The Outsider

I don't think I should review the book, the book being a Camus book, actually one of the best Camus's book, which is already critically acclaimed and reviewed by much more intellectual people. However, what I can review is the outside of the book. (And not the "The Outsider", the actual book- *bad* pun intended). #The paper quality is great. #The cover, in my opinion looks AMAZING. Excellent print quality as well. #Binding is good too, just break in the book properly. #Great translating by Joseph Laredo. And that's all for this review. Thank you.

A cult classic nothing more than that. It’s an English adaptation from French, this books takes you inside a mind of a perplexed protagonist who sees the world differently and logically in its time. A great book an eye opener.

Everyman's Library is indisputably one of the best collections one must have in their libraries, no bones about it. But the delivery experience was not as good. Dust jacket was slightly torn because of mishandling, perhaps and the packaging itself was substandard and pretty basic as if there were trifles inside the delivery box. Would have rated 5 but this time giving only 4 so that your packaging is better, safer and sturdy in future.

The book was a very good read. It is an unique & depressing story of man who is on trial for being different. The story leaves the reader quite unsettled with the theme of meaninglessness of life & how society operates. Delivery was pretty fast by Amazon.

A story so simple, but will end up haunting your thoughts for the rest of your life. How much of an outsider are you?

Indeed one of the great books I have read, The situations where in prejudices of society are reflected so clearly and how it would affect a person's life immensely - the thoughts put up are brilliant.

Different than I've read before. Dark truth

This thing will break you. DONT read this.

Remember Brando in 'Last Tango in Paris' he runs in, looking at his mother's coffin, and calls her all the names under the sun. He raves and shouts and screams, he conveys in that moment his true feelings. What he really feels. But that is not the expected reaction. The expected reaction is one of sorrow, grief, pity, remorse, and undying love for one's own mother - even if that's not what he really feels. The question for society then - who do we trust? The man who lies, or the one who wants to convey his truest of feelings in that moment. Is 'playing the game' - doing what is expected or following the normal convention of society the right way to go? This book explores that phenomenon in astounding detail. The imagery and the scenic descriptions are as vivid as it gets. But there's a much bigger picture..... The wild boy of Ayeron, Kasper Hauser, Raymond Babbit, and Meursault, are all autistically minded individuals who all share common traits: they are socially inept, egocentric, empathyless, independent thinkers who 'won't (or can't) play the game', who live inside their own minds - but crucially as pointed out in this book - way outside the neurotypical(NT) more common societal sphere. Meaning, that anyone of that other, way less common, brain wiring is seen as detached, cold, odd, strange, out of sync, weird, stange - 'The Outsider' The discussion of this aspect of the character, is whether he can play the game - if he wanted, but doesn't. Or, crucially, if he IS autistic, he doesn't know HOW to. But this book was written in 1942 (with a later afterword of 1955). Such a predisposed condition and design fault - not of the character's making, were not discussed in those days. Asperger Syndrome did not exist then. It does now. And other reviewers have also identified that fact. Utilitarian societies are based on the majority - with inclusion of minorities. But this is theory, the reality is very different (it's true because hate crime legislation exists for it) What is more commonly known becomes accepted as 'normal'. So the character in this book, by today's thinking, is either, not normal or autistic. But either way, he is still the terminal 'outsider'. But who then, knowing this 'difference' has got the guts to stand out from the crowd. Who cares if he's an outsider or not. This book also discusses that type of character. Then we can add the time at which the book is written. All art and literature is indicative of what is happening in the world at the time. And in Europe the post war era of the individual with is own utter free thinking, who chooses everything in his own life, regardless of the convention, stands out from the crowd. The people of the time (during the war years - they had no freedom, no choices and no vision), needed something, some kind of inspiration. Brando was the acting outsider, but he didn't arrive until 1951. It's also necessary to dicuss news values. That which is not supposed to happen gets talked about. Bad news is the news. So there's another reason why this book exists. 'The Outsider' exists, therefore he gets talked about - his unwillingness to 'play the game' or in this instance, to tell the court what it wants to hear. An obssession with 'truth seeking' - another classic autistic trait. You have to 'fake' it to make it - that's the common denomenator in society - the hard, cold truth, gritty realism, is what we keep away from. Those who live closer to it - they are the 'The Outsiders' - just like Bukowski in 'Ham on Rye'. But all the autistic geniuses Einstein, Wittgenstien, Newton, et al. are known for astute logical, scientific and non-emotional based ground breaking ideas - that changed the world, evolved thinking, and proved something previously unidentified. But they were loners, socially inept, difficult characters, who didn't like people. In societal terms, they too were, 'outsiders'. But this character in this book is a killer. Did he mean it? Albert Camus is the literary equivalent. The one who has the guts to step out side the circle of convention. This book, (very tautologically correct - words are precious and shouldn't be wasted. Why use ten words, when you can use three) is essential reading then - based on what exactly? everything mentioned above. And more. Who is god anyway? why are people petrified of death? why do they need 'another life' to cling to. The characater in this book is a staunch atheist. He won't play that game either. Rightly so? The book also discusses the differences between a motivist (intention) and the consequentialist (result, regardless of intention) in thought provoking detail. Did he really mean to shoot the Arab, or was it a spur of the moment thing. Manslaughter or first degree murder? The book also, like Larkin years later with Aubade, discusses all the 'emotions' ones goes through when thinking about death, and all the proclivities and 'feelings' associated with it. But this comes at the end. Just like death it self. Society loves a bad guy. Iconoclastic, separate, detached, unique. Who's got the guts to stand out from the crowd? The truth is what courts are for. Society, is not about truth, it's about characters. It's about convention, what is accepted as 'normal' and what is not. Anyone who dare step outside that circle becomes 'The Outsider'. I'd like to read a better novel that explores all these things. I doubt if one exists. This book then, is an Outside in itself. Sorry to ramble on, this review is too verbose, and no where near tautologically correct, if only I sounded like Fugazi or could write like Camus.

Fantastic reading by one of the greatest thinkers. A fair price for the product as well. Though the design of the cover is a bit lacking in my opinion, a nice hard cover is recommended over a paper back.

This is a classic for all the right reasons. Camus gives the reader a scary vision of where non-conformity and nihilism can lead.

The Outsider is a brief, sharp novel about a man who refuses to perform the expected emotions society demands, and is judged more for that detachment than for his actions. The writing is plain and direct, which makes the whole thing feel colder and more confronting. As a physical edition, the dust cover is sadly poorly fitted, even though the design seems to closely mirror how the first edition print looked.

In the afterword of this The Outsider edition, Camus himself explains: “A long time ago, I summed up The Outsider in a sentence which I realize is extremely paradoxical - ‘In our society any man who doesn’t cry at his mother’s funeral is liable to be condemned to death.’ I simply meant that the hero of the book is condemned because he doesn’t play the game.” I liked the crispness of the slim novel - no wasted words, no lengthy descriptions, no laborious metaphors - just the protagonist honestly narrating his way through the story. Meursault seems an odd character because he is the way he is and speaks and acts the way he feels - he is honest. And since he’s also odd, his honesty makes him an outsider. He doesn’t mind. It’s a good read, simple, with a simple core - as aforementioned by Camus. The first half slowly draws you in - if too slow for you, stick with it, worth the time. The one thing, that doesn’t work for me is Meursault’s final wish (cries of hatred) - it jars with where he emotionally is and goes against his character - Meursault, odd as he is, is better than that.