The Outsider   by Albert Camus

March 2006     A Christmas gift from my loving, book-addict Mother.

This was unexpected. The book was much more... Personal than I would have thought. From the box of books my mother sent me last Christmas, (the one of 2004,) This was the last book left to read. That was because it wasn't a Science Fiction book, (which I especially like reading,) And it wasn't a title or author that I'd heard of, or thought of as a "Classic," -which I also typically like reading. And the book it's self was thin, and with a drab brown cover, so I wasn't attracted by that. Anyhow, it was the last book of that one batch. (And on a whim, I'd decided to read all the books of the 2004 box, before I started reading the books from this year's Christmass box.) SO...

The style is first person singular, with insight into the protagonist's thoughts and motivations. I feel... that it was a little bit stark; Very plain, and factual, without extra descriptions. I would almost say that it was written for the story alone, and not for the sake of writing. But all of this made the story it's self -more real to me. More believable. More immediate. I can not think of other things to say along this academic, learned line, so I'll get right to the next paragraph.

What caught me Personally, was the fact that I could so strongly identify with the protagonist. He has a great... well... Tolerance isn't the right word, but it's the first that comes to mind. It's not tolerance though, because the little things in life really don't annoy him at all. So he's not actually Tolerating them; he just doesn't notice them at all. He has an Indifference as well though. (Perhaps That's the word I wanted to find.) People think that he's sure to react to certain situations in a certain way. And he doesn't see a need or reason to react at all. (I know that feeling well.) People often ask him what he thinks about this or that, and the truth is that he doesn't see that there's any there TO think about. (Again, I understand that completely; When something is, it just IS. I don't see any reason to think about the fact the sun is shining, or that the tide is in, or many other things that I haven't control over anyhow.) He is also not one to make judgements; Everyone in the neighborhood says that his neighbor is a pimp, and a bad character. But the protagonist neither believes that man's story, (that he works in in a warehouse,) nor that he is a pimp. He sees no reason to do so; He just accepts him as his neighbor. And when his neighbor is friendly enough, and talkative to him, then he sees no reason not to listen, and reciprocate the friendliness. (And that is one more element of his character which I see in mine as well.) These are all things that we see in the first half of the book though.

The second half of the book -is when he's in prison, and is going through the justice system. Here, I can't tell if I still feel a close affinity to his character. (Thankfully; I've never been incarcerated.) But then... because I relate to him so well, it's of great, great interest to me, to see how he reacts under the extreme, unusual situations of being tried for murder. (With accused malice and forethought.) His reactions to being in prison. His reactions to being on trial. His hopes, and how they change. His thoughts of freedom -and how they change. His whole outlook.

I'm also curious about the old man with the dog, (in the first part of the book.) My first thought is that he's there to act as a contrast to the protagonist; He is so overly emotional about his dog, and -backward in his expression of his feelings, (He finds his dog very dear, but curses and abuses it continually.) The protagonist, of course, is quiet, and when he finds he feels something, expresses it simply and directly. But... there may be more to the old man than that. It could be an expression of how the whole world is mad, and cannot express it's feelings. (The point being then, that this world condemns our protagonist, and especially his lack of expressing feelings.)

Anyhow, it is a strong and compelling book. I'd be curious to read other books by him, and see if I can get a clearer idea about the author's philosophies from a comparison of stories.