdism, everything becomes different shades of gray, which explains his peculiar character based on the various conflicts he encounters. Classics like these truly broaden your mind!
Referencing 7:00, while reading the book I had the feeling that Meursault was showing signs of autism, rather than being a psychopath. He gets bothered heavily by physical influences, sunlight, heat, etc. while having trouble to convey his thoughts and feelings to others. I've read a few reviews of people on the autism spectrum and quite a few seem to have found a fitting description of their own feelings and experiences in the book. While you could also argue that Meursaults peculiarities are simply due to the absurdist disconnect from norms I believe both interpretations share a lot of space.
@@lepidoptera9337 I don't know. Autistic people can certainly still be charming, which Mersault is to his girlfriend. But he also has problems interacting with her emotionally in quite the autistic way. Being "empty" in the sense that you don't feel and act like others in society can stem from both interpretations.
@@lepidoptera9337 Meursault was based on a Camus close friend Galindo. Most people on the Asperger spectrum wouldn't have been classified as mentally ill in that time, but rather go unnoticed as a bit unusual. Galindo did show behavior similar to those on the spectrum. (And people on the spectrum definitely don't have to struggle finding sexual partners)
I have 36 books in my online shopping list thanks to this channel.....now 37.... Thanks for making me spend money cliff.... Jokes aside thank you so much for all of the reviews, your content and speaking skills are second to none. Phenomenal.
I randomly picked this book up at school to write a literary analysis and it’s been my favorite since. I hated reading before this book because every book I was assigned in class or saw in stores was boring and superficial. Then I discovered a new world of literature.
Crime and punishment. What a monolith of a book. I really understand what u mean with comparing the two books. I acctually did the same at school, helped to grasp Crime and Punshment more. Really looking forward for your thoughts on it. I love it.
Supposing everything is useless, which is not a fact by any stretch of the imagination. A better solution is finding contentment with your fate and whatever you have and making it meaningful.
That whole bit about whether or not Shakespeare felt like everything had already been done was great. My first video of yours but maybe my favorite style of any book reviewer I've listened to on youtube
It's so soooo cool you really hit the nail in the head with all the comparisons with other ouvres. One example: you mentioned Fellini and Mastroianni's acting. I'm saying this because it's not casual that you can find Luchino Visconti's version of 'The stranger' starring Marcello Mastroianni. This philosophical current of existentialism and absurdism took many different turns and forms in Europe during the 70s Cinema. I really suggest diving into these directors hidden gems to find more and more of this forgotten genre. Great video, I've started following you during 2020 when I was lost and now you've finally got to the book that 'saved' my mental health during that period. Thanks a lot!
Finally! A book I’ve read before your review! You’re right, this book is not for everyone. I was really pushing myself to read the first half, it was hard to identify with the main character, but that’s not really what reading is about. However, when the murder occurred I was spell bound. Camus did a fantastic job leaving the right amounts of information in the first half that we feel the apprehension and impeding doom that the main character isn’t able to. He also read to me as a psychopath; unempathetic in a matter-of-fact way, not a “I wanna warm myself by the fire as the world burns” way. I wanted to shake everybody in the second half of the book and say, “it’s not as bad as you think, it just looks bad”.
My first reference to this book was the series Skins, Tony was talking to some college councilor. Checked it out from my college library, didn't have much impact, but years later, here I am. How I ended up here, I have no clue, and the book has led me to some feeling of peace with it.
nausea did it for me- the stranger i read first and enjoyed but nausea did what the stranger did for you. or it did more- i felt i was the main character of nausea it was a trip
I knew I wasn't the only one who found the stranger and crime and punishment similar in so many ways, and there's definitely some inspiration taken from the latter
When me and my parents were moving to our new house I found an inscription of a quote on the wall of one the rooms, supposedly by one of the family members of the previous owner. He's Iranian, and my dad, who studied religion and Islam as a student, as well as being a photojournalist in the middle east for a good portion of his young adult life, thought it could be a quote from Rumi. However I was finishing reading The Outsider at the time and I eventually came to the passage: "I laid my heart open to the benign indifference of the universe...I'd been happy then and was happy still". Coincidences can be funny sometimes
This was one of my favorite books in high school and I actually got the quote on the thumbnail in a tattoo on my thigh lol. Haven't read it in over a decade though; gonna have to give it another read.
Love your videos. I like the focus on classics, old books in general, and unique books. Very cool. I follow two channels that do more Fantasy, anime, and generally modern entertainment. I love classics and fantasy magic and so on. So this is a nice switch up.
In a way I think there maybe is something useful to take from the character. By not being stuck in his mind anxieties about the past or future (for the most part) he lives in the moment and is, what seems like, satiated. He takes it too far, but that is one lesson I have taken from this book.
Amazing book and thanks for the review. There’s an interesting ‘sequel’ called the Mersault Investigation by Kamel Daoud looking at the story from the perspective of the victim that I’ve been meaning to read.
Like many others in these comments, this was THE book that hooked me on literature as a young adult. I've read it several times since, and I think I am becoming more appreciative of it everyday. More recently, I have begun to appreciate that the 'protagonist' of the novel is arguably the people around Meursault (the Court, the old mourners, his friends etc.) - not really Meursault himself. The plot seems to really be about their response to his 'indifference' (like the indifference of the world explored in The Myth of Sisyphus), i.e., their continual attempts to impose meaning on his otherwise meaningless actions. One of the subtler brilliant devices is the victim of the crime, an otherwise 'meaningless' individual (in colonial French society), who's life is suddenly given meaning because there is no other comfortable explanation for Meursault's actions. It's semi-ironic maybe? The not crying for his mother thing is a close second in my opinion, followed by the Priest's attempt to convert an 'indifferent' being to Christianity (a coherent explanation of existnece) - a brilliant take on religion's place in human affairs I think.
The first time I read The Stranger, I was only 13, and, needless to say, it made a big impression on me. It changed the way I looked at life and literature. I would recommend this novel to young people, although perhaps not as young as I was when I read it. I have re-read it a few times since then and I continue to love it. It is one of my favorite novels. Camus's writing is so clear and to the point, without any stylistic flourishes, that I would even recommend people who have studied French to try and read it in the original language.
Oddly enough I would only recommend this to someone more mature, as if you are too young you may not receive the point in a constructive way. It feels a bit too dangerous for someone too young.
@@American092GPF I disagree. Reading a book like The Stranger, even at 13, could have more meaning than reading something like Steven King or any of the more commercial pablum like that. I read it at 15, but at that age I was also reading Steinbeck and Faulkner and Joyce, among others. (Though I also read some trash like the James Bond novels of the time.)
Now you should read the Meursault investigation by Kamel Daoud. It will give you the second part of the story. The part which no one talks about. The book is told by the brother of the Arab who's been killed.
Your channel has pointed me to so many great books that I otherwise would likely never have found, thanks for that! I'd love to see you review Camus' 'A Happy Death'. It was somewhat of a precursor to The Stranger that I found had a bit more dimension to it, albeit lacking that real directness of The Stranger.
I read this a while ago, you published it a while ago, but YT suggested me to watch this now and I am always up for watching a good review of my favorite book. Agree with everything you said, I feel the same! Even the Buddhism vibe, I was surprised when you mentioned, but I felt the same, I found it so Buddhist :) And the poetic language, I was savoring every word, every sentence, Even in the English translation it is superb, I envy people who can read the original. Great book from all perspectives!
15:35 i think you’re spot on when you compared this to La Jetèe by Chris marker. That is exactly what first came to my mind as I was reading The stranger
The part that made out Mersault to be a spooky, almost non-human thinker to me was when he faked the apology/love letter. This was cruel, required some insight into a person's emotions and thought processes, and was done to help out a dumb and spiteful man that he just decided was his friend because it was the path of least resistance. And he didn't do it for amusement. He just automatically printed those words out on the page while drunk like some kind of chatGPT, again because it was the path of least resistance. A truly wacky level of apathy on display.
Mastroianni played Mersault, opposite Anna Karina, in the film directed by Visconti. Also, I’m surprised you didn’t mention ‘A Happy Death’ - written before ‘The Stranger’ but not published. It’s the same book, but the latter one was edited down.
He's not a psychopath. Morally banal to the world around him. Without an opinion on much. Like many everywhere today You should check out the Mersault Investigation by Kamel Daoud, a retelling of the Stranger from the Arab point of view.
This book is great and was my introduction to existentialist and absurdist philosophy as a teenager. I remember discovering it at the school library under the Penguin’s Everyman classics. I’ve revisited it over the years, and will again. The Plague and Myth of Sisyphus and great books too.
I saw your On The Road video it feels so different from what I usually read. My main genre is science fiction but Jack Kerouac feels like a huge adventurer who does his own thing. I’ll look out for it (Amazon, Barnes and Noble).
I am coming late to the party, and I really have to mention - without spoilers :D, the way he was talking about his mother at the very end of the book. I won't say much, you can review it for yourself, but there was a change in our protagonist, a kind of calm that lifted the pressure he wasn't even fully aware of. The pressure that rendered him not trying, not really leaving since life doesn't have the meaning. Once the pressure or expectation was gone, there was readiness to taste life. I don't think this is always necessary, but when it comes to Camus it would be a good idea to explore his 3 categories of writing, because it will lead you and it will help you - if you're going through nihilistic phase or truly struggle with whole "life doesn't have a meaning" concept, Camus will, with the rebel phase help you to feel that yes life is meaningless but it's really freeing in a way that it gives us power to give it a meaning. It sounds simple and like something from self-help book but please, if you are interested in existentialism, read him, because he doesn't want to pull you down, he prepares people to be aware and choose life. Also, have in mind in what period he is writing about this topics and how big they are, it will make you appreciate him more, not just him also Sartre... Hope this helped someone. :)
Such a great book! Still timely. When I read it last year, I happened to follow it with Convenience Store Woman, and then Earthling by Sayaka Murata and was struck how similar I found their themes to be, despite being written in different centuries and author’s country of origin.
Although I've read it twice, I wouldn't consider it really great (in the sense of great or classic literature). I'm currently reading The Setting Sun by Osamu Dazai.
When you say that Camus was born of French parents, it was only on his father's side. And his father died in 1914 as a soldier. And so Albert was raised by his Spanish mother, which explains, to some extent, why his great love was Spanish born actress Maria Casarès.
