The Stranger | Reading Length (2024)

FAQs

How long would it take to read The Stranger? ›

The average reader will spend 1 hour and 57 minutes reading this book at 250 WPM (words per minute).

It was only 123 pages, so it would hardly take about 5 hours to read it, so I read it in just a couple of days. When I started reading, it was very easy to read, very simple and written well as I could visualise all the things happening vividly. It is kind of so simple as to feel boring.

The Stranger is centred around the character of Meursault, a man who seems apathetic to all that goes on around him. This is made clear from the infamous opening lines of the book: “Aujourd'hui Maman est morte. Ou peut-être hier, je ne sais pas” / “Mother died today.

If something is going to happen to me, I want to be there. It was as if that great rush of anger had washed me clean, emptied me of hope, and, gazing up at the dark sky spangled with its signs and stars, for the first time, the first, I laid my heart open to the benign indifference of the universe.

The novel is famous for its first lines: “Mother died today. Or maybe it was yesterday, I don't know.” They capture Meursault's anomie briefly and brilliantly.

It was then found that Camus had based Meursault on his close friend Galindo, and a search was therefore made for evidence of Galindo's character; this revealed him to be an intelligent but odd person, who exhibited the characteristic impairment of social and personal behavior of Asperger's syndrome.

The source was found, and it turned out to be Camus's observation and description of his close friend Galindo, and evidence of his behavior turned out to be that of Asperger's syndrome.

The Stranger is an emblematic example of absurdist literature. In it, Camus masterfully illustrates his philosophy on the absurdity of human life, where events occur without apparent logic, and the meaning of life is questioned.

Albert Camus' The Stranger is a masterpiece in two parts. In the first, our antihero Meursault paints himself on the pages in economical and indifferent tones. We see that it is a portrayal of detachment. In the second part come the questions, the doubts and the screams.

Is The Stranger a short book? ›

Albert Camus's The Stranger may be a short novel, but it definitely packs a punch.

Meursault's lack of love and affection towards Marie, and his refusal to understand her emotions, further categorized him in the class of a sociopath, not an existentialist.

Camus argues that life has no purpose and that death is the only certainty in life and, because eventually all humans will have to face it, all lives are equally meaningless. After accepting this fact, Meursault understands that it does not matter whether he is executed now or dies of a natural death 20 years later.

The last line -- "I had only to wish that there be a large crowd of spectators the day of my execution and that they greet me with cries of hate" (123) -- underscores the freedom Meursault found in death. By suffering final judgment from the world, he realizes that he is no longer bound to conform to their standards.

L'étranger could be translated as the stranger, the foreigner or the outsider. Absurdism and existentialism are philosophies that feature heavily in this book. A critically acclaimed book which was the first novel for Camus, yet it also drew some criticism.

The average reader will spend 8 hours and 48 minutes reading this book at 250 WPM (words per minute).

Reading Albert Camus' The Stranger is an experience that transcends mere literary enjoyment, offering profound lessons on the human condition. The protagonist, Meursault, with his indifference and detachment, highlights the value of authenticity and living on one's own terms.

The most interesting and difficult read is “The Mysterious Stranger,” one I read and found equally difficult as a teenager. Twain worked on several versions from 1897 to 1908, and did not finish any of them. The published book was cobbled together after his death from two versions.