2025 Reading Challenge discussion

This thread is to discuss The Stranger by Albert Camus.

Pages: 123 pages

Length: 1 month (January)

Participants: SarahKat, Lorraine, Beth

Everyone reads at their own pace during a Buddy Read. Because participants can be at different parts of the book at different times, it is extremely important to mark spoilers so that the book is not ruined for someone who is not as far along as others!!!

Mark spoilers by placing {spoiler} before the text and {/spoiler} after the text but use the < and > instead of the { and }.

Here are some questions to help get the conversation started! Feel free to look up discussion questions specific to this book or come up with your own. Just make sure any questions that contain spoilers are under spoiler tags.
Discussion questions are not required but may be a fun way to talk about the book and get to know each other!

Prior to starting:
What prompted you to join this buddy read?
Have you read this author before? What do you think of their other books?

Mid-read:
What character or ideas do you relate to the most and why?
Do you have any favorite quotes or scenes?

After reading:
What was enjoyable or not-so-enjoyable about this book?
Did this book change your perception about anything, either within the book (character development) or in real life?

I actually read this book for a game.

I am digging into this one today!

Prior to starting
What prompted you to join this buddy read?
I feel like this is one of those books that someone should read at some point in their life, and I've not read it. I know the Buddy Reads are great incentive for me to read books I might not otherwise pick up.

Have you read this author before? What do you think of their other books?
This is my first Camus.

I'll try to get this from the library tomorrow!

The thing that prompted me to read this is the Shelf Awareness challenge. I'm trying to read a couple of books in each geographical area for that, while also reading books set in countries I haven't crossed off my personal countries of the world challenge.

My first Camus as well.

I'll be starting today and hope to finish it today or tomorrow.

Prior to starting:
What prompted you to join this buddy read?
Have you read this author before? What do you think of their other books?

I’m not entirely sure if this is my first or second time reading The Stranger by Camus. I remember having to read one of his books in my literature class when I was 14, but it might have been The Plague. What I do know for certain is that I never read anything else by him afterward. Back then, I felt like literature wasn’t for me—as if I wasn’t bright enough to truly understand it.

Fortunately, now that I’m older (and maybe wiser—though that’s debatable, haha), I realize I can appreciate literature. I’ve always wanted to give Camus another try, so when SarahKat suggested The Stranger, I jumped at the chance!

Mid-read
What character or ideas do you relate to the most and why?
I don't really relate to much in this novella. Meursault's detachment from life is hard for me to identify with. Of all the characters, perhaps Marie is who I can understand the most; she seems to love Meursault despite his seeming indifference to her. So either she truly loves him in spite of his distant character, or she is hungry for love, no matter how incomplete it feels to her.

Do you have any favorite quotes or scenes?
Nothing has particularly stood out.

After reading
What was enjoyable or not-so-enjoyable about this book?
Meursault's philosophy that nothing matters - what difference does it matter if you die at 30 or 70? - was very not enjoyable to me. I love life, and I love lots of things about life, so Camus's outlook is hard if not impossible for me to understand. I guess more to the point, I find it incredibly sad.

Did this book change your perception about anything, either within the book (character development) or in real life?
For me, it highlighted how different my worldview is.

Overall, the story was interesting. I didn't hate reading it, but I really didn't relate to the overall philosophy or the characters (with the possible exception of Marie). I enjoyed it from the perspective of my desire to be exposed to different literature and different ways of thinking. I can also appreciate the writing talent that was evident. The story was straightforward and told well.

Did you know that the 2024 Goncourt winner, Kamel Daoud, wrote a book in 2013 that serves as a kind of response to Camus' The Stranger? It's called The Meursault Investigation. I’ve included the Goodreads description in case it interests you: The Meursault Investigation on Goodreads.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

Funny you should mention that, Lorraine! I was reading the Wikipedia article about The Stranger and saw that note near the bottom of the article.

What do you and Sarah think... interested in giving it a go?

I am interested!

I'll have to read this one first and see if I'm interested. Sounds intriguing though!

Great! I will post it in the Buddy Reads suggestion thread.

Finished! I'm not going to add my name to the Mersault buddy read just because I have quite a list for February already. If I have time at the end of the month I might pick it up and jump in. I would like to read it eventually.

I agree with Beth that Marie was very relatable. I have a pretty closed-off husband (though not THIS bad), so I definitely felt for her trying and trying to get him to say or do something to show he cared for her.

(view spoiler)[
Mersault seemed like he probably has some psychopathy or sociopathy. He doesn't feel remorse for anything? At first I felt bad that they were focusing on his reaction after his mother's funeral (how dare he go swimming?!) because we all handle grief differently, but his inner thoughts aligned closer to the prosecutor's idea of him. (hide spoiler)]

Oops! Yet another book I forgot to share my thoughts on after finishing—apologies for that. I really enjoyed this one, mainly because of the way it’s written. I’ve come to believe that Camus is best read as an adult, not as a teenager, which I was the first time I encountered his work. That said, I’m not entirely sure this was the same book I read back then, so it helped me stay engaged with the story this time around.

(view spoiler)[ I’m still pondering what Camus intended to convey through Meursault. Was it a commentary on the indifference people felt toward the Algerian War? An exploration of racism? Or perhaps a depiction of someone experiencing depression? I’m not sure, but one thing is certain—this won’t be my last Camus. (hide spoiler)]

I’m looking forward to reading The Meursault Investigation, hoping it will answer some of my questions.