The Outsider, by Albert Camus
Book Review - The Outsider By Albert Camus
“In our society any man who does no cry at his mother’s funeral is liable to be condemned to death.”
Certainly not a book for people who need action and thrills in their literature, The Outsider is more of a statement about human nature and society than it is a story about the admittedly very interesting character of Meursault. Indeed, taken on plot-value alone, there isn’t much of a tale to be told; after Meursault’s mother dies and he attends the funeral, he falls in with less than savoury company and ends up killing a man. When tried for murder, what really enrages the court is Meursault’s lack of emotion, which lands him with the death sentence. Even for 116 small pages (Penguin Modern Classics version), that’s not a lot of plot. What the book is filled to the brim with, however, is depth.
Ironically, Meursault’s problem is his honesty; when he feels no sadness at his mother’s death, he refuses to lie just to satisfy everybody’s expectations. In fact, this lack of emotion is just the tip of the iceberg; Meursault is devoid of feeling, motivation or even judgement as we know it. He lives his life in a series of rational steps, never engaging with society or its conventions because he refuses to lie about who he is or what he feels. When it comes to his trial for murder, Meursault discovers the court is less concerned with the fact he has killed a man than it is with the fact he refuses to pretend to feel remorse!
Although not long, The Outsider is even more gripping than you might expect from a short book. Although the subject matter is classic of the archetypal French existentialist, Camus’ writing style makes the experience of reading The Outsider riverting from start to end – even managing to maintain a sense of pace when Meursault does nothing more than look out the window all day. As a summary, allow me to share one of my favourite excerpts with you:
“[Marie] wanted to know if I loved her. I replied as I had done once already, that it didn’t mean anything but that I probably didn’t. “Why marry me then?” she said. I explained to her that it really didn’t matter and that if she wanted to, we could get married.”