Sarte put it best: "The conclusions which he ( Camus ) draws are those of classical pessimism...the ABSURD springs from man's relation to the world, of his legitimate aspirations to the vanity and the futility of humans wishes."
A book that seems to have been a strange anticipation of this novel is The Seven Madmen (Los Siete Locos) by Roberto Arlt from 1929. I am unsure of the translation history of this outsize bizarro Argentinian romp but when I read it years after The Stranger it felt like Camus had cribbed a subplot for the central idea of his own book. Again, unsure if this is possible, but Arlt is excellent and The Seven Madmen a (dare I say) better and zanier approach to all of the questions Camus raises.
Quick Sartre recommendation as someone who couldn't get through Nausea because it was boring and thought Existentialism is a Humanism is very flawed and shouldn't have been published: The Wall. It's a short collection of short stories, and it's awesome. Existential and fun. Just finished reading The Stranger earlier today. And spent the last two times I went to the beach reading it haha. Absolutely loved it. Though, the last chapter (specifically the last few pages) didn't hit as hard as the rest. I felt like the conclusions Mersault came to were a bit rushed/unconvincing. But everyone I know that has read it has said that the ending was their favorite part, so I'm assuming that on a reread it will grow on me further. Honestly, feeling a bit dumb for the ending not resonating with me much... Like I need to analyze more. But either way, this is instantly one of my favorite books. Loved it from the beginning, and I couldn't tell if it just kept getting better, or if it was just consistently great.
The last pages are the best part. I still remember the euphoria of reading them. Maybe you didn't read it in French? It just hits different than any translation I have read (in german it isn't bad, either. But in english it just doesn't sound right).
i’m a sucker for The stranger. I even ordered one in russian and another one the same as yours in english. also, i have read everything (most popular) of what Camus has wrote. i love your videos. it’s like talking with close friend, but none of my friends like books, so it’s like having a close friend, who likes books as much as i do and talking with him. also, i wish you could read Autobiography of red by Anne Carson and we could ‘talk’ about it here, on your channel. It’s one of my fav recently.
Just read Camus' The Stranger and Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody was playing in my head and then I realized that Bohemian Rhapsody is a retelling of The Stranger. Mind blown.
To understand why the sun has been chosen by Camus ,u should experience living in a hot country at summer time, the heat can make u do things ,u wouldn't do in a normal temperature , so the Sun is symbolically represent a “Condition”.
There’s another alternative theory for this character. He is the “first known description of person on the autism spectrum”. I remembered when I started to read the book (me also on the spectrum) and noticing details that he (too) couldn’t avoid: Sounds, smells, noises, the sun, how strange and faraway others are. Of course, all of that might be metaphorical, poetic, etc. But, keeping in mind we’re all different, on my eyes, is pretty close to the experience of someone on the spectrum. Also true…the meaningless of it all. Isn’t that a thing!!
I don't know what research Camus did for the novel, but Meursault is definitely an, "outsider," in all ways. As someone with ADD and Depression, his symptoms rang true to me, though not everything. I wouldn't kill someone because I was disorientated by the sunlight if I was pointing the gun, I would kill them because I hated them enough to want to kill them. But, being depressed, the gun would be pointing at meyself, not them. Mersault seems to be a cath-all of people feeling and experiencing, "outerdom." Imagine if he has a good therapist?
this is the kind of book I liked in high school. I don’t think of it as fondly nowadays, maybe I should reread. I tend to think existentialist novels repurpose the same ideas over and over. they’re not that fresh now
I study camus, more like in a philosophical way, when i was in my teens i thought that that's the way to understand life. Comparing his existentialism to others existentialisms like Sartre's humanism, wich i really think is more impactful and alive than Camus. I will finally read The stranger, i will take as a novel, thanks
The lack of self reflection, or anxiety over one’s actions, is often a form of narcissism. Sometimes bordering on sociopathy, although the two are distinct mental orders
Video Sponsored by Simply Carbon Fiber. Check them out here: www.SimplyCarbonFiber.com/BTF
Use Code “BTF10” for 10% off your order
When you talk about films in that genre, immediately, I'm reminded of Truffaut's THR 400 BLOWS.
summer beach read. kind of fitting
DISCLAIMER: No arabs were harmed in the filming of this video.
The sun was in my eyes
@@SealSore65_ Cue The Cure song "Killing an Arab".
(Peace be upon everyone 💜)
I had to wipe my face, yet again.
This was the book that really got me reading at eighteen years old. This and The Old Man and the Sea, cannot remember which came first. So I read everything by Camus and took a course at university called Camus, where again I really read all of Camus. I've never returned to Camus in the last three decades but I've never left him either.
I am all just eighteen years old, what has reading brought to you?
@@jenesaisvraimentpasquoimet8473 The pleasure of seeing emerge from a human being a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts, while also relishing what at least to me seems to be the inevitability of its parts i.e., details. Order out of Chaos, and the vision that demonstrates that even Chaos is a kind of order.
@@jenesaisvraimentpasquoimet8473 the most important thing that reading will bring you is wisdom.
It's Amazing how we all have different tastes
Personally those two books I rate at the bottom end of books I've read... They are clearly written well and in the intended style, just not what I find enjoyable
@@kurolo7695 reading alone can give you knowledge...
Wisdom however is taking that knowledge learned and applying it in experience
Having all the book smarts/knowledge in the world does not make someone automatically wise.... Many times we do things we KNOW we shouldn't do, yet we do.... We had the knowledge but lacked the wisdom 🤣
Some people for example, me included, are not wise with our time and waste it reading books 😅😅 when there are wiser ways to use the time
I disagree that nothing useful can be taken from the book. The nature of how he approaches life is cathartic to anyone(probably most people) who deals with anxiety and constantly asks themselves what they should be doing, or if they're doing the "right" thing. This book gave me a deep sense of serenity and I will be attempting to emulate some portion of the carefree, live in the moment, it doesn't really matter mindset. In our chaotic modern world, with infinite choices and possibilities, this book has more value than ever.
Guiltily, I had a similar experience when reading it.
I 100% agree with this take. I tried religion and faith to achieve some serenity, but that NEVER came nearly as close as producing the kind of peace of mind this book gave me. I was always constantly worried about the future, what people thought about me, what I should be doing in order to please others. and after reading this book it helped me care so much less, thereby providing me with a much needed sense of peace.
In The Myth of Sisyphus, Camus answers the question in The Stranger - pushing the boulder up hill is the only meaning that matters.
This book popped up in my life in AP English, 11th grade, 2006. I had just gotten back to school from a Bible camp I attended in Louisiana that concluded with me considering the atheist might be on to something. My 17 year old life in a rut, parents fighting, getting in trouble, girlfriend broke up with me, I was lost. Then there was Camus. Camus taught me how to live in the present, honestly, more than the Ram Dass ever could.
My whole perspective of life was changed after that book for better or worse.
Thanks Camus!
I’m gonna re read it for the first time since then, thanks for reviewing it!
Incredible book. Incredible author. Biggest mistake for me was reading his work in my late teens before reading any optimistic based philosophical works so it was so powerful when I closed the last page I felt quite hollow. But this is a testament to his subtle, minimalist yet impactful writing style. So much more palatable french post modernist writers of the time.
Completely agree with you about it not telling the reader what they SHOULD or SHOULD NOT do, and in a way, there’s optimism in that in knowing that he knows it’s up to us and us alone to decide.
and it’s a style I’m still in love with.
Another author who died too soon and robbed us of more rich works.
Dude I appreciate your reviews so much. They not only provide a meaning even simpler and easier to want to understand than most who recommend the novels on your channel, but they make me WANT to read these great works. It’s why I recommend you to everyone who is getting into reading (for the first time or again).
Thanks again, for always giving great recommendations. Keep it up. This is important shit
What a coincidence! Or not? I just started reading this book today an hour ago. Somehow very appropriate reading for the summer. Thanks for the review!! (As always)
I just finished it yesterday! :)
He said it
When I tell people I subscribe to absurdism, they give me a confused look. Most of the time, they haven't heard of the concept. But then I'll reference media like Rick and Morty, Everything Everywhere All At Once, or even John Williams' Stoner (whose name, by the way, evokes Sisyphus' eternal task), and people begin to realize that this idea is already a popular one in our society, hiding in plain sight. As soon as I describe it to them in terms of Sisyphus smiling, they seem to have a light go off and they will tell me that they believe similar things, they just didn't have the vocabulary to express it. Camus wrote a book that propelled this philosophy, and I think it will come to define the existential state of the American psyche for decades to come. Truly a remarkable book.
I was able to appreciate this book for popularizing existentialism, but man I really did love everything everywhere all at once so much. Though I wonder if a person who has never been exposed to the ideas of absurdism or existentialism would be able to make much sense of that movie.
i recently read stoner, such a life bringing book
The Stranger is great, but The Plague and The Fall are even better. The Myth of Sisyphus is good, and so is The Rebel. I recommend Camus for every one.
The Myth of Sisyphus transcends the rest of his work, Caligula is the best to my taste, I agree about the Plague being better. I hadn’t heard of the Fall, thank you for that
I have only read the fall and the stranger, thanks for the recommendations
@@grixtraselespejo136The Fall is absolutely worth it. It is certainly the most interesting in the way it is set up, you'll understand what I mean by that when you read it. Though that can make it a little less easygoing of a read through, you get used to it, and to me it was even the most touching out of all of his novels
Also there is a book which is a collection of six short stories of him which is also great. If you guys haven't read it give it a try.
I read The Stranger twice: once as a teenager (I was that kid) and then at 29. The difference was striking: as a teen I found the book terrifying and at 29 I found it very freeing. Considering re-reading it now, at 34, to see what I'm going to feel.
I've also read it twice. With anything I read twice (with a span of some years), my response was always different. I'm a literature graduate and having read his The Plague as well, I think he's rather overrated but not as overrated as Kafka. A lof of people's opinions of literature are colored today by popularity, the media or the hype, without having a proper understanding and appreciation of literary quality and merit.
@@graybow2255 It's almost like different people have different tastes or something 🤔 That being said, I think 80 years of universal praise from people with significantly greater literary bona fides than a graduate student ought to count as a point in favor of him not being overrated.
@@eric3483 I was going to write a long comment but I've dropped the idea since your criterion is simply "universal praise" while I specified literary quality and merit.
@@graybow2255 Actually, my criteria is universal praise from people with significantly more literary merit and a better understanding of literary quality than either you or I have.
You're obviously entitled to your opinion-I don't begrudge you that for a second. But don't use your graduate education as something to hold over all the plebians who have taste based on "popularity, the media or the hype" instead of your more distinguished taste based on true merit or whatever you think your opinions are based on.
@@eric3483 I mentioned my education only to support my opinion. I come from a humble background and English isn't my mother tongue. I don't care what people read, neither do I need universal praise to convince me of reading a certain book. I can distinguish between the gold and the dross. I think you missed the point I implied. What's worth reading doesn't depend solely on popularity or reviews. Rubbish of different kinds is flooding the market nowadays, while a lot of gems lie hidden or neglected by the spotlight. You need to look into the ways that make a book, or any product for that matter, popular. Besides, I didn't say the novel isn't good, only that it's rather overrated. Camus' popularity has more to do with winning the Nobel Prize, being a post-WWII French intellectual and dying young from an accident, than with literary merit. The media play an important role in shaping people's ideas and opinions, esp. of the things that they haven't experienced directly.
I’m just finishing up the plague and going to start the stranger soon! The myth of Sisyphus is definitely a harder read but very well written. I recommend you check out Dostoyevsky’s Notes from underground shortbread and very well written.
Notes from underground is great. Especially the second part!
Cliff has read Notes from Underground already. His review is phenomenal
Momma’s little baby loves shortening, shortening. Momma's little baby loves shortening bread.
Camus to Dostoyevsky?
@@adasilva7784 Yep.
This book is SO GOOD!! I loved this non-reactive character. I loved how different this book is. I found myself laughing at times and I found my self putting my hand over my mouth in shock before part 2! I loved the idea of it all does not matter and yet somethings do. I loved that life is life and we are sometimes left to chance. Great book! I never read anything like this before! 10/10!!!!
Kamel Daoud, an Algerian writer and journalist, wrote the novel "The Mersault Investigation" (2013), which revolves around the family of the man killed in "The Stranger".
The book was translated into English, and I think it would be cool if you reviewed it, as a follow-up.
Also, you mentioned the Turkish film adaptation, but Luchino Visconti did one, too. It's from 1967, and it starred Marcello Mastroianni.
Daoud's book too is very good.
I loved this book. Although I love Camus and The Stranger, whose message still rings true to me, I always thought Camus was afflicted with what someone I once spoke with called the "colonialist blind-spot" and I cringe at the fact that he was a hypocritical apologist for French Colonialism despite the fact that he wrote The Stranger under very similar circumstances with the Nazi occupation of France.
First time reading it, and I absolutely loved it! I find it quite beautiful and intriguing the poignant contrast between his apparent indifference or detachment from situations and his strong connection to his physical senses. As you read the story, you start noticing strange reactions and patterns in his behaviors, which ultimately highlight the fact that he’s the stranger to everyone else. It’s truly remarkable how through the lens of absurdism, everything becomes different shades of gray, which explains his peculiar character based on the various conflicts he encounters. Classics like these truly broaden your mind!
This book will always hold a special place in my heart because it’s the first book I read all the way through in French!
I've been considering a re-read of this (after 20+ years). This must be my cue.
Did you do it
Referencing 7:00, while reading the book I had the feeling that Meursault was showing signs of autism, rather than being a psychopath. He gets bothered heavily by physical influences, sunlight, heat, etc. while having trouble to convey his thoughts and feelings to others. I've read a few reviews of people on the autism spectrum and quite a few seem to have found a fitting description of their own feelings and experiences in the book. While you could also argue that Meursaults peculiarities are simply due to the absurdist disconnect from norms I believe both interpretations share a lot of space.
@@lepidoptera9337 I don't know. Autistic people can certainly still be charming, which Mersault is to his girlfriend. But he also has problems interacting with her emotionally in quite the autistic way. Being "empty" in the sense that you don't feel and act like others in society can stem from both interpretations.
@@lepidoptera9337 Meursault was based on a Camus close friend Galindo. Most people on the Asperger spectrum wouldn't have been classified as mentally ill in that time, but rather go unnoticed as a bit unusual. Galindo did show behavior similar to those on the spectrum. (And people on the spectrum definitely don't have to struggle finding sexual partners)
I have 36 books in my online shopping list thanks to this channel.....now 37.... Thanks for making me spend money cliff.... Jokes aside thank you so much for all of the reviews, your content and speaking skills are second to none. Phenomenal.
Go for used books if you can. It’s the same text for a fraction of the price ;)
@@gravymuztache8108 oh absolutely, I'm just running out of space in my house to hahaha
I randomly picked this book up at school to write a literary analysis and it’s been my favorite since. I hated reading before this book because every book I was assigned in class or saw in stores was boring and superficial. Then I discovered a new world of literature.
What other books do you recommend like this one?
Crime and punishment. What a monolith of a book. I really understand what u mean with comparing the two books. I acctually did the same at school, helped to grasp Crime and Punshment more. Really looking forward for your thoughts on it. I love it.
I'm glad that you finally reviewed this book, which is one of my favorites. Excellent review. I also found common philosophy between Camus and Rilke.
There is something extremely useful about accepting the uselessness of everything. With that reminder you can find calm.
I found this comment useful. Thanks.
Supposing everything is useless, which is not a fact by any stretch of the imagination. A better solution is finding contentment with your fate and whatever you have and making it meaningful.
That whole bit about whether or not Shakespeare felt like everything had already been done was great. My first video of yours but maybe my favorite style of any book reviewer I've listened to on youtube
I read The Fall after you reviewed it years ago. Love that you posted this.
It's so soooo cool you really hit the nail in the head with all the comparisons with other ouvres. One example: you mentioned Fellini and Mastroianni's acting. I'm saying this because it's not casual that you can find Luchino Visconti's version of 'The stranger' starring Marcello Mastroianni. This philosophical current of existentialism and absurdism took many different turns and forms in Europe during the 70s Cinema. I really suggest diving into these directors hidden gems to find more and more of this forgotten genre. Great video, I've started following you during 2020 when I was lost and now you've finally got to the book that 'saved' my mental health during that period. Thanks a lot!
Finally! A book I’ve read before your review!
You’re right, this book is not for everyone. I was really pushing myself to read the first half, it was hard to identify with the main character, but that’s not really what reading is about. However, when the murder occurred I was spell bound. Camus did a fantastic job leaving the right amounts of information in the first half that we feel the apprehension and impeding doom that the main character isn’t able to. He also read to me as a psychopath; unempathetic in a matter-of-fact way, not a “I wanna warm myself by the fire as the world burns” way.
I wanted to shake everybody in the second half of the book and say, “it’s not as bad as you think, it just looks bad”.
Loved the review, also loving the back to back uploads
The subtle "summer beach read" delivery in the intro of the video-👍.
My first reference to this book was the series Skins, Tony was talking to some college councilor. Checked it out from my college library, didn't have much impact, but years later, here I am. How I ended up here, I have no clue, and the book has led me to some feeling of peace with it.
I had just bought a copy when you uploaded this. Guess it's finally time to read it.
This was the first of his I read , aged 16 after listening to The Cure’s “Killing an Arab” which is based on it.
nausea did it for me- the stranger i read first and enjoyed but nausea did what the stranger did for you. or it did more- i felt i was the main character of nausea it was a trip
Jean-Paul Sartré is a whole different kettle of fish
I knew I wasn't the only one who found the stranger and crime and punishment similar in so many ways, and there's definitely some inspiration taken from the latter
its such a great perspective of looking at it by relating it to Dostoevsky's crime and punishmeny😍 you have made me think about it all over again
Ive seen this book come up a bunch of times on my current travels...maybe I should get it...thanks for the review
When me and my parents were moving to our new house I found an inscription of a quote on the wall of one the rooms, supposedly by one of the family members of the previous owner. He's Iranian, and my dad, who studied religion and Islam as a student, as well as being a photojournalist in the middle east for a good portion of his young adult life, thought it could be a quote from Rumi. However I was finishing reading The Outsider at the time and I eventually came to the passage: "I laid my heart open to the benign indifference of the universe...I'd been happy then and was happy still".
Coincidences can be funny sometimes
My favorite book review about this book. I love this book and it is almost impossible to tell others what it is about. Frigging fantastic job.
I read this in honors english class my senior year in HS. Loved it. Just loved it.
This was one of my favorite books in high school and I actually got the quote on the thumbnail in a tattoo on my thigh lol. Haven't read it in over a decade though; gonna have to give it another read.
Love your videos. I like the focus on classics, old books in general, and unique books. Very cool. I follow two channels that do more Fantasy, anime, and generally modern entertainment. I love classics and fantasy magic and so on. So this is a nice switch up.
Camus acknowledged 'The Postman Always Rings Twice' by James M. Cain as the model for 'The Stranger'.
good to see you getting some sun. and yes, camus is classic.
In a way I think there maybe is something useful to take from the character.
By not being stuck in his mind anxieties about the past or future (for the most part) he lives in the moment and is, what seems like, satiated.
He takes it too far, but that is one lesson I have taken from this book.
Amazing book and thanks for the review. There’s an interesting ‘sequel’ called the Mersault Investigation by Kamel Daoud looking at the story from the perspective of the victim that I’ve been meaning to read.
Like many others in these comments, this was THE book that hooked me on literature as a young adult. I've read it several times since, and I think I am becoming more appreciative of it everyday. More recently, I have begun to appreciate that the 'protagonist' of the novel is arguably the people around Meursault (the Court, the old mourners, his friends etc.) - not really Meursault himself. The plot seems to really be about their response to his 'indifference' (like the indifference of the world explored in The Myth of Sisyphus), i.e., their continual attempts to impose meaning on his otherwise meaningless actions. One of the subtler brilliant devices is the victim of the crime, an otherwise 'meaningless' individual (in colonial French society), who's life is suddenly given meaning because there is no other comfortable explanation for Meursault's actions. It's semi-ironic maybe? The not crying for his mother thing is a close second in my opinion, followed by the Priest's attempt to convert an 'indifferent' being to Christianity (a coherent explanation of existnece) - a brilliant take on religion's place in human affairs I think.
The first time I read The Stranger, I was only 13, and, needless to say, it made a big impression on me. It changed the way I looked at life and literature. I would recommend this novel to young people, although perhaps not as young as I was when I read it. I have re-read it a few times since then and I continue to love it. It is one of my favorite novels. Camus's writing is so clear and to the point, without any stylistic flourishes, that I would even recommend people who have studied French to try and read it in the original language.
Oddly enough I would only recommend this to someone more mature, as if you are too young you may not receive the point in a constructive way. It feels a bit too dangerous for someone too young.
@@American092GPF I disagree. Reading a book like The Stranger, even at 13, could have more meaning than reading something like Steven King or any of the more commercial pablum like that.
I read it at 15, but at that age I was also reading Steinbeck and Faulkner and Joyce, among others. (Though I also read some trash like the James Bond novels of the time.)
LOVE the editing on this one. Get that coffee!
Best review on The Stranger on youtube! :)
Now you should read the Meursault investigation by Kamel Daoud. It will give you the second part of the story. The part which no one talks about. The book is told by the brother of the Arab who's been killed.
Your channel has pointed me to so many great books that I otherwise would likely never have found, thanks for that!
I'd love to see you review Camus' 'A Happy Death'. It was somewhat of a precursor to The Stranger that I found had a bit more dimension to it, albeit lacking that real directness of The Stranger.
Would love to see a review of W.G. Sebald!
I always feel like this book should be read in the scorching sun.
this book sounds like a suspended chord. not happy, not sad, just an open, vast feeling of "mmm"
ja feel?
That’s an apt analogy. Well said.
@@estebanb7166 ty
I read this a while ago, you published it a while ago, but YT suggested me to watch this now and I am always up for watching a good review of my favorite book. Agree with everything you said, I feel the same! Even the Buddhism vibe, I was surprised when you mentioned, but I felt the same, I found it so Buddhist :) And the poetic language, I was savoring every word, every sentence, Even in the English translation it is superb, I envy people who can read the original. Great book from all perspectives!
15:35 i think you’re spot on when you compared this to La Jetèe by Chris marker. That is exactly what first came to my mind as I was reading The stranger
The Dostoevsky connection as well.
It was the only book to leave me completely speechless, and I am never speechless.
The part that made out Mersault to be a spooky, almost non-human thinker to me was when he faked the apology/love letter. This was cruel, required some insight into a person's emotions and thought processes, and was done to help out a dumb and spiteful man that he just decided was his friend because it was the path of least resistance. And he didn't do it for amusement. He just automatically printed those words out on the page while drunk like some kind of chatGPT, again because it was the path of least resistance. A truly wacky level of apathy on display.
Finally, been waiting for this one for a long time.
Mastroianni played Mersault, opposite Anna Karina, in the film directed by Visconti. Also, I’m surprised you didn’t mention ‘A Happy Death’ - written before ‘The Stranger’ but not published. It’s the same book, but the latter one was edited down.
it is my favorite book. thanks for sharing your thoughts.
He's not a psychopath. Morally banal to the world around him. Without an opinion on much. Like many everywhere today You should check out the Mersault Investigation by Kamel Daoud, a retelling of the Stranger from the Arab point of view.
This book is great and was my introduction to existentialist and absurdist philosophy as a teenager. I remember discovering it at the school library under the Penguin’s Everyman classics. I’ve revisited it over the years, and will again. The Plague and Myth of Sisyphus and great books too.
0:20 the feeling you get when you understand the meaning of this sun view 🥸
Appreciate your thoughtful reflections on this work. Been wanting to pick this book up for a while.
One of may fav books.. Read it twice... And I will read it over and over again. Because everytime I read it,is as if it was different book.
I saw your On The Road video it feels so different from what I usually read. My main genre is science fiction but Jack Kerouac feels like a huge adventurer who does his own thing. I’ll look out for it (Amazon, Barnes and Noble).
The audiobook read by Ethan Hawke is fantastic. I’d also recommend Dharma Bums and Big Sur.
I read The Stranger so long ago. I'm surprised by how much I don't remember. But your review made me want to revisit his work. Thanks!
I am coming late to the party, and I really have to mention - without spoilers :D, the way he was talking about his mother at the very end of the book.
I won't say much, you can review it for yourself, but there was a change in our protagonist, a kind of calm that lifted the pressure he wasn't even fully aware of. The pressure that rendered him not trying, not really leaving since life doesn't have the meaning. Once the pressure or expectation was gone, there was readiness to taste life.
I don't think this is always necessary, but when it comes to Camus it would be a good idea to explore his 3 categories of writing, because it will lead you and it will help you - if you're going through nihilistic phase or truly struggle with whole "life doesn't have a meaning" concept, Camus will, with the rebel phase help you to feel that yes life is meaningless but it's really freeing in a way that it gives us power to give it a meaning.
It sounds simple and like something from self-help book but please, if you are interested in existentialism, read him, because he doesn't want to pull you down, he prepares people to be aware and choose life. Also, have in mind in what period he is writing about this topics and how big they are, it will make you appreciate him more, not just him also Sartre...
Hope this helped someone. :)
Such a great book! Still timely. When I read it last year, I happened to follow it with Convenience Store Woman, and then Earthling by Sayaka Murata and was struck how similar I found their themes to be, despite being written in different centuries and author’s country of origin.
Although I've read it twice, I wouldn't consider it really great (in the sense of great or classic literature). I'm currently reading The Setting Sun by Osamu Dazai.
