One of the great books of the last century that can be profitably read over and over.

The plot and players are well known. I make no pretence of adding to the knowledge of the Camus catalogue but make three observations based on reading it again for the tenth or twentieth time: The book is simply a masterpiece. Though small and spare it can be read and reread and reread again. From the very first lines Camus carries the reader on a bed of nails: y mother died today. Or maybe yesterday! I don"t know.# There"s $ust no way to get comfortable. It"s hot. It"s sweaty. The neighbor is kicking his dog again. There is a pervading sense! not of doom! but of underlying confusion! as if eursault has missed something that everyone else sees. %e is simply treading water. %e sees no meaning! no real reference. %e gives a dull nod to anything and anyone without hesitation! without emotion! and without reason. &ven marriage is meaningless: he agrees to marry only because the sub$ect comes up. ' recurring theme throughout the book is the sea and nature. (hile eursault finds comfort in the shore and in the clouds! it is at the beach! after a warm swim with arie! where he shoots and kills )an 'rab". The reader is never privy to any real reason. The 'rab has a knife! eursault has a gun! and they"ve recently fought. eursault is agoni*ed by the heat. +weat drips into his eyes. The same ,ature that gives him pleasure and comfort now drives him to murder. eursault pulls the weapon from his pocket and shoots. Once and then four times more. This! I think! is the real absurdity. Finally! there is the -uestion of Camus" philosophy of absurdity. The +tranger is considered an absurdist primer and an essential read in $ust about any college class on e.istentialism. /ut eursault is not the right character. %e is completely disinterested in his life. %e"s barely a player in his own actions. %e"s a plastic bag blown about a parking lot. The central idea of absurdity is that we have no control over the ultimate -uestions of life. /ut he doesn"t attempt any control. arie! I think! much more than eursault! points out the absurd. +he en$oys her youth and her body. +he is vibrant and eager. +he makes decisions to move her life and her future in a direction of her choosing. It is her life that is cut short by an outside force over which she has little or no control. If you have never read Camus this is a great place to start. It"s a simple story! told simply! that offers lots to think very hard about.