“I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world. To feel it so like myself, at last, I had been happy and I was happy again.”
— Albert Camus
Why It's Lindy
The defining novel of existentialism and the absurd. Camus wrote it at 28 and it went on to sell millions of copies and win him the Nobel Prize. It is the most reread book in French literature for a reason: the question it poses — why pretend? — never goes away.
About This Volume
Meursault, an emotionally detached Frenchman in Algeria, kills a man on a sun-drenched beach and faces trial — not for the murder, but for his refusal to perform the grief and remorse that society demands.
Frequently Asked
Why should I read The Stranger?
The defining novel of existentialism and the absurd. Camus wrote it at 28 and it went on to sell millions of copies and win him the Nobel Prize. It is the most reread book in French literature for a reason: the question it poses — why pretend? — never goes away.
What is The Stranger about?
Meursault, an emotionally detached Frenchman in Algeria, kills a man on a sun-drenched beach and faces trial — not for the murder, but for his refusal to perform the grief and remorse that society demands.