I read those two books after one another by chance…. So similar
Great post, review, and commentary.
Amazing video Cliff. Love this
When you say that Camus was born of French parents, it was only on his father's side. And his father died in 1914 as a soldier. And so Albert was raised by his Spanish mother, which explains, to some extent, why his great love was Spanish born actress Maria Casarès.
Sarte put it best:
"The conclusions which he ( Camus ) draws are those of classical pessimism...the ABSURD springs from man's relation to the world, of his legitimate aspirations to the vanity and the futility of humans wishes."
A book that seems to have been a strange anticipation of this novel is The Seven Madmen (Los Siete Locos) by Roberto Arlt from 1929. I am unsure of the translation history of this outsize bizarro Argentinian romp but when I read it years after The Stranger it felt like Camus had cribbed a subplot for the central idea of his own book. Again, unsure if this is possible, but Arlt is excellent and The Seven Madmen a (dare I say) better and zanier approach to all of the questions Camus raises.
Possibly the most appropriate sponsor ever
One of those books that I didn't want to end.
Quote by Albert Camus to help you understand Meursault: “The absurd is lucid reason noting its limits.”
Quick Sartre recommendation as someone who couldn't get through Nausea because it was boring and thought Existentialism is a Humanism is very flawed and shouldn't have been published: The Wall. It's a short collection of short stories, and it's awesome. Existential and fun.
Just finished reading The Stranger earlier today. And spent the last two times I went to the beach reading it haha. Absolutely loved it. Though, the last chapter (specifically the last few pages) didn't hit as hard as the rest. I felt like the conclusions Mersault came to were a bit rushed/unconvincing. But everyone I know that has read it has said that the ending was their favorite part, so I'm assuming that on a reread it will grow on me further. Honestly, feeling a bit dumb for the ending not resonating with me much... Like I need to analyze more. But either way, this is instantly one of my favorite books. Loved it from the beginning, and I couldn't tell if it just kept getting better, or if it was just consistently great.
The last pages are the best part. I still remember the euphoria of reading them. Maybe you didn't read it in French? It just hits different than any translation I have read (in german it isn't bad, either. But in english it just doesn't sound right).
I read it for my English class and I quite like it
If it wasn’t for The Cure’s Killing An Arab i would have never read this book but I’m glad I did.
BRILLIANT. Thank you
You elaborated so well. Thank you!
Please do a review for Crime and Punishment. I’d love to hear your thoughts!
i’m a sucker for The stranger. I even ordered one in russian and another one the same as yours in english. also, i have read everything (most popular) of what Camus has wrote. i love your videos. it’s like talking with close friend, but none of my friends like books, so it’s like having a close friend, who likes books as much as i do and talking with him.
also, i wish you could read Autobiography of red by Anne Carson and we could ‘talk’ about it here, on your channel. It’s one of my fav recently.
What a wonderful review of a great book.
Just read Camus' The Stranger and Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody was playing in my head and then I realized that Bohemian Rhapsody is a retelling of The Stranger. Mind blown.
To understand why the sun has been chosen by Camus ,u should experience living in a hot country at summer time, the heat can make u do things ,u wouldn't do in a normal temperature , so the Sun is symbolically represent a “Condition”.
I read this in french (my 2nd language) and Im so glad that I interpreted the novel similarly, glad I didnt miss anything
In the big surprise of the day, when Cliff shot the opening was that it was Arab days at the beach and the same day as the Great Shiny Gun Give Away
There’s another alternative theory for this character. He is the “first known description of person on the autism spectrum”. I remembered when I started to read the book (me also on the spectrum) and noticing details that he (too) couldn’t avoid: Sounds, smells, noises, the sun, how strange and faraway others are. Of course, all of that might be metaphorical, poetic, etc. But, keeping in mind we’re all different, on my eyes, is pretty close to the experience of someone on the spectrum.
Also true…the meaningless of it all. Isn’t that a thing!!
I don't know what research Camus did for the novel, but Meursault is definitely an, "outsider," in all ways. As someone with ADD and Depression, his symptoms rang true to me, though not everything. I wouldn't kill someone because I was disorientated by the sunlight if I was pointing the gun, I would kill them because I hated them enough to want to kill them. But, being depressed, the gun would be pointing at meyself, not them. Mersault seems to be a cath-all of people feeling and experiencing, "outerdom." Imagine if he has a good therapist?
good job mate
this is the kind of book I liked in high school. I don’t think of it as fondly nowadays, maybe I should reread. I tend to think existentialist novels repurpose the same ideas over and over. they’re not that fresh now
He wrote A Happy Death before this one and it felt like a first draft of The Stranger
Great, good, fine review, really enjoyed it. Thanks
I study camus, more like in a philosophical way, when i was in my teens i thought that that's the way to understand life. Comparing his existentialism to others existentialisms like Sartre's humanism, wich i really think is more impactful and alive than Camus. I will finally read The stranger, i will take as a novel, thanks
I absolutely adore this book
Give The Collector by John Fowles a shot, I think you'd like it!
I just finished The Stranger. I have a hankering to reread W Somerset Maugham’s The Razor’s Edge and compare Larry and Meursault.
The lack of self reflection, or anxiety over one’s actions, is often a form of narcissism. Sometimes bordering on sociopathy, although the two are distinct mental orders