Novel
The Outsider
L'Étranger
Albert Camus · 1942
Synopsis
Meursault, who lives in Algiers, learns of the death of his mother, an inmate of an old people's home in Marengo, and attends the funeral without showing any grief. In the following days, he takes up with Marie again and helps his neighbour Raymond, who wants to take revenge on his Arab mistress. On a beach, he kills her brother. The second part follows his imprisonment and his trial, where his refusal to play the game of social convention weighs against him.
Context
The novel appeared from Gallimard in 1942, under the Occupation, with a first printing of 4,400 copies. It is divided into two parts, before and after the murder, and the narrator speaks in the first person. English translations have titled it sometimes The Stranger, sometimes The Outsider: Sandra Smith, who chose the latter title in 2012, explains that Meursault is at once a stranger to himself, on the margins of society, and a Frenchman in Algeria.
Who it is for
A short novel in two parts, in a plain, dry language, without heavy psychology, which can be read in one sitting.
Prizes and reception
Translated into English as early as 1946; the latest translation, published by Penguin, dates from 2012.
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